RIP Jerry Ohlinger, owner of "Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Material Store, Inc." in New York City
RIP Jerry Ohlinger, owner of "Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Material Store, Inc." in New York City, one of the very first stores devoted to movie posters and memorabilia.
I first met Jerry at the start of the Memorial Day Weekend in 1972, when I was co-running the "First Annual EC Fan Addict Convention" in New York City.
I ran it together with Ron Barlow, and our main hope of breaking even on our expenses was selling 100 dealer tables in the dealer's room for the four day show.
Most of the tables were bought by the few comic book dealers there were back then, but I got a call from Jerry Ohlinger, who reserved four tables, and I asked him why I did not know him (since I was a major comic book dealer) and he said he only sold movie memorabilia.
I told him that I appreciated his purchase, but that he might re-think it, since there would only be comic book collectors there, and he might not make a sale and I didn't want him to throw money away. He said he was not worried about that, and that he only wanted to get more people aware of movie paper.
The day before the show started was "dealer set-up day", and in comes Jerry with a massive amount of boxes of stuff on a slew of hand trucks. He also had a framed movie poster, which was an original Phantom of the Opera one-sheet from 1925 (perhaps the best one, with the Phantom underwater) and I asked him how much it was, and he said "$1,000.
Now at that time the most expensive comic books were around $200, and I asked him if that price didn't seem extreme, and he said "If I don't sell it now, I will sell it a few years from now" because someday people will realize it is a bargain at $1,000", and he was sure right about that!
Over the many years since, I have had a large number of dealings with Jerry, and he was always classy in all those interactions, and we talked on the phone, often reminiscing about the "old days", when everything was so cheap, and only nerds collected comic books or movie posters!
When I started my monthly bulk lot auctions a couple of years ago, Jerry was a major buyer of lots of posters, lobby cards and stills. I imagine the last thing he needed more "stuff" but I think he, like everyone who loves posters, could never have "enough" and liked getting great deals.
The last few weeks he was in a hospice, and I saw posts saying he was watching his favorite old movies and serials from his bed. I know that he was also bidding away on my latest bulk lot auction, that ended Sunday, and as usual, he won a few and lost a few. But that was Jerry, wheeling and dealing to the very end!
RIP Jerry. You were one of the real good guys in this hobby, and you will be missed. 
Here is a handy checklist to help tell eMoviePoster.com apart from all other major auctions!
HAS lifetime guarantees on every item - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS unrestored and unenhanced images - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS 100% honest condition descriptions - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS auctions where the winner is the higher of two real bidders - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS "buyers premiums" - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS "reserves or starts over $1 - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS hidden bidder IDs - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS no customer service to speak of - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS "nosebleed" shipping charges - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS inadequate packaging - NOT eMoviePoster.com
0
Get In Touch
Comments
Rest in Peace, Jerry.
Cool looking store. Like a big candy shop.
RIP Jerry.
Yeah it's sad to see bricks and mortar poster stores are falling by the wayside.