I'm at the point now where I've bought a few films and not had chance to view them, time has been minimal these last months due to other things going on so I've now had a wake up call and am deciding what to do, I do enjoy the hobby but I'd also like to concentrate on other things,as I've not really missed setting up a machine its clear I'm ready to move on, I will list a few films at a time and see how we go, I'll probably go the ebay route to maximise sales, I'll start mid September or possibly a stall at the 9.5 event in October which would also be a good option, I'll also put a link up on the forum as I go, Mark

I hope that you enjoy what you do next in life.

Mark good luck for the future,I would say as someone who has done it once be sure you want out 100% as it won’t be cheap to get back in with the way prices are…………All the best…

Mark, i hope everything is ok, very sorry to see you selling up as i know you have been a very active collector. I wish you all the best and hope to still perhaps see you on here from time to time. All the very best with your sales, suffice to say i will keep my eyes open.
I know if you want to go back in, myself and others on here will be happy to try and help you.

Thanks everyone, Mark

Mark,

I was a bit stunned to hear this news, but I do respect that one's interests change. You have been a strong advocate of the film hobby for many years. We are very grateful for your numerous contributions here. You have always been helpful to not only myself, but many other fellow film collectors as well.

Your amazing collection will provide a lot of enjoyment to many others moving forward, so that is a very nice legacy that you have created.
Please stay in touch...

Kind Regards,
Greg

Thanks Greg,
Some nice words there, I appreciate it. With a couple of deaths recently in the family I'm taken aback by it and have realised that life is too short, selling off my collection is a tough one but I've realised that the time is right, the hobby is great but can be a lonely one at times ,I need a change of direction and doing things differently to help me cope with things. As you say Greg others will benefit and I'm glad they will, it will take a while to sort through titles and list properly so I'll be about for a while yet, Mark

Hope you make plenty of cash to fund your next venture :-)

I am 87 and have been selling off various films and projectors to save all the disposal work which my daughters will eventually have to do.
Like most enthusiast's children they have no interest in their father's hobby.

i do get that, it isn't the reason we are reducing the size of our combined collections but it is in the back of my mind. Aside that, the amount we all collect, it just means it becomes less likely to screen all of the collection more than once or twice, thats certain of long feature films, especially for us now as we seem to spend much more time viewing the 16mm's.

Quote: Maurice Leakey wrote in post #9

---

I am 87 and have been selling off various films and projectors to save all the disposal work which my daughters will eventually have to do.
Like most enthusiast's children they have no interest in their father's hobby.

---

Thank you Martin

I've been collecting since Christmas/Birthday 1946 (aged 12) when I had a 9.5mm hand turned Hunter (Bingoscope) @ £7.17.6. Motor driven was £15.15.0. I always have a double present as my birthday is the 27th December (1934).

Fifty years as a cinema projectionist from 1952, nitrate films were still around then for Sundays. Sunday showings did not attract Entertainment Tax so we had old films which were cheap to rent and I am sure the full house did well for the box office.

Regarding Tom's comment about long films. I am currently selling on 16mm "Far From The Madding Crowd". At 168 minutes it's on four 1600ft spools!

I used to love collecting films and projectors, Super 8, 9.5mm silent/sound, and 16mm. It was the excitement involved . I still have ten 6ft high steel shelves containing films. Some of my pre-war 9.5mm sound features are very rare as the original 35mm masters were all destroyed during the London blitz on the British Lion storage facility.

However, I still have fond memories of working for Classic, Cannon, and Odeon. At the old Odeon in Taunton (previously a Gaumont) we had regularly stage shows which were always fun. The building is still there as Mecca Bingo. Odeon built a new 5-screen multiplex where I also worked, it now has 8 screens.

I am glad I got out of the business before digital came, as Odeon got rid of many staff as they said there would be little work for projectionists with the new medium.

Maurice that's fascinating especially about the Entertainment Tax rules - how bizarre that they didn't include Sundays. What sort of state were the Nitrate prints by the time you had them in the 50's? Do you recall if they looked better than safety prints?

Stuart

Our new weekday features arrived on cores in 2000ft lengths. All they needed to show was a transfer to the special BTH Supa spools.

The Sunday nitrate films arrived on cores in 1000ft lengths as this was the standard length in the days of all nitrate when the films were stored in fire-proof racks in the rewind room. There were strict regulations about how much film was allowed in the projection room at any one time. This all changed with the introduction of safety film in the early 50s.

The 1000ft nitrate lengths were joined in twos to give a run of 2000ft. It was my job to examine and do the joining. The prints were usually OK but the reel ends usually had badly mutilated change-over cues, some even had a cross obviously scratched with something sharp.

We had two different makes of film cement (no tape joins in those days) as nitrate and safety prints would not share just the one cement. Nitrate joins were very easy to make, whereas great care was needed to complete a safety film join such as making sure all the necessary emulsion was scraped away and the base side was slightly roughened.

Sunday was my day off so I never saw any nitrate prints being projected.

Here is a typical Odeon projection room in the early 50s with the same projectors that I worked with. These were the BTH (British Thompson-Houston) SUPA (Single Unit Projection Assembly). The carbon arcs ran at 50 volts, 75 amps, that's a lot of light. 3750 watts.

Scroll down to the projection room picture.

https://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/pla...ema_west_street