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The Moving Picture Weekly, the magazine published by Universal Studios, and sent each week to theaters in order to keep them informed about the latest Universal releases. Universal had started a weekly magazine around 1912, called "Universal Weekly". At some time in 1915, Universal started this second similar publication called "Moving Picture Weekly" (which looked just like Universal Weekly, but the interior pages were on pulp paper, while Universal Weekly had better quality paper throughout), which was probably some attempt by Carl Laemmle to get other studios to advertise in his second publication, but that likely didn't work, because most of each issue was about upcoming Universal movies, and this magazine lasted until some time in 1919, at which point Universal folded it and it again only published Universal Weekly. Each issue of "The Moving Picture Weekly" measured approximately 8" x 10 1/2" and contained between 30 and 50 black & white pages (on pulp paper), with covers printed in a single color (sometimes black and white, but often other colors), with illustrated stories about then current movies, mostly Universal ones. Many of these ads are very striking, as the studios spent a great deal of time and money creating them, for it was through these ads that the Universal Studios gained bookings for their upcoming releases, which was the direct income they received from those movies (by contrast, the posters they created helped theaters take in more money, but that did not directly benefit the studios, except when they owned the theaters, or if higher grosses resulted in more bookings). Note that these exhibitor magazines were ONLY sent to theater owners, and the general public never had a chance to buy them. But most theater owners treated them like old newspapers, throwing them away after the movies had played. Consequently, they are extremely rare, especially those from the 1920s and 1930s! Note that we have pictured the cover, and one or more interior 2-page spreads. We tried to pick out some of the more interesting interior pages, but we did not spend much time doing so! Each issue has a huge amount of visual material, as well as much written material that cannot be found anywhere else, and we doubt that anyone buying any of these issues will be disappointed by their contents!

Important Added Info: Note that we have provided a picture of the front cover of the magazine, and also pictures of one or more interior two-page spreads (but we didn't make much effort to find the best ones!). These images should greatly help you judge the overall condition of the magazine. Please realize that there were only a few ads in each magazine, and that the bulk of each magazine is taken up by stories about current productions and other information of interest to theater owners (and I don't know that this information can be found anywhere else or that it has been reproduced in any book since its first publication!). Please know that these magazines are sealed in bags and are ready for shipping, and we cannot answer any questions about them or look through them for you, so please bid (or do not bid) based on the images we have provided.

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Bruce Hershenson,
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