The Media Archive for Central England is the public screen archive for the East and West Midlands. An independent charity and company based at the University of Lincoln, MACE acquires, catalogues, preserves and makes widely available moving image materials that inform our understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of communities between the Lincolnshire coast and the Welsh border.
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[Star Picture House Advertisments]
From drapery and gas fires to pork butchers and hairdressers: vintage cinema adverts from Erdington's pre-war picture palace.
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Overview
Everyday advertising such as this reel of pre-war commercials from the long-gone Star Cinema at Erdington in Birmingham acquires a charm and nostalgia over time. The local ads range from charming graphics promoting Doreen (for frocks and costumes) to more complex live-action ads showing a woman enjoying her ventilated gas fire. It's back to graphics though to promote Mr Therm's other great innovation: a gas laundry washer complete with wringer.
The Star Cinema on Slade Road in Erdington, where this unfortunately now heavily spliced and decaying reel was screened, closed in 1958. The following year the building re-opened as a film studio for Birmingham Commercial Films who were makers of industrial and advertising films.
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