Later this month, the oldest known movie poster of Mickey Mouse will be auctioned off.
Created in 1928, the vintage movie poster was obtained by Crowell Havens Beech, a Chico resident who has held on to the poster since 1988. It depicts Mickey Mouse and the words “The World’s Funniest Cartoon,” and is believed to have been created the same year that Mickey Mouse was brought to life by Walt Disney.
Director of movie poster auctions for Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, Grey Smith, said:
The first 12 Mickey cartoons were distributed in 1928 and 1929 by Celebrity Pictures, a very low-budget distributor. This is very likely the only Mickey Mouse poster created until 1930 when Disney cartoons began to be distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Although Crowell had sold most of the posters he had collected, he secretly kept the vintage Mickey movie poster. It wasn’t until his health began to decline that Beech confessed to his daughter he had secretly kept the poster. His daughter made the decision to auction the poster because she feels it should “be in the hands of a museum or individual who can properly care for the pop culture treasure.”
The poster will be auctioned off November 29, and is estimated to be worth $20,000 or more.
