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The Universal Weekly ("The paper with a purpose"), the magazine published by Universal Studios, and sent each week to theaters in order to keep them informed about the latest Universal releases. It started publication around 1912, as "Universal Weekly", and each issue was solely devoted to Universal movies. Each issue measured approximately 8" x 10 1/2" and contained between 30 and 50 black & white pages, with covers printed in a single color (sometimes black and white, but often other colors). The issues of most interest to collectors are those from the early 1930s, as many of those contained ads and artwork for the major Universal horror movies of that period, and almost all of that material has not been seen since the original release of this publication. 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 it is quite common for dealers to cut out the one or two-page horror ads and sell them by themselves, sometimes selling for $100 or more each! We do not, of course, recommend doing so, but we can't stop the buyers of these issues from cutting them up should they choose to do so! Note that we do not have the time to list the contents of each magazine we are selling, but we have pictured the cover, and, in most cases, an interior single page, and an interior 2-page spread. 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 this exhibitor magazine (and the other exhibitor magazines we are selling this week) were sent to theater owners, who thoroughly went through each issue, to decide what movies to book for their theaters. Consequently, the magazines have a "used" feel to them, and are not in "mint" condition! We have checked each magazine to see if it has missing pages, and have noted the ones we have found. Unless otherwise noted, we believe this magazine is complete and uncut, and is generally in "very good" condition. We have not noted minor defects in these magazines. Please do not bid on these magazines expecting them to be in unused condition. If you are like most collectors, and can accept some minor defects, you are likely to be very happy with any of these magazines (especially since almost all the interior ads are in excellent condition)!

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