Accompanying the moving images at Northeast Historic Film are collections of still images and ephemera. Consisting largely of photos and notes, these often give added meaning to the films that were donated along with them. Some films in our collections, such as Cherryfield, 1938, come with thorough manuscripts that identify the people and places present.

NHF collects a wide variety of still images, ranging from production and publicity shots to postcards of

small-town theaters in northern New England. These

postcards help to give a picture of the theatrical exhibition history of the region.

The collections also include business records and theater logs, both of which provide a glimpse at the economics of the industry. Northeast Historic Film has used its ephemera collections to develop a database of all known locations of regular movie screenings in northern New England during the 1900s. From the Anchor Theatre in Kennebunk, Maine to the Eagle in Lubec, Maine, a listing of well over 600 locations has been compiled for Maine alone.

The letters and scrapbooks in the ephemera collection give a glimpse at the public and private transactions relating to film and television, while the sheet music collections serve as a record of the type of music that accompanied early silent films. This music is also useful to today's silent film accompanists and has been used at Northeast Historic Film's Northeast Silent Film Festival.

In order to present a complete picture of the amateur filmmaking process, NHF collects equipment related to all aspects of filmmaking, including splicers, lights, viewers and much more.

The technology collection contains a wide variety of machines used to record and play moving images.  Examples of equipment assist with an understanding of the production and presentation of the moving images in our collections. From 9.5mm to 28mm, the technology collection contains a broad range of film cameras and projectors. Especially interesting is the Wittnauer Cine-Twin, which doubled as both an 8mm projector and camera. Many of the items in the technology holdings are still in working order.