2.96 Cubic feet (consisting of 9 boxes, 1 folder, 7 oversize folders, 8 map case folders, 1 flat box (partial), plus digital images of some collection material. )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Theater programs
Ephemera
Business ephemera
Date:
1893-1969
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Motion Pictures forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents note:
Motion pictures were first publicly exhibited in the United States at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. While the films exhibited there were technically crude with little to no plot or story and far from the polished product of today, they immediately caught the public's attention.
Within a short time the motion picture industry (creation, distribution, and marketing) had grown into a lucrative business. Those first motion pictures were often short serial films run in a series to keep customers coming back to follow the story's plot line to its conclusion. Gradually, films became longer and a number of performers developed legions of fans guaranteeing a certain amount of box office business from name recognition of the star alone.
Initially, the film industry consisted of many small companies, but competition cleared the field and fewer, larger corporations cornered the market in both production and distribution. Independent theatre owners, who were at first almost wholly independent of the production companies, also became rare as the major theatre chains developed their own movie studios to ensure a steady stream of films to be shown at their theaters. The film industry, at first based in New York City and on the East Coast, moved to the famed Hollywood, California, in the late 1910s early 1920s.
The Motion Pictures section of the Warshaw Collection consists of various types of materials relating to motion pictures. The collection is especially strong for the silent movie era, 1893-1927. This portion of the collection is divided into seven series.
Materials in the Archives Center:
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Motion Pictures is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Motion Pictures, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
The diary of David Garrick being a record of his memorable trip to Paris in 1751 now first printed from the original MS and edited by Ryllis Clair Alexander
United States of America -- California -- Los Angeles County -- Los Angeles -- Hollywood
Moreno Garden (Hollywood, California)
Varying Form:
Also known as the Canfield-Moreno Estate,
the Dana Hollister House, and the Paramour.
General:
001: 814: - Home of Antonio Moreno, Hollywood, Calif. Postcard circa 1915-1930.
002: "Cresmont" Beautiful Spanish Home of Antonio Moreno, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Copyrighted by California Greeting & Post Card Co., Los Angeles circa 1915-1930.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Richard Marchand historical postcard collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid in this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Mack Gordon (1904-1959) was a prolific and successful songwriter, lyricist, and composer. He composed songs for stage and screen. He and Harry Warren won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1943.
Scope and Contents:
The papers document the life and career of songwriter Mack Gordon. They include business records, both personal and business correspondence, contracts, royalty statements, commercially published sheet music, a script for the motion picture Three Little Girls in Blue, photograph albums, a scrapbook of clippings, original music manuscripts, notes and writings that may have served as mnemonic devices for song ideas, an excerpt from the Paramount short film, The Collegians, funeral materials, name change documents, and a passport. The production and creative files give insight into Gordon's creative process, and ideas for lyrics, song titles, and word play are found throughout these files.
The collection is organized in seven series.
Series 1: Production and Creative Files, 1931-1950, undated. This series contains files relating to motion picture and theatrical productions, both produced and unproduced. This series also contains unidentified lyric notes, instrumental sketches, and themes.
Series 2: Business Records, 1931-1975, undated. This series contains business records, royalty contracts, telegrams, correspondence and other business records pertaining to Gordon and his work for theatrical and motion picture companies.
Series 3: Original Music Manuscripts, 1940-1952, undated. This series contains original music manuscripts written by Gordon.
Series 4: Commercial Sheet Music, 1928-1959, undated. This series contains commercially published sheet music. The sheet music was bound by Gordon into volumes he titled, Majors & Minors, there is also a folder of unbound sheet music.
Series 5: Personal and Family, 1935-1977, undated. This series contains personal documents such as passports, life insurance documents, name change documents, the auction catalogue from the sale of furnishings at Gordon's Pacific Palisades home. This series also contains personal correspondence from singer Sandra Werner to Gordon.
Series 6: Photographs, 1933-1956, undated
Series 7: Audio-Visual, 1926
Arrangement:
The collection is organized in seven series.
Series 1: Production and Creative Files, 1931-1950, undated
Series 2: Business Records, 1931-1975, undated
Series 3: Original Music Manuscripts, 1940-1952, undated
Series 4: Commercial Sheet Music, 1928-1959, undated
Series 5: Personal and Family, 1935-1977, undated
Series 6: Photographs, 1933-1956, undated
Series 7: Audio-Visual, 1926
Biographical / Historical:
Mack Gordon was a prolific and successful songwriter, lyricist, and composer who composed songs for stage and screen. Born Morris Gitler (he legally changed his name to Mack Gordon in later life) in Poland on June 21, 1904, his family immigrated to the United States in 1908 and settled in New York. His early career was as a performer in vaudeville and minstrel shows, but by the early 1930s he had formed a songwriting partnership with pianist Harry Revel. Gordon wrote for the Broadway stage and eventually made his way to Hollywood where he worked at a number of different motion picture studios.
In addition to Revel, Gordon worked with such well-known composers as Harry Warren, with whom he won his only Academy Award for Best Song for "You'll Never Know" from Hello Frisco Hello, and Josef Myrow, to name just three. Some of his more famous songs are "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "At Last," and "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?". He was nominated for the Academy Award nine times and became a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died on February 28, 1959 in New York City (some biographies have his date of death as March 1), and is entombed at the Corridor of Immortality at the Home of Peace Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
Collection donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution by Jack Gordon, son of Mack Gordon, in 2015.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Motion Pictures, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
Photograph of Enrique Riverón and Ray Milland in Hollywood, California, 1938. Enrique Riverón papers, 1918-1990s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph of Enrique Riveron with Mario Moreno and Antonio Arias Bernál, 194-. Enrique Riverón papers, 1918-1990s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.