I bought a collection from a fellow who worked at The Film Centre in the 1980s. He told me that once a film was no longer being distributed, they would pull the posters and use the one sheets for wrapping paper. There were posters going back to the 1950s that I got from him. Have also seen daybills with rail stickers on the back. I guess they were taped straight onto the film box.
I have had quite a lot of posters with labels on the back with addresses of cinemas and also stamps which indicate that they might have just been used to make a crude parcel of posters and sent out without even putting them in a box - sacrilege!
My only connection with film posters being forwarded for screenings was when I was involved with a film society and also some 16mm commercial screenings in the 1980's. At this time one paid for the posters and kept them afterwards. They always arrived with the films, well packed and in excellent unused condition, Almost all of the time multiple daybill posters of each modern film title ordered were received, with occasionally a one sheet was included.. Almost all of modern films ordered one received posters for, but being 16mm and at the end of the screening process posters for an odd film weren't received due to apparently running out of stock. The Madwoman Of Chaillot was one that we didn't any posters for. With continental films hired from distributors such as Quality Films and very old classic films from the majors no posters were available.
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Have also seen daybills with rail stickers on the back. I guess they were taped straight onto the film box.