Search Results

Correspondent:

Hanson, James A.  Search this

Conner, Stuart W.  Search this

Dempsey, Hugh A.  Search this

Brasser, Ted J.  Search this

DeMallie, Raymond  Search this

Schaeffer, Claude E.  Search this

Taylor, Colin F.  Search this

Creator:

Ewers, John C. (John Canfield), 1909-1997  Search this

Names:

National Museum of American History (U.S.)  Search this

National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)  Search this

Smithsonian Institution  Search this

United States. National Park Service  Search this

Catlin, George, 1796-1872  Search this

Denig, Edwin Thompson, 1812-1858  Search this

Taylor, James E. (Artist)  Search this

Extent:

97 Linear feet

Culture:

Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)  Search this

Indians of North America -- Great Plains  Search this

Cree  Search this

Assiniboine (Stoney)  Search this

Kiowa  Search this

Indians of North America -- Subarctic  Search this

Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet)  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1945-1993

Scope and Contents:

The John Canfield Ewers Papers document his wide ranging anthropological interests from early White depictions of Native Americans to the material culture of the Plains tribes through correspondence, exhibit catalogs, field notes, illustrations, lectures, maps, photocopies of archival materials, photographs, and writings. The collection includes materials relating to his numerous research projects and publications such as his books on plains sculpture and Jean Louis Berlandier as well as his field research among the Assiniboin and Blackfoot tribes. Ewers' career as an ethnologist based in a museum is amply documented through correspondence, exhibit plans and scripts, notes, and reports showcasing his work for the National Park Service and his fifty plus years at the Smithsonian. The voluminous correspondence file highlights his close collaboration with individuals such as Stu Conner, Hugh Dempsey, Claude Schaeffer, and Colin Taylor. Ewers' graduate studies and his family are featured in Series XI. One special category of materials in this collection is Series XIV, the card files. Ewers pulled information from his field notes and other sources, classified them, and typed or wrote them up on 3x5 or 5x7 inch index cards. He then organized these files alphabetically by subject within large categories such as "Collecting Alpha by Collectors Name" or "Fur Trade and Trade Goods." The card files include correspondence and photographs and closely relate to materials throughout the rest of the collection. Though Ewers' papers are primarily textual in nature, there are graphic materials throughout his files. Series XIII features the graphic materials that Ewers kept separate from his files such as the contents of his slide cabinets. There is overlap within this series as Ewers kept multiple copies of his slides in various locations. This series also includes audiotapes of conferences and symposia at which Ewers spoke and three scrapbooks. Of note are original pencil and ink drawings from his book, The Horse in Blackfoot Culture, in Series XV. Transcripts of oral history interviews with John Canfield Ewers are also available at the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Arrangement note:

This collection was organized into 15 series - Correspondence, Research & Subject Files, Research Projects, Trips and Presentations, Artists of the Old West, North American Indian Art, Plains Sculpture Book, Berlandier Project, Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, Personal, Writings by Ewers, Audiovisual Materials, Card Files, and Art Work.

Biographical/Historical note:

John Canfield Ewers (1909-1997) earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1931 and an M.A. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1934. Ewers began his career in museums as a Field Curator for the National Park Service. He helped design exhibits at Vicksburg National Battlefield and Ocmulgee National Monument among others. In 1941, the Bureau of Indian Affairs hired Ewers to design and establish the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana. After a short stint in the Navy during World War II, Ewers joined the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution. He worked at the Smithsonian for over fifty years in numerous capacities including Director of the National Museum of History and Technology (now called the National Museum of American History). Ewers' research dealt with the Plains Indians and the Blackfoot tribe in particular. Ewers wrote several books on a wide variety of topics including White artists depictions of Native Americans, Plains Indian sculpture, and the horse in Blackfoot Indian culture.

Restrictions:

The John Canfield Ewers papers are open for research.

Rights:

Contact repository for terms of use.

Occupation:

Artists  Search this

Topic:

Ethnohistory  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this

Carving  Search this

American Indians -- Plains  Search this

Artists -- United States -- West -- Biography  Search this

American Indians -- Clothing  Search this

American Indians -- arts and crafts  Search this

Museums -- History -- Exhibitions  Search this

Museums -- Collection management  Search this

Museum exhibits  Search this

Repatriation  Search this

Citation:

John Canfield Ewers papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.1998-35

See more items in:

John Canfield Ewers Papers

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3a79ed527-de46-4681-a92d-bd23575f45f5

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-1998-35

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiocassettes

Sound recordings

Contracts

Notes

Video recordings

Memorandums

Audiotapes

Business records

Photographic prints

Videotapes

Plans (drawings)

Slides (photographs)

Correspondence

Digital images

Negatives

Date:

June 24-July 5, 1998

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 6 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: The Baltic Nations: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

Series 3: Pahiyas: A Philippine Harvest

Series 4: The Río Grande/Río Bravo Basin

Series 5: Special Events

Series 6: Wisconsin

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 1998 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

On January 25, 1998, the Smithsonian Board of Regents voted to change the name of the Festival of American Folklife to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The Folklife and Folkways Archives and Collection of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies were also renamed to become the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections.

In presenting community cultural life, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival always engages those communities. The 1998 Festival was a good case in point. All of the nearly 75 researchers who documented, analyzed, and recommended traditions and people for the Festival came from the represented communities. Festival curators and senior staff met with researchers, shared experiences from previous Festivals, challenged assumptions, listened, learned, argued, and negotiated the character of the programs. Although not an easy way to craft a cultural representation, this approach nevertheless allowed for an honest, intellectual engagement, with mutual respect and discovery as ther result.

