Summer Olympic Posters

At Sherman Library

SHERMAN — During August the Sherman Library will present a display of Summer Olympic posters coinciding with the opening of the August 2004 Athens games, featuring original posters from games including 1932 Los Angeles, 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City, 1996 Atlanta and more.

Since the 1896 Athens Games, posters have been created for use by Olympics Committees before and during the games; by railroads and later airlines to promote travel to the games; for sale to visitors; and privately printed by Olympic sponsors as giveaway souvenirs. Additional posters were created to market films shot during the games, the most famous of which is Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympics 1936.

On display will be three unusual bamboo scroll posters from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics depicting the Olympic Stadium, Los Angeles Town Hall and the Liberty Bell. These commercially printed scrolls were sold to the public as mementos of the Games.

From the 1964 Tokyo games is a post-Olympic movie poster for a film simply entitled Tokyo Olympics. This French advertising poster with scenes of all the opening ceremonies and a variety of events boasts of “More Than 100 Cameras Capturing the Greatest Human Adventure of All Time.”

The Mexico City, Munich, and Atlanta Games are also represented.

The exhibit will at The Sherman Library, 1 Sherman Center, until August 31. Library hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 am to 6 pm; and Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. For additional information contact The Sherman Library 860-354-2455.