Raiders of the Lost Ark Lobby Card

This is a lobby card for the movie 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.' This comes from the Bob Burke Film and Autograph Collection at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. Lobby cards are pieces of promotional material made for movies and the use of these dates back to the 1910s. The term 'Lobby Card' refers to the place in which the material was placed, which was in the lobby area in movie theaters. The use of lobby cards dwindled in until the late 1970s and early 1980s. After this, lobby cards were produced very rarely.

Lobby Cards are known as a form of ephemera, something that is meant to be enjoyed for a short while before being thrown away. For particular movies, the lobby cards were usually sent out in batches, sometimes between four and twelve cards, to movie theaters for them to display. The first card was usually a more graphically/stylistically centered card that would showcase what the central design was for the movie. The other cards in the batch would usually be stills from important scenes in the movie to entice movie-goers to watch the movie when it comes out. The later lobby cards that were more rarely made (1980s and onward) were made as miniature versions of the bigger posters that were to be used later with slight variations.

Details about this particular lobby card is that it is 8in x 10 in, it is from 1981, is a color photograph, and that it has the signatures of Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, and Steven Spielberg. 

The illustrator for this movie poster/lobby card/promotional material is Richard Amsel.