About Political Commercial Archive

The Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive at the University of Oklahoma serves as a repository for political radio and television commercials. The major purpose of the archive is to preserve these historically valuable materials and to make them available for scholarly and professional use. Originally founded in 1956 by a private collector, Julian P. Kanter, and purchased by the University of Oklahoma in 1985, the archive collects, preserves and catalogs an ever-increasing number of political commercials and related materials. The collection has operated for many years with the endorsements of the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the American Film Institute, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Republican and Democratic National Committees, and the American Association of Political Consultants. The archive has been designated an official project by Save America's Treasures.

Contents of the Collection

The archive is now home to approximately 90,000 spots dating back to 1936 for radio and 1950 for television and representing candidates for offices ranging from the U.S. Presidency to school boards throughout the United States. The archive also contains commercials by political action committees, advertisements sponsored by corporations and special interest groups on public issues and ballot initiatives; and commercials done for elections in foreign countries. Many holdings in the collections are one-of-a-kind copies and are no longer available through any other source. The commercials vary in length from very short spots to program lengths of 30 or 60 minutes. The original masters of the spots are on a number of formats, including audio tape, 16 mm film, 2-inch videotape, 3/4-inch videotape, 1-inch videotape, and 1/2-inch videocassette.

See the User Information page for more specific information about access to the collection. The Online Catalog contains listings of archival holdings. To initiate a request for use, contact the PCC's curator Lewis Mazanti by email, telephone, fax, or letter. All usage and copying of archive materials are subject to federal copyright laws.