Poster collection

The first batch of posters from the Communist Party have now been added to the online catalogue.

We hold a collection of hundreds of posters from all over the world of political parties such as the Communist Party and Labour Party, trade unions, Spanish Civil War, peace and nuclear disarmament, Ireland, Apartheid, unemployment and the Miners Strike 1984-1985 to name a few.

This collection has not often been used as we did not know what was there. Since December 2009 the posters have been individually catalogued and are in the process of being re-packaged in acid free card folders. They are also currently being added to the Adlib online catalogue starting with the Communist Party and eventually there will be an image of every poster.

The design of the posters are very interesting, some use very bright colours to draw your attention, some use striking statements or images and bold letters and some use unusual shapes like the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers’ poster that is shaped like a t-shirt.

One of the volunteers who has been working on re-packaging the posters said “When looking through the poster collection, there are a number which make a great impression on you and stick in the mind. The first of these posters which stuck in my mind was from the Miners’ Strike of 1984 – 5. There are around fifteen handwritten posters from the Parkside and Agecroft pickets, despite not necessarily being the most aesthetically pleasing examples of the poster collection, I feel are some of the most striking. It really gives a sense of how tough it was for the miners and their families involved in the industrial dispute.”