First Time Here - Mexico At War And Peace - Moving Pictures - Broadside

SHOW PRINTERS FRANCIS-VALENTINE CO.

Publication: Francis-Valentine Co, Show Printers, n d ca 1914, San Francisco

Broadside/Poster, 21" x 28", boldy printed in black on thin, tanned paper. Some rippling and creasing from poor storage, a few chips at margins and one corner, two small archival repairs to closed tears on verso, but overall still a very good example of this delicate item. A rare poster promoting a screening of early documentary film footage of the Mexican Revolution in progress. No filmmaker or production company is credited. The reference to "Mexico's new ruler, General Carranza" suggests a date of 1914, and indeed, we located a newspaper reference to a screening in Bakersfield, California in September of that year, as well as one in Tucson in 1915. American interest in the political upheavals of its southern neighbor was considerable. Although no battle footage is promised, recent moving pictures of warships in Vera Cruz harbor and soldiers moving artillery in the field would have offered a novel opportunity for Americans to go beyond the newspaper page to understand historic events as they unfolded. The Tucson showing of this film was even accompanied by a "free exhibit of saddles, rifles, and sombreros and relics from the battle field." Very good, bright broadside.