Discovering the forgotten women of silent cinema

Long before there were movie trailers to help people make their viewing decisions, there were these things called "lobby cards."

The hand-drawn images or photographic stills typically included a "title card" showing the name of the film and the key players involved, and then a number of "scene cards" showing key moments from the plot.

"Think of it as a static trailer," said Melissa Walker, curator of Experimental Marriage: Women in Early Hollywood, an exhibition of silent era lobby cards currently underway at Poster House in New York City. "These cards would have been posted in the window of a theater's lobby or . . . somewhere inside of the theater to promote coming attractions."

brings together around 90 lobby cards from a 7,800-item collection focused on women in silent