CATALOGUING A MAN’S LOVE OF MID TO LATE 20th CENTURY POSTERS The Guy McKone Collection at the TIFF Film Reference Library By Sasha Danielle Blais, Honours BA Near Eastern and Classical Archaeology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2014 A Thesis presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Program of Film and Photographic Preservation and Collections Management Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2016 © Sasha Danielle Blais 2016 I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this thesis by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Cataloguing a Man’s Love of Mid to Late 20th Century Posters: The Guy McKone Collection at the TIFF Film Reference Library Sasha Danielle Blais Master of Arts, Film & Photographic Preservation and Collections Management, Fall 2016 Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Abstract Despite the renewed interest in ephemera, there is limited research available on film ephemera. A survey of current literature shows there is a clear lack of work being done to study and preserve this material in public institutions. This thesis looked at the management and care of ephemera collections, specifically poster collections. The Toronto International Film Festival’s Film Reference Library (FRL) has developed a large reference collection as well as numerous special collections from various directors, artists, and donors. The Guy McKone Collection has over 900 posters in various formats. The goal of this project included: organizing, cataloguing, describing, and partial digitization of the material. By creating a comprehensive catalogue, I have identified and discussed issues that arise while processing a poster collection. Policies, procedures, storage space, and management systems affect how these collections are ultimately handled. My goal is to start a conversation on the importance of film ephemera and to show how vital ephemera is for collections and historical narratives. I also identify issues that arise when managing collections of this type, and provide initial suggestions for the management and preservation of poster collections. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Jason Cheong and Kate Watson in the Special Collections department of the Film Reference Library who were very supportive throughout this project. Thank you to the rest of the team in the FRL for all their help. This project could not have been completed without all of you. Thank you Asen Ivanov for being my first reader and supporting me during this process. Thank you to the Image Art Department for their continued work to create a quality FPPCM Master’s program. Finally, thank you to all those outside of Ryerson who supported me throughout this process, I truly appreciate it. You kept me from going insane during the writing of this project. iv Table of Contents Analytical Paper 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Guy McKone Collection 2 2. Institutional History 4 2.1 TIFF Film Reference Library 4 3. Literature Review 5 3.1 Reference Material 5 3.2 Cataloguing Ephemera 6 3.3 Poster Collecting 9 4. System Requirements and Limitations 11 5. Methodology 12 6. The Unique Case of Lobby Cards 16 7. Conclusions and Comments 17 7.1 Management of Poster Collection 17 7.2 Cataloguing a Poster Collection 20 Bibliography 22 Appendices 1 – Glossary 24 2 – Processing Plan 25 3 – Timeline 27 4 – Catalogue Template 30 5 – Data Dictionary 32 6 – Current TIFF Poster Record 35 7 – Graphs Reflecting Object Density in the McKone Collection 36 Illustrations 42 Catalogue 46 v 1. Introduction Priorities of each institution can define what gets acquired, catalogued, and organized. This is especially true for a department that is both a library and archive within a corporate style film institution. It is also true for the management of ephemeral material within special collections. Ephemera are materials that have a single or limited use that were often made of disposable material such as paper. Ephemera is used as a means to convey information, to advertise, as well as a method of communication in the case of postcards. Although they have a limited lifespan, ephemera can provide insight into the development of culture and society. Ephemera developed through the decades and adapted to the needs of society. By using ephemera as a new avenue of historical investigation, scholars can track how information was shared and how it affected the way society functioned. Furthermore, ephemera’s research potential enables scholars to study everyday events and create non-traditional historical narratives. For instance, ephemera helps to “delineat[e] and describ[e] certain areas of popular thought and culture that may not be captured in other media and formats.”1 Thus, ephemera provides an opportunity to examine part of social history that has previously been neglected. Film was a development of modern industrial society and followed the evolution of society during the 20th century. Ephemera and other contemporary materials can show the evolution of the perception of film and how it was advertised to society. Film was originally considered an ephemeral material but in time received recognition as a cultural object.2 Some archivists and collectors believed that film ephemera was simply memorabilia but has since developed a more substantial part of the cultural history of film. Film ephemera includes posters, scripts, props, and other material of a limited lifespan. As I will discuss below, there are limited resources on the cataloguing of film ephemera. This project provides an opportunity to create a dialogue about the state of ephemera collections. TIFF's Film Reference Library (FRL) has “the world’s largest resource of English-language Canadian film related material”3 as well as resources for local, national, and international film. Their collection has material that dates back to the silent era. Although the collection is broad and accessible, the 1 Jim Burant, “Ephemera, Archives, and Another View of History,” Archivaria 40 (1995): 191. 2 Justin McKinney, “From Ephemera to Art: The Birth of Film Preservation and the Museum of Modern Art Film Library,” Art Documentation: Journal of Art Libraries Society of North America 33.2 (2014): 295. 3 “Film Reference Library,” Toronto International Film Festival, accessed April 12, 2016. http://tiff.net/education/film-reference-library/about. 1 special collections are poorly catalogued and under-utilized. Most of the 20,000 posters in the collection are not catalogued and those that have cataloguing records have limited information. Therefore, researchers are not always able to identify the specific material they are attempting to access. To facilitate access to the material, I will create a full and complete catalogue for a special collection of poster material. With these complete records, scholars will have the most contextual information from which to begin their research. In the future, these cataloguing methods can aid the creation of a workflow at the FRL. Furthermore, management of poster collections can be difficult due to the nature of the material. There are many issues that arise when accepting a donation of this type. There are important considerations related to storage, organization, and description of the material. It is simple to house the materials in archival envelopes with their titles, but this lacks the right level of description for accessibility. The management of large ephemeral collections can be difficult but with the knowledge gathered by detailed cataloguing, a proper organization can be achieved. Through my project I will identify issues that arise when managing collections of this type. My process began by familiarizing myself with the proper terms and uses for the different material in the collection. From there, the appropriate information was used to create a template for the cataloguing of the material. This cataloguing project described 971 posters as well as identified any condition issues. Once I catalogued all the items, I scanned the smaller format material, linked the scanned material in the database and then uploaded it to the online collection. From this catalogue, a collection record can be generated and made available on the FRL collection website.4 From this collection record, all items will be accessible and researchers will be able to make requests to look at the material from the manager of Special Collections. 1.1 Guy McKone Collection TIFF acquired the Guy McKone collection in 2012 with the intention of integrating it into the general library collection. After his death, McKone’s brothers donated the material to the FRL. There is no information available about Guy McKone, no donation agreements or provenance materials associated with the collection and there were no restrictions placed on the material. 4 The Film Reference Library’s online catalogue was launched in October 2015. It currently shows 80% of the general collections holdings and approximately 25% of special collections. 2 Therefore, the FRL can choose to display the items, provide or restrict access. The collection includes a variety of materials such as books, video, vinyl, stills, press materials, and various posters. There are a total over 5,000 individual items in the collection. Most of the non-graphic material has been either integrated into the library collection or returned to the donor. Some of the lobby cards were integrated into the FRL film production files with the assumption that they would be more accessible to the public. Other graphic materials, including posters in various formats have not been catalogued and will be the focus of my project.