Collection primarily documents American folk art collected by Frederick Fried (1908-1994) and his wife Mary McKensie Hill Fried (1914-1988). It includes photographic materials, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, research files, lecture notes, unpublished manuscripts, brochures, drawings, printed advertisements, blueprints, books, patents, correspondence, trade literature, sheet music, auction catalogs, oral history interviews, and commercially recorded music. Of particular interest is the material relating to carousels. There is a substantial amount of material relating to New York architecture, wood carvings, show figures, weathervanes, mechanical and coin operated machines, amusement parks, the circus, tattoos and lesser-known folk arts. The collection is arranged by subject or genre in the order maintained by Frederick and Mary Fried.
Arrangement:
Series 1, Professional Materials, 1930-1995, undated
Subseries 1.1, Lectures, 1968-1989, undated
Subseries 1.2, Research Notes, 1962-1975, undated
Subseries 1.3, Published and Unpublished Materials, 1960-1990, undated
Subseries 1.4, Exhibitions, 1966-1985, undated
Subseries 1.5, Correspondence, 1945-1995, undated
Subseries 1.6, Office Files, 1930-1991, undated
Series 2, Sculptors and Ship Carvers, 1855-1987, undated
Series 3, Ship Carving Reference Files, 1875-1990, undated
Subseries 16.2.1, Lectures and Performances, 1969-1973, undated
Subseries 16.2.2, Interviews, 1940-1976, undated
Subseries 16.2.3, Conferences and Meetings, 1973-1977
Subseries 16.2.4, Music, 1956, undated
Subseries 16.2.5, Other, undated
Subseries 16.3, Videotapes, 1982-1991, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Frederick P. Fried was born December 11, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn where his father owned a clock business across the street from Charles Carmel, a carousel carver. Fried acquired a fine-arts education in the 1930s with an emphasis on sculpture. He served with the Air Force during the Second World War. After a successful military career, Fried worked as art director in several fashion agencies. He met Mary McKenzie Hill, an academically trained artist in one of the studios.
Mary McKenzie Hill was born in 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts. After graduation, she spent a year abroad studying before she returned to the United States to work as a fashion illustrator in Baltimore and New York. During World War Two Hill was a draftsman for a firm of architects.
Fried and Mary Hill married in 1949. The couple had two children Robert Hazen and Rachel. Around 1953 Fried began to collect architectural ornaments in New York. Fried served as the art director for Bonwit Teller in New York City from 1955-1962. He left the fashion world in 1962 to pursue his passion for collecting and writing full time. Fried published his first book, Pictorial History of Carousels in 1964. In 1967, Fred and Mary Fried purchased a forty-acre farm in Bristol, Vermont where the family spent their summers.
In 1968, Fried led a national campaign to preserve the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse (Seamen's Church Institute at South Street). He also became active in politics and served as the campaign manager for a New York State senator. His interest in Indian cigar store figures resulted in his publication Artists in Wood: American Carvers of Cigar Store Indians, Show Figures and Circus published in 1970. The focus of the book was Samuel Anderson Robb a New York wood carver. Fried co-founded the National Carousel Association in 1973. In 1978, Fried wrote America's Forgotten Folk Art with his wife Mary. This publication covered subjects such as carousels, banner painting, scarecrows, beach sand sculpture, tattoos, cast iron toys, amusement park architecture and trade signs.
Fried's collecting goal was to first preserve artifacts and to then make them available through his writings and exhibitions. His most treasured relics were the items he salvaged from the ruins of Coney Island. Fried referred to such artifacts as the uncelebrated arts. He became one of the founders of the Anonymous Arts Recovery Society a group of individuals who saved architectural ornaments from the wreckers' balls. In addition, he was one of the founders of the National Carousel Round Table which was created to preserve hand-carved merry-go-rounds. As a result of his collecting, research and writing Fried became recognized as the authority on carousels, coin-operated machines, and cigar store figures. He served as a consultant to many Museums; in particular as chief consultant on American Folk Art for the Smithsonian Institution.
