My husband and I happened upon these vintage movie posters at a flea market a few weeks ago. As movie buffs we were immediately attracted to their subjects. As lovers of design, we were drawn in by the mod, late 1960's colors in the illustrations. We bought two prints — Clara Bow and Charlie Chaplin — and brought them home but they seemed like they needed a little something extra to take them up a notch stylistically.
I love almost everything about these colorful posters. I love the mod, colorful illustrations and the fact that they're signed (Elaine Havelock) and dated (1967). I love everything except the cheap aluminum frames in which they are housed. I'm happy they were framed as I'm sure that helped preserve the posters but the frames themselves were lacking the style and quality that would take these posters to the next level.
Enter IKEA. Over the weekend we were browsing around IKEA when we came across these poster frames with matting. And that's the solution! The simple act of matting the prints in a thick, black wooden frame transformed the posters into art.
Images: Jason Loper
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They are beautiful!! Great find, good job. I am envious:)!
I think they look great!! Wish I would run across some.
I thought these were so neat I looked the artist up, sounds like you guys got a steal: http://leroyspinkfist.blogspot.com/2009/12/bonhams-lot-no-2170-rare-collection-of.html
What's funny is that this post went up today, and then the same poster sold on etsy, like immediately.
What great finds! I love them! And yes, the frame job did wonders.
Love it. Love the artwork. Good find!
I have about 10 of these that I've carted around forever. I'm from Southern California and I'm in my early 50's. I remember my parents getting them free from a gas station when they filled up. You know, they used to do sets of dishes and stuff like that. Anybody else remember this?
Yea - my brother worked at a gas station in the early 1970s, and my mother still has two sets of glasses that they gave out. We all laugh about when she brings them out. But I don't remember poster give aways.
By the way, I like the way the matted posters look -- a great tip.
My mom has a set of steak knives and glasses from gas stations. I don't think she ever got posters this good, though!
I've been meaning to do that with my theater posters, but they're such an awkward size (14"x22") and I can't find affordable frames for them (I have 8 or 10)!
Maybe this post is just what I need to spur me on to do it.
To go against the tide and since I seem to have a few design elements that I always rehash...the posters are great and had I encountered the stack of them at a flea market I would have bought them all and hung them in a grid, filling up a wall. That would have been a 'wow' design statement. Seeing the pair of them (looking very classy and subdued in dark frames...I do love Ikea Ribba) hanging together makes me find them less 'wow' and more like just 'something is on the wall'. Maybe it is that mode of thinking that forces me to live in a cluttered shoebox of a flat :-)
@ bodicegoddess: you should be able to fairly easily mat them to a more common/readily available size, and IKEA and Target have decent poster frames for not a lot of dough.
That reminds me... I have a slightly off-sized not-quite 24 x just larger than 36 poster that I need to mat and re-frame (the glass of the tacky brass frame I acquired it in has broken and I hate the frame anyway....)
A trip to IKEA might be in order!
Those are awesome posters and they look great on the wall, but (there is always a but) putting something in an Ikea frame is a bit of a let down as far as the "before and after" title suggests something more DIY or at least involving paint...
I found that Michael's offers more size options for frames than Ikea or Target. I was there the other day for some t-shirt display frames and an elusive 12x18 frame.
looks great !!
Hi! I am the one who sold the Clara Bow in my Etsy shop. So neat to see that there was a reference to that here.... If anyone is interested, please visit my Etsy shop Pinkpoppyvintage. These posters are awesome!!! You did a great job re-framing them!