From the collection of
Established in 2001, the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive holds an unrivalled collection of films, TV and radio broadcasts, video tapes and sound recordings relating to Wales and the Welsh, from 1898 to the present day. The collection spans multiples formats and genres, both professional and amateur.
Who could deny these advertising claims: "Attractive hair is the ambition of every woman", and "Your family will enjoy Lincoln potatoes"?
"Delightful results in all hair styles" are promised if you visit Blaenau's Sadie Snape. Dry cleaning will protect your old suits which, "like old friends are best", and Porthmadog's laundry service will rescue women from wash day blues. On the downside, there is a warning about incendiary bombs (you are requested to leave the cinema if one penetrates the building) and a government message urging all females to read 'Hygiene for Women'. To finish: Merthyr's pantomime.
Youngers are known to have produced advertisements for cinemas across Britain.
Local goods for local people! Screen advertising wasn’t all national brands and chain stores.
Purpose-built cinemas began appearing around Britain shortly before WWI, booming in popularity during the War and developing into the ‘picture palaces’ of the 1920s - when adverts jostled for space alongside newsreels before the main feature. Local businesses were quick to see the potential of a big screen and a captive audience to promote their wares.
While they didn’t have access to the budgets of the national brands, regionally-specific businesses had the benefit of that personal touch. Products and services evolved over time, but that scratchy ad for your local Indian restaurant, so integral to the cinema-going experience into the 1990s, had its roots in the booming entrepreneurship of the industry many decades before.