Frederick and Mary Hill worked together in many ways to document, collect, preserve and increase the awareness about primarily the folk arts. Mary McKenzie Hill Fried passed away in 1988 at the age of seventy-four. Frederick P. Fried died July 1994 at the age of eighty-six.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
E. Howard Clock Company Records (NMAH.AC.00776)
M. Francis Misklea Carousel Collection (NMAH.AC.0665)
Archives Center Carousel Collection (NMAH.AC.0675)
Messmore and Damon, Incorporated Company Records (NMAH.AC.0846)
Anthony W. Pendergast Collection (NMAH.AC.0882)
Frank Paulin Photoprints (NMAH.AC.1373)
Wurlitzer Company Records (NMAH.AC.0469)
Industry on Parade (NMAH.AC.0507)
Reel #191, Craftsmen of the Carousel, 1954. Manufacturing merry-go-rounds for amusement reports. Arrow Development Co., Mountain View, California.
Materials at Other Organizations
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Frederick Fried Coney Island collection, 1847-2001
The collection consists of materials used by Frederick Fried in his research and writing about folk art and material culture, especially related to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. A significant portion of the collection consists of the personal archive of William F. Mangels, which was purchased by Fried in 1955. Mangels was a designer and manufacturer of amusement rides and founder of the American Museum of Public Recreation at Coney Island. Subjects include amusement parks, amusement rides, architecture, bathing pavilions, beaches, beauty contests, carousels, carousel animals, Brooklyn, coin-operated machines, Coney Island, exhibitions, games of chance and skill, hotels, mechanical rides, mechanization, parades, pleasure railways, recreation, roller coasters, sideshows, transportation, and other subjects related to American material culture and popular amusement.
Provenance:
Collection a bequest of the Frederick Fried Estate.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Fees for commercial reproduction.
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace F. Thorpe Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
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: Toys, Models, and Hobbies, 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).
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Cultural History Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (3 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Newsletters
Photographs
Patents
Auction catalogs
Clippings
Cyanotypes
Design drawings
Price lists
Trade catalogs
Date:
1925-1994.
Scope and Contents note:
A diverse collection of papers relating to amusement parks and playgrounds, with most of the papers relating to carousels. Contents include correspondence, photographs (including one cyanotype), exhibition catalogs, trade literature and trade catalogs, price lists, articles and clippings, newsletters, and patents (photocopies) for carousel animals. One series, that relating to the woodcarver Salvatore Cernigliaro, contains his sketchbook for carousel animal designs.
Arrangement:
Divided into 7 series, arranged by donor.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Industry on Parade (NMAH.AC.0507)
Reel #191, Craftsmen of the Carousel, 1954. Manufacturing merry-go-rounds for amusement reports. Arrow Development Co., Mountain View, California.
Provenance:
Collection donated by multiple donors.
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.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Cultural History Search this
Extent:
2 Cubic feet (6 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Advertisements
Design drawings
Clippings
Stereographs
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Date:
1879-1956
Scope and Contents:
Miscellaneous documents, catalogs, scrapbooks, photographs and printed material relating to the carousels and other amusement park rides of the Allan Herschell Company (which earlier in its existence was called the Herschell-Spillman Company and the Spillman Engineerng Corporation).
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Employee of the Allan Herschell Company, which manufactured amusement park rides.
Provenance:
Donated by Francis Misklea in 1974.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
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 open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Collection 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 Citation:
M. Francis Misklea Carousel Collection, 1879-1956, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
1 Item (Color-dye gelatin on film., 2-1/4" x 2-1/4".)
Container:
Box 1 (Series 5), Sheet 49
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Place:
Tahoe, Lake Calif. -- 1950-1970 -- Photographs
Date:
Circa 1960s
Scope and Contents:
Coin-operated amusement ride.
