Snapshots of the Past

[Astor Theatre, Penn St., Reading, Pennsylvania] / AFD 1938. – Vintage Poster Wall Art

[Astor Theatre, Penn St., Reading, Pennsylvania] / AFD 1938., And Engineering (ADE) Drawings — vintage poster
[Astor Theatre, Penn St., Reading, Pennsylvania] / AFD 1938., And Engineering (ADE) Drawings. Vintage poster from the Theater Posters collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this vintage poster of [Astor Theatre, Penn St., Reading, Pennsylvania] / AFD 1938.. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[Astor Theatre, Penn St., Reading, Pennsylvania] / AFD 1938.

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Drawn in ink in 1938, this record of the Astor theater on Penn Street in Reading, Pennsylvania, documents a single movie house rather than a general type of building. The Library of Congress holds it in its Architecture, Design and Engineering drawings, a body of plans gathered so that American buildings could be studied long after they were built. By the late 1930s, neighborhood movie houses like the Astor were central to city life, and their facades and entrances were designed to draw passersby in. The record does not name the architect or builder, so the drawing is best read as evidence of how commercial theaters of the period were planned and presented.

Created / publishedAnd Engineering (ADE) Drawings
Medium1 drawing : ink on paper.
Genre1938
SubjectsTheaters--Pennsylvania--Reading--1930-1940. Motion picture theaters--Pennsylvania--Reading--1930-1940.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,151 × 3,285 px · prints to 14 × 11 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-210531

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