Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive

Burton Hall on the University of Oklahoma's campus houses the Political Commercial Archive.
Burton Hall is home to the Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive

The Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive at the University of Oklahoma is a depository for political television and radio commercials. The purpose of the archive is to preserve these materials while making them available for research. The Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive has been designated an official project by Save America's Treasures.[1]

History

Founded in 1956 by a private collector, Julian P. Kanter, the archive was purchased by the University of Oklahoma in 1985. Kanter, who worked at a television station, observed that the commercials were thrown away after they were used because no candidates ever asked for them back. By 1985 the collection contained over 25,000 commercials.[2] The University of Oklahoma purchased the collection in 1985 and Mr. Kanter served as the archive's curator for ten years. Kanter died on December 5, 2011.[3]

Today

The archive currently holds approximately 95,000 commercials and is the most comprehensive collection of political advertisements in the world.. The commercials date back to 1936 for radio and 1950 for television.[4] More than 65% of the archive's total holdings and more than 80% of its film holdings are not found anywhere else.[5] The archive contains original masters on many different formats, such as 2-inch videotape, 3/4-inch videotape, audio tape, 1-inch videotape, 16 mm film, and 1/2-inch videocassette.[5] As a result of A Save America's Treasures Grant the material has been digitized. The archive is currently located in the Political Communication Center in Burton Hall on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.

References

  1. ↑ Save America's Treasures
  2. ↑ Jenson White, Kathryn (1986). "The Media and the Message Merchants." Sooner Magazine 6: 3-8
  3. ↑ The Nashville Tennessean: Obituary
  4. ↑ Political Communication Center, Univ. of Oklahoma
  5. 1 2 Riechers, Maggie (1999). "Low Blows and High Rhetoric." Humanities 20: 32-35

External links

Coordinates: 35°12′32″N 97°26′55″W / 35.20889°N 97.44861°W / 35.20889; -97.44861

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