Local Numbers:
AC0145-0000053.tif (AC scan no.)
General:
Videodisc frame 399.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with white cotton gloves provided by Archives Center staff.
Collection 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.
This series is divided into thirty-one subseries and onsists primarily of catalogs and product literature for companies that designed, fabricated and installed parade floats and or window displays as well as manufactured and installed amusement rides. Most of the companies are from the United States, but some companies are international. For example, Anton Schwarzkopf (1924--001) a German engineer of amusement rides and founder of the Schwarzkopf Industries company, built numerous rides and large roller coasters for both amusement parks and traveling funfairs.
Messmore & Damon comprises the largest subseries. It was one of the most influential design companies from the 1920s to the 1960s. The company produced a wide variety of parade floats, dioramas for museums, exhibits for expositions, displays for department stores, scenery for films, Broadway and television shows, and exhibits for corporate clients. Most of its parade and department store work featured mechanical devices which animated the animal and human figures involved, pioneering what became known as "animatronics". George Harold Messmore and Joseph Damon formed Messmore & Damon in 1914 and earned a reputation for building amazing displays for world's fairs such as Chicago's 1933 Century of Progress Exposition.
The Eden Musee materials document a New York City amusement place which opened in March of 1884. Founded by a Frenchman, Count Kessler and a New Yorker, Richard G. Hollaman, the Eden featured various acts--fencers, singers, dancers, wax figures, motion picture movies, and flower shows. The Eden Musee filed for bankruptcy in 1915 and eventually moved to Coney Island under the ownership of Sam Gumpertz. Companies that manufactured artificial flowers and papers (foil and crepe) are also represented. Samples of crepe papers made by the The Dennison Manufacturing Company and foil papers by Gasthoff's Display Service, Inc. are found here. The materials are arranged alphabetically by company name.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.
Collection 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 Citation:
William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection, 1877-2010, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
This collection consists of 33 color digital images made by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Space History curator Margaret Weitekamp on January 4, 2009, during her collecting trip to the space-themed Astroland Park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, four months after amusement park had closed to the public. The images include views of Astroland signage and rides as well as several hand-made signs affixed to security fencing by the members of the public.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 33 color digital images (3072 x 2304 pixel JPG files) made by NASM Space History curator Margaret Weitekamp on January 4, 2009, during her collecting trip to Astroland Park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. The images include views of the star-topped sign at the Surf Avenue entrance, the rocket-shaped Astroland Park sign above Gregory & Paul's food concession stand, the Astroland ticket booth, the AstroTower gyro tower ride, the Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel, the iconic Cyclone roller coaster (first opened in 1927), a memorial plaque dedicated to Astroland founder Dewey Albert, and several hand-made signs affixed to security fencing by the members of the public following the park's closure in 2008.
Arrangement:
The images are arranged in chronological order.
Biographical / Historical:
In 1962, Dewey Albert and his business partners founded Astroland, a space-themed amusement park located at 1000 Surf Avenue, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, at the height of the space craze generated in the early 1960s by the successes of United States' human space flights, including John Glenn's orbital flight. The park's first amusement was a 71-foot long rocket ride initially called the Cape Canaveral Satellite Jet (although later continually renamed and refreshed during the 46-year life of the park). Mounted on hydraulic lifts, with fixed seats, a movie screen, and a sound system, the 12,000 pound ride took visitors on a simulated trip to the Moon. The Colonel Glenn Sky Ride, quickly renamed the Mercury Capsule Skyride, flew visitors above the park in plastic bubble cars. A star-topped entranceway sign, added to the Surf Avenue entrance in 1963, reflected the space theme of the park. After Astroland closed on September 7, 2008, owners Carol and Jerome Albert donated one of the sign's two stars to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in 2009 [Lighted Sign, Star, Astroland, A20090091000].
Provenance:
Margaret Weitekamp, NASM Space History Department, transfer, 2022, NASM.2022.0021
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
