Lobby cards began to be printed in the 1910s to be used in displays in the lobbies of theaters. Before the 1920s, lobby cards tended to be black-and-white stills from the film, then hand-tinted scenes were produced and finally full-color cards. As movie theaters changed and lobbies began to shrink, so the reason for lobby cards began to disappear. By 1985, with the development of multiplex theaters, most film studios stopped printing lobby cards for distribution in the United States, although some of them are still released overseas.
Lobby cards were the smallest of film studios' promotional materials. The largest is the "one sheet" poster, which measures 27 inches by 41 inches. The half-sheet is 22 inches by 28 inches. Inserts measure 14 inches by 36 inches, while window cards measure 14 inches by 22 inches. Lobby cards measure 11 inches by 14 inches, mini lobby cards measure 8 inches by 10 inches and jumbo lobby cards are 14 inches by 17 inches, making them small enough to be easily stored and carried by collectors.
Lobby cards were produced in groups. These usually consisted of eight different cards that would depict different plot points and characters of the film. These groups are called lobby card sets and usually consist of one title card and seven scene cards. A complete set is highly desirable as a collectible and expensive.
Lobby cards started to become popular with collectors in the 1940s. As they became less used, lobby cards became more desirable as collector's items. Since American film studios stopped producing them in the United States, lobby cards gained new popularity and are now sometimes produced in the United States in limited runs specifically as collector's items.
Like any collector's item, the price of a lobby card depends on what is depicted on the card. The title card is generally the most expensive card of the set and usually costs at least 20 to 30 percent more than the scene cards.The price of the scene cards is determined by the importance of the scene depicted to the film. For instance, the scene card from "Psycho" depicting Norman Bates is the most valuable, likewise the famous "crop-dusting" scene from "North by Northwest."