Cat. #0015112013: WILL H. HAYS

Highly rare vintage black and white portrait, affixed to an 11x14-inch cream-colored mount, boldly signed beneath the image in black fountain pen in the 1930s. In good condition for its age. Republican politician Will H. Hayes served as chairman of the R.N.C. from 1918 to 1921 and as Warren G. Harding's Postmaster General. He infamously went on to helm the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, overseeing the promulgation of the Motion Picture Production Code. Dubbed the Hays Code in his honor, it spelled out the moral guidelines for censorship of American films, arguably reducing their artistic merits for generations. Consider the quality, maturity and authenticity of pre-code Hollywood cinema and you be the judge!