I've owned the Perlin "Americans Will Always Fight For Liberty" poster for some years now. Because of its odd size, finding a prefab frame is very difficult. It deos not conform to standard poster size frames. In order to initially display the poster, I was forced to build one out of scratch that met the peramiters imposed by its odd size. Ths frame I built was heavy and cumbersome, and was flimsy, jeapordizing the integrity of the poster, causing some small tears.

Today while at Aaron Brothers, I was able to find a pre-fab frame that was as close to the correct size as i'd find. I had the option of custome framing, which after the estimate of $1200 from Michaels, left me wondering if i'd ever have it properly framed. Thankfully, like I said, I was able to find a prefab'd frame at $29.99. Granted, I had to fold over about 1/2" on each side so the frame would accommodate it. Luckily, what's folded over, does not include any of the artwork.

Well, here it is. This one by far is my favorit US propoganda poster from the war era.

Tom

What a handsome poster Tom, no wonder it's your favorite.
Sorry to hear that you had such a challenge mountimg it.
I can't believe that Michael's tried to charge you $1200, that's insane.
I'm guessing that they don't bring in very much custom work with prices like that.
Glad you were able to find a solution that you're happy with.
Look's great, thanks for sharing.

HI Bob,
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding Michaels and the price quote, I can only imagine that its due to the very large size. A collector on WAF reccommended a hobby store that does custom framing on the inexpensive side. Unfortunately, we do not have any of those particular store on this side of the country. I'm just glad I was able to find one that worked relatively well.

Thank you and good collecting,
T

Nice print. Something fishy about that Big frame price. I have had LARGE paintings triple framed for much less. At least its on the wall..

Thank you Damast.

It is fishy. Actually, mind boggling. I figured total cost no more than $350, and with the 50% discount custom framing coupon, I anticpated rolling out with no more than a $175 total. Michaels can be on the high side. I had my various diplomas, J.D., undergrad and so on framed from Michaels. The smallest diploma was the undergard. With matte finish beveling, it ran about $225. Definitely on the high side. My basic display frames that have the swinging front door that latches shut run between $12-$50, depending on the size. Michaels often runs the 50% off sales on these frames, and they can be had for between $6 and $25..which is clearly a fair price. Genuine wood, nice clear glass (not UV filtering) acid free backing...a good price. I bought too many however last go-around and am trying to unload the last 2 at cost..(if interested, let me know). Aaron Brothers is also on the steep side for custom framing. When I requested the estimate from Michaels, it was for the least expensive framing. At $1200ish for the low-qualtiy framing, I can only imagine what they would have quoted me for the high quality. Really, that's why I resigned myself to using a crumby frame I had built from scratch. However, it was damaging the poster and subsequently had to be taken down off the wall. It sat leaning against the gun safe for nearly a year.

Here's a photo of the frame I had built for it. Including materials, UV filtering plexi and acid free backing, all from Home Depot, I believe I spent something in the neighborhood of $100 on it.

The current frame from Aaron Brothers uses plastic framing, and low grade plexi, but it works. My bunker is not exposed to direct sunlight so UV exposure is not much of an issue.

Current fram for comlparison.

On a side not, the original war time Perlin posters, are not easy to locate in decent condition. Many stores offer reproductions and shrunk down versions of this print, but it's not quite the same. I paid $75 for this one on eBay a numbver of years ago. I havn't checked on prices recently, but I would guess in the $200-350 range is accurate. When I was shopping for the print back when I won this one, various online poster and collector sites offered this one for $350ish. I'm not sure what kind of demand exists for this one, but I know that most of these still in existence are pretty beat up.

If the poster is vulnerable to fading, the UV glass won't save it much. So watch that lighting. Nice work!