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The  Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive  at the University of Oklahoma is a repository for political television and radio commercials. The purpose of the archive is to preserve these materials and to make them available for scholarly and professional use. The archive collects, preserves and catalogs political commercials and related materials. The archive has been designated an official project by Save America's Treasures.

History
Founded in 1956 by a private collector, Julian P. Kanter, the archive was purchased by the University of Oklahoma in 1985. Kanter, who worked at a television station, observed that the commercials were thrown away after they were used because no candidates ever asked for them back. By 1985 the collection contained over 25,000 commercials. When the University of Oklahoma purchased the collection in 1985 Kanter was offered the position as the archive's curator when the University of Oklahoma bought the collection. Kanter held this position for ten years, until his retirement in 1995.

Today
The archive now has approximately 90,000 commercials starting from 1936 for radio and 1950 for television. The archive contains commercials representing candidates for offices ranging from the U.S. Presidency to school boards throughout the United States. The archive also contains commercials by political action committees and commercials done for elections in foreign countries. More than 65% of the archive's total holdings and more than 80% of its film holdings are not found anywhere else. The archive contains original masters on a number of formats, including audio tape, 16 mm film, 2-inch videotape, 3/4-inch videotape, 1-inch videotape, and 1/2-inch videocassette. The archive is currently located in the Political Communication Center in Burton Hall.