The collection is an assemblage of movie memorabilia (predominantly Noir and Western), 20cm x 25cm film-stills, 28 cm x 36 cm lobby cards, and ephemera amassed by Thompson as a part of her research for her books Hard-Boiled and Tall in the Saddle. Additionally, there are Science Fiction stills and posters, Spanish-language lobby cards, 36cm x 91cm insert posters, and miscellaneous stills from other 20th-century cinema.

The fonds consists largely of printed material, including pamphlets, advertisements and brochures relating to logging and milling equipment, machinery and buildings from the 1920s. Other records include correspondence to the head of the department H.R. Christie, a planned drawing of Idlewild Seed Extractory and a black and white photo of Coo's Bay Lumberyard in California