Many students, both new and returning, find themselves at the annual poster sale that goes on at the beginning of NMU’s fall semesters.
This year it was split between two tents, and in the days before classes start, students gather under those tents, wandering between the tables, searching through books and books of posters, finding the perfect ones for their living spaces.
These posters are supplied by a company called Pyramid America which, according to employee Lydelle Jackson, is the number one poster distributor in America.
“[Pyramid America] prints them in a giant warehouse in the Bronx,” said Jackson, the director of the 25th tour. “We print them and then we have about 25 trucks that we send out on tours.”
During these tours, trucks carrying the posters travel from college campus to college campus during the beginning of the semesters, Jackson’s own tour taking about a month and a half.
“Before we were here, we were at Penn State,” Jackson said. “From here we’re going to Aquinas [College] and from Aquinas we’re going to Western Michigan. From Western Michigan, I’m going to end up driving all the way to Rhode Island, then to Massachusetts and back to New York.”
According to Jackson, some of the money they make does go back to Pyramid America, but they also pay the campuses for allowing them to use and sell on the properties.
Rachel Harris, the Director of the Center for Student Enrichment and main contact for arranging the poster sale, said the event serves as a fundraiser for the Center for Student Enrichment.
“Campus Cinema, Platform Personalities, NoMAD, Special Events Committee and Northern Art and Entertainment all share the proceeds from the poster sale,” Harris said. “They are able to use that money for their student organization.”
Harris said that another important aspect of the poster sale is helping students customize and personalize their living spaces, a sentiment shared by Jackson.
“Schools are the perfect place to sell posters because of all these students, especially the younger ones. For a lot of them this is the first time they’ve been away from home,” said Jackson. “That’s the coolest thing that we provide, an opportunity for self-expression. At least for me that’s what keeps me going at the desk.”
Jackson also said that different styles are more popular at some schools than others. Anime and music rank consistently high among most schools, but at NMU posters of traditional art or landscapes are also quite popular.
“I’m typically drawn more towards the cool twist on art that they do,” said Jada Drotar, a fourth-year anthropology student. “I think it just adds your own little twist, an element of what you like, but to something that makes it look nice. I just got this one that was an alien invasion of Starry Night that I think is super cool. They have stuff like that that’ll make your area look a little homey.”
Students reported enjoying other things about the poster sale, such as the prices and the ability to decorate their dorm rooms, which otherwise remain colorless and blank.
“I thought more about decorating my room last night and figured I’d come check it out again,” said Emma Moser, a first-year English secondary education student, who had visited the poster sale twice before buying something. “A lot of my walls are bare, so I need something to cover them up.”
