Once upon a time there was a world without video tape. The commerce in animation was on film and there were dozens of distributors who listed cartoons and independent animation in their catalogs. School districts and colleges were buying and renting almost anything animated that was "educational." A new theatrical show called The Tournee of Animation was showing the latest and greatest films from around the world. Animation was sometimes shown at museums, libraries and art houses.

During this period television rarely showed anything animated except television commercials and limited animation stuff made for the tube. Of course there were daily cartoon shows that showed old Hollywood films, but nobody was seriously interested in buying rights to artistic works. They wanted to keep costs low and needed quantity, not quality, to fill all the air time between the commercials.

Non-Theatrical Distribution From 1900 - 1960
Before explaining what film distribution was like at its peak in the 1960s and 70s, a quick look at the history of non-theatrical distribution and the development of the 16mm format is in order. Distribution of films to places other than theaters (non-theatrical) began almost 100 years ago. Corporations were among the first to explore non-theatrical venues. A film about the Alaskan gold rush was made by the Northwest Transportation Company in 1899 and shown at the Paris Exposition in 1900. By the early teens some salesmen representing trade associations and corporations were traveling with 35mm films and portable projectors. They presented free shows to promote their sponsors' interests.

Another small non-theatrical industry developed around pornographic films before WWI. Animators created Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure, around 1928. This funny hard-core cartoon may have been made for a private party honoring Winsor McCay by Walter Lantz, Rudy Zamora Sr., George Stallings and George Canata. Other X-rated cartoons were produced in the 1920s and 30s.

The first non-theatrical catalog of education films was published by George Kleine in 1910. He offered to lease 35mm films. Apparently his venture was a failure and one account says he never recovered the cost of printing his 336 page catalog. Kleine went on to import some of the first successful feature-length films from Italy just before WWI.

In 1921 Kleine created a non-theatrical distribution system that brought "clean" films to schools, museums and other non-commercial users. He gave users of his "Cycle of Classics" free 35mm projectors and charged a per reel fee plus 65% of the admission income. The venture wasn't too successful and was abandoned in 1928 with the coming of sound. His silent projectors had become obsolete almost overnight.