History

The beginnings of the movie trailer are quite hazy.

First appearance of the “trailer” – 1912

The first reference to the movie trailer was believed to originate in a New York amusement park in 1912:

One of the concessions hung up a white sheet and showed the serial The Adventures of Kathlyn. At the end of the reel Kathlyn was thrown in the lion’s den. After this “trailed” a piece of film asking “Does she escape the lion’s pit? See next week’s thrilling chapter!” Hence, the word trailer, an advertisement for a coming picture.

Lou Harris, Paramount executive

Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 1966.

footage from The Pleasure Seekers
Nils Granlund

First real “trailer” – 1913

Other sources, however, suggest that the term was invented in New York City in November 1913 by Nils Granlund, an advertising manager of Marcus Loew’s Theaters. He created an ad for a Broadway musical, The Pleasure Seekers, which included actual rehearsal footage. The practice, reported in a wire service story carried by the Lincoln, Nebraska Daily Star [on 9 November], described it as “an entirely new and unique stunt”and that “moving pictures of the rehearsals and other incidents connected with the production will be sent out in advance of the show, to be presented to the Loew’s picture houses and will take the place of much of the bill board advertising.”

First recorded use of the “trailer” – 1917

The first recorded use of a trailer for such short advertising films is known from several years later, with the US entrance into World War I and when the war bonds known as Liberty Loan Bonds were being actively sold:

A committee of the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry yesterday began sending films known as trailers [advertising the bonds] to all of the 15,000 or more movie theatres in the United States. These films are seventy feet in length and will be attached to longer films that are shown at every performance.

New York Times, 2 Jun. 1917.

The Jazz Singer – 1927

The release of The Jazz Singer, the first “talking picture,” allowed to add an essential element to the movie trailer: sound. The trailer is not only complete with a spoken introduction, but it’s also seven minutes long. The introduction acts like a sales pitch, calling on people to hear this new form of entertainment. It’s followed by a newsreel footage of the film’s star-studded premiere and several voice-narrated scenes from the movie.

First trailer with successful wide release – Jaws (1975)

 

All information found at:

For more interesting info on trailers: