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Southern California Outdoor Advertising Collection
photCL 488
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library. Photo Archives
Title: Southern California Outdoor Advertising Collection
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 488
Physical Description:
93 Linear Feet
(97 boxes)
Physical Description:
approximately 77,000 Items:
color slides (35mm), black-and-white and color negatives, black-and-white and
color prints
Date (inclusive): approximately 1930-1996
Date (bulk): 1950-1989
Abstract: The Southern California Outdoor
Advertising Collection consists of photographs of billboards located in situ primarily in
and around Los Angeles and, to a lesser extent, San Diego, from approximately 1930-1996
(bulk 1950-1989). The photographs, which are principally color slides (35mm) and film
negatives (both black-and-white and color), were created by Pacific Outdoor Advertising
Company (POA) and Gannett Outdoor Company for internal purposes and represent advertising
for a wide variety of businesses, consumer products, and services. The bulk of the
collection concerns POA client billboards, facilities, and activities ca. 1930-1979. Gannett
Outdoor Co. acquired POA in 1979, and their materials cover the period ca.
1980-1996.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Southern California Outdoor Advertising Collection, The
Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Dawson's Bookshop, 2009.
Helen A. Brown founded Pacific Outdoor Advertising Company in Los Angeles around 1928. Her
son, Hal Brown, and later her grandson, Hal Brown Jr., served as presidents of the company.
The company viewed photographic documentation of its product and operations as an
"investment not an expense," according to one former employee.* To that end, POA employed a
fleet of trained photographers who used specialized equipment to make negatives and prints
of finished billboards (which they often gave to clients), and slides and transparencies for
the company's internal use. Gannett Co. Inc. acquired Pacific Outdoor Advertising in 1979
through a merger with Combined Communications Corp., becoming Gannett Outdoor.
*Curator's interview with Rick Robinson about the history and dispersal of the Southern
California Outdoor Advertising Company collection, March 6, 2015.
The Southern California Outdoor Advertising Collection depicts billboards located in situ
primarily in and around Los Angeles and, to a lesser extent, San Diego. The billboards,
produced by Pacific Outdoor Advertising Company from approximately 1930 through 1979, and by
Gannett Outdoor Co. from approximately 1980-1996, advertise a wide variety of businesses,
products, and services, including: beverages (many for beer and liquor); food; cigarettes
and tobacco; transportation (especially automobiles, airlines and bus lines); hotels;
restaurants; motion pictures; charitable and non-profit organizations, including regional
cities and civic campaigns; political candidates for local and state elections; public
service announcements (such as air raid and Cold War-related ads); radio and television
stations; oil and gasoline companies; cemeteries; clothing companies; department stores;
recreational facilities; and other commercial, political, civic, and institutional clients.
In addition, there are images related primarily to Pacific Outdoor Advertising (POA) Company
operations such as client presentations, billboard production, corporate facilities and the
POA helicopter. Aerial views taken throughout Southern California document the various
markets in which the company placed signage. For the most comprehensive client list, see
Series 1, Subseries A: Color slides. While most of the billboards are photographed in situ,
location information – such as specific cities and streets – is rarely noted. For images
containing billboards with street information, see Series 2, "Approach" views, as well as
"Plant Management" images in Series 3, (Box 94). Also in Series 3, a section both companies
labeled "P.R." contains images of non-commercial billboards such as civic, governmental, and
non-profit agency advertisements (Boxes 96-97).
Volunteer Teresa Kennedy organized Series 1, Subseries 1 between 2011-2013. Suzanne Oatey
and Jennifer Watts organized the remainder of the collection. The original order established
by Pacific Outdoor Advertising Company was retained throughout.
The collection is arranged in the following three series:
- Series 1. Client billboards
- Subseries A. Color slides (35mm), ca. 1930-1996
- Subseries B. Black-and-white negatives, ca. 1950-1996
- Subseries C. Color negatives, ca. 1979-1983
- Subseries D. Color negatives, ca. 1984-1989
- Subseries E. Color prints, 1980s-1996
- Series 2. "Approach" views of billboards
- Subseries A. Los Angeles, 1962-1983
- Subseries B. San Diego, 1960s-1980s
- Series 3. Pacific Outdoor Advertising Co. and Gannett Outdoor Co. operations, facilities, and employees, 1930-1993
"Billboard Firm in Rapid Rise: Pacific Outdoor Advertising Concern Largest in This Area."
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10, 1938, p. 7. Accessed via ProQuest Historical
Newspapers.
"Gannett and Two Other Firms Accused of Billboard Price Fixing,"
AP, Dec.
13, 1988. Accessed at apnews.com January 29, 2020.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gannett Company
Gannett Outdoor Group --
Photographs
Advertising -- California, Southern --
Photographs
Advertising, Outdoor -- California,
Southern -- Photographs
Advertising, Political --
Photographs
Advertising, Public service --
Photographs
Advertising--Alcoholic beverages --
Photographs
Advertising--Automobiles --
Photographs
Advertising--Cigarettes --
Photographs
Advertising--Food -- Photographs
Billboards -- Photographs
Commercial art -- Photographs
Express highways--California--Los Angeles Region --
Photographs
Motion picture billboards --
Photographs
Streets--California--Los Angeles -- Photographs
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Photographs
San Diego (Calif.) -- Photographs
California, Southern -- Photographs
Photographs
Color transparencies
Negatives (photographs)
Slides (photographs)