Godzilla at the Orpheum

7.25.2026

I have collected a lot of Godzilla print material this month. Ads, articles, movie reviews and listings, tickets and the like tell Godzilla’s history in ways other collectibles do not. They invite investigation into the historical context of each Godzilla movie. Godzilla paper can be treated with the type of analysis given to ancient documents. In addition to what they tell us about Godzilla, each artifact tells a story of the society and culture, what’s important, what are the issues at the time of publication. They are time capsules capturing how people talked, what words they used, vocabulary, slang, idioms of the time. Each paper documents a moment in the history of cinema, technology, movie making, media, marketing and publishing. For an older fan like myself, I experience a rush of memories upon sight of them. The texture, ink, color or lack of color, impression, vividness and design of the older print material speak of a simpler and less sophisticated time and life. Set in chronological order, each is a page in the history of Godzilla, publishing and technology. Here are the findings of a brief investigation into my latest Godzilla print advertisement.

My Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) print advertisement (c. width 1 3/4″ x height 1 5/16″) from The Oregonian on Saturday, July 28, 1956.

The Orpheum Theater (Source: Puget Sound Pipeline)

Godzilla illustration in the Oregon Journal (page 14) on Tuesday July 24, 1956

Four days earlier on Tuesday, July 24, an illustration of Godzilla was printed on page 14 of The Oregon Daily Journal along with the descriptive teaser: “‘GODZILLA, KING OF MONSTERS,’ science-fantasy Nipponese nightmare, opens Friday at Orpheum. Japanese cast and 400-foot “star” who belches atomic fire, are featured. Raymond Burr plays U.S. news correspondent.” On the same page is a longer preview leaning into the Godzilla-Kong rivalry that also includes Mighty Joe Young:

Thriller Due Friday
“Godzilla,” Japanese-filmed science-fiction thriller about a terrible monster 400 feet tall, opens Friday on the Orpheum screen. The Nipponese nightmare picture is the story of a monster purportedly activated by detonations of the H-bomb who rises out of the Sea of Japan bent upon turning Tokyo into shambles. The spine-tingling creature is said to give “King Kong” and “Mighty Joe Young” the stature of a couple of Mesozaic small fry. Raymond Burr heads a Japanese cast.

“Thriller Due Friday” in The Oregon Daily Journal, Tuesday, July 24, 1956

More than fifteen years later during my childhood the history, relationship and rivalries between Godzilla and King Kong are still being had, helping define how I thought about Godzilla. Although their iconic heavyweight fight had long been over, the overcome was still a debate and its influence persisted.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) ad proclaims Godzilla “Greater than ‘King Kong’!” in The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Tue, May 01, 1956, p 8)

This small print advertisement from 1956 was cut out from its newspaper page and mounted upon a postcard. This was an old and common practice for preserving something of value. Its condition does not diminish its historical value and importance. A vigorous search of Newspapers.com database, turned up what I consider is its source and time of publication. On Saturday, July 28, 1956 edition of The Oregonian on page 15, appeared an identical ad, except for a small white blotch in the lower right corner of the border, which may be a printing press artifact. In the adjacent column is listed the Orpheum’s showing for Godzilla at 1:50, 4:50, 7:50 and 10:50. (The number CA6 2764 on the top left appears on other Orpheum ads. I cannot determine what it is for. I thought maybe it’s a phone number for showtimes but that did not begin until the 1960s.)

Comparison between The Oregonian Ad (Saturday, July 28, 1956) and my print ad

Such a small ephemeral item tells a wonderful story about the early history of moviegoing. “A Strange Adventure” starring American actress Marla English (January 4, 1935 – December 10, 2012) and Popeye were showing there as well. That same year she was also in another horror film “The She-Creature,” which was aired on TV as I was growing up. A decade later popeye was still popular and appearing in weekday cartoon reruns and Saturday morning programming. That’s the context in which I watched Godzilla on TV fifty years ago. When they are seen together, I’m growing up again reliving my childhood. This advertisement attests to Godzilla’s arrival upon U.S. shores in 1956. It joins my Japanese Godzilla (1954) ads as historical documentation of Godzilla’s story.