Behind the Paper: My Unusual Path to Poster Restoration
I’m often asked how I got into vintage poster restoration. Unlike many in the world of paper conservation, I didn’t come through formal academic channels, which early on, made me question whether I was “qualified.” But over time, I’ve come to value the unconventional path I took. Like many poster restorationists practicing today, I learned the craft in the traditional way- passed down from artisan to artisan. And in hindsight, the sheer volume of paper I’ve been fortunate enough to handle in my career has given me hands-on familiarity that even some of my mentors- with decades in the business- haven’t had in the same capacity.
Perhaps my journey began as an adolescent growing up with a father who was dedicated more to collecting paper, antiques, and visiting the auto swap meet every weekend than paying attention or being completely present, which I inadvertently appreciate retrospectively. My personal adventures collecting both vintage paper and AMPs began in the early 2000s. Professionally and most importantly, before I ever touched a brush or adhesive, I spent years handling thousands of vintage posters- inspecting their flaws, their secrets, their history- at Heritage Auctions. In many ways, that experience taught me more about restoration than any classroom could. Things significantly progressed while working for them.
Another frequent question I'm asked is, what was it like to work for HA? The answer is- the most rewarding- and, at times, exhausting- period of my life. Let's put it this way- I was able to handle, catalog, describe, condition, and prepare some of the rarest posters in history from some of the greatest collections the world has ever seen in the Vintage Poster Department. What a thrilling experience it was to see and learn something new every day. At one point while cataloging the Dwight Manly Silent Film Poster auction it occurred to me-- this is going to be the last time all of these posters (many being the only extant pieces as evidence a film ever existed as a lot of these feature and short films were lost) would ever coexist in the same location ever again before being auctioned off individually. I'm talking 600+ posters. Seeing that much Hollywood history existing in one room at the same time was overwhelming in the best way. The culture at HA was notoriously intense…” kill yourself for the collectible,” as many of us used to say, only half joking. Laborious doesn’t quite capture it.
For all its intensity, it really was a dream job- because everyone there deeply loved the material. Just about everyone I worked with were some of the coolest people I've ever met and I was grateful to be under the tutelage of predominantly older individuals who have seen it all, handled it all, know it all, and have stories that belong in a published poster dealer tell-all genre book. Our working deadlines, though? Unfathomable to some, but as the Lead Cataloger, along with our other writers- we did it. Our weekly auction deadlines usually looked like cataloging 150-250+ posters per person per week (which doesn't include Signature auction high-value items, which we also had a deadline for on top of the weekly auctions). That means carefully opening each poster individually, inspecting the front, verso (back), borders, folds, etc, and writing an accurate condition report, accurately describing the titles, year of distribution, notating artists, measurements, country of origin, original or re-release, including an elegantly written description to entice bidders. Even more careful consideration and thought went into the Signature items. So, in total- around 300-500 lots a week. That's about 10-20 posters every hour which also doesn't include linen-backed or restored items, which needed to be unrolled and inspected over the light table and carefully conditioned with a black light, taking twice as long to catalog accurately.
Inspecting linen-backed items while cataloging was an incredible precursor to performing the services as I do now as a restorationist. Why? With the light table and black light, I was able to inspect restored posters and see every single flaw the poster had PRE restoration. We graded those posters for auction based on their pre-restoration state too, and included the flaws prior to restoration in the condition report. This allowed me to see it ALL. Those years examining thousands of posters-good, bad, rare, fake, stunning, or butchered- shaped how I restore today. I also became VERY aware of which restoration artist did what based on the work. I learned to see what most people miss: the subtleties of vintage paper, the difference between a good job and a great one, the things you can only learn with time and touch. Not only did years of inspection give insight into restoration, but paper printing history. I'll never forget unrolling a linen backed Son of Frankenstein three sheet on the light table and realizing that while it had minimal flaws and no paper loss or replacements, what I DID see was another image coming through, which wasn't noticeable without the light table. A faint but visible black face advertisement/image. This was absolutely a result of paper shortages during WWII.
Restoration isn’t always about making something look new. It’s about respecting what’s there, understanding where it came from, and giving it a future. The mindset I bring to every poster I touch. Maybe that’s why I’ve decided to write more about it- because behind every restored poster is a story. This is mine.
More to come.
