Window card for 1925 MGM silent production of Ben-Hur. This card format was designed to be placed in shop windows with space for printing the name of the local theater and dates of the film’s engagement, in this instance the Tivoli Theater of Michigan City, Indiana. The card shows the leads, Ramon Novarro and May McAvoy.

Unlike today’s simultaneous international releases in theaters and on streaming services, the distribution across the United States of popular films in the 1920s often took several years. Although Ben-Hur premiered on Christmas Day, 1925, in New York City, it took until February, 1928 to reach this small resort town on Lake Michigan.