The 1998 Festival hosted programs on Wisconsin, the Río Grande/Río Bravo Basin, the Philippines, and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Wisconsin celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1998, and sought through the Festival to demonstrate to the nation the vitality of its people and their traditions. The Río Grande/Río Bravo region was redefined 150 years ago with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which established a new boundary between Mexico and the United States. The river has a variety of meanings for local communities that were explored on the National Mall. The Philippines first tasted independence 100 years ago, and marked its centennial with activities that gave voice to Filipino peoples, both in the island nation and in the United States. The Baltic nations each demonstrated the richness of their cultural life, and its importance in sustaining the struggle to regain their freedom and independence less than a decade before. Special events celebrated the Festival's founder, Ralph Rinzler, and the 50th anniversary of Folkways Records.

The Festival's million visitors could dance to polkas from Milwaukee, learn borderlands ballads, participate in a Philippine pageant, and marvel at the amber work, flax weaving, and choral songs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The unexpected also met their eye - a Tibetan sand mandala maker from Wisconsin, a Filipino artisan who fashions musical gongs from bullet casings, a New Mexican pueblo potter who incorporates modern flood stories into her craft, and a Baltic-style St. John's Day ceremony.

The 1998 Festival took place during two five-day weeks (June 24-28 and July 1-5) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured four programs, with special events that included the Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert.

The 1998 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; essays provided background on the Festival and on each of the programs.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies.

Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies

Richard Kurin, Director; Richard Kennedy, Deputy Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordngs; James Early, Director, Cultural Studies & Communications; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Chair, Research & Education; Betty J. Belanus, Marjorie Hunt, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Peter Seitel, Curators, Folklorists, Education and Cultural Specialists; Carla M. Borden, Program/Publications Manager; John W. Franklin, Program Manager; Cynthia Vidaurri, Coordinator, Latino Cultural Resource Network; Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Assistant Archivist; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Charlie Weber, Media Specialist; Roland Freeman, Dan Goodwin, Ivan Karp, Corinne Kratz, Alan Lomax, Worth Long, René López, Kate Rinzler, Fellows & Research Associates

Folklife Advisory Council and Folkways Advisory Council

Roger Abrahams, Jacinto Arias, Michael Asch, Jane Beck, Don DeVito, Pat Jasper, Ella Jenkins, Jon Kertzer, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, John Nixdorf, Bernice Johnson Reagon, John Roberts, Carol Robertson, Gilbert Sprauve, Jack Tchen, Ricardo Trimillos, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez

National Park Service

Robert Stantion, Director; Terry Carlstrom, Director, National Capital Region

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

arts and crafts  Search this

Folklore  Search this

World music  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

Folk art  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiocassettes

Sound recordings

Contracts

Notes

Video recordings

Memorandums

Audiotapes

Business records

Photographic prints

Videotapes

Plans (drawings)

Slides (photographs)

Correspondence

Digital images

Negatives

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1998

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5c96ded82-f8f8-4800-8804-a7535f001b13

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-1998

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Digital images

Audiocassettes

Audiotapes

Photographic prints

Contracts

Notes

Correspondence

Plans (drawings)

Memorandums

Business records

Negatives

Video recordings

Videotapes

Sound recordings

Slides (photographs)

Place:

Caribbean Area

Latin America

Date:

July 1-10, 1994

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1994 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 5 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

Series 3: Culture and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Series 4: Masters of Traditional Arts: The National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows

Series 5: Thailand: Household, Temple Fair & Court

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 1994 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

The 1994 Festival featured four programs. In The Bahamas program, Americans could find intriguing connections to a shared history embodied in the traditions of the descendants of Africans, free and enslaved, British Loyalists, Seminoles, and many other immigrants. More than just beautiful sun, sea, and sand, The Bahamas, and especially its Family Islands, are home to a rich diversity of cultural communities and practices. Also on the Mall, yet half a world away, was Thailand, a nation that never acceded to colonial rule and whose ancient traditions are very much alive in contemporary households, temples, and the royal court. Given the growing economic and political importance of Asia and the Pacific Rim, visitors had the opportunity to better understand Thailand's cultural traditions. The program on Culture and Development, a collaborative effort with the Inter-American Foundation, recognized the value of local cultural resources and practitioners and their role in development efforts. A strategy of appropriately utilizing a community's cultural resources often succeeds not only in stimulating economic growth, but also in promoting self-worth and popular participation in civic life. The program on Masters of Traditional Arts paid tribute to National Heritage Fellowship awardees from 17 states representing a broad range of American traditions. The awards, made annually by the National Endowment for the Arts, honor our human national treasures, those exemplary folk artists whose work expresses the history, identity, beliefs, and values of their communities.

These programs were seen by Smithsonian organizers as more than just separate living exhibits. As a whole, they demonstrated convincingly that across the United States and around the world, traditional culture was with us, not just as atomistic survivals, but as part of social fabrics woven by individuals, communities, and nations. The folks at the Festival live contemporary lives. They are just as contemporary as the genetic engineer, cable television network shopper, or government bureaucrat. The traditions they carry are embedded in modern life. Yes, sometimes we find these traditions are on the margins, but most often they are in an ongoing, creative tension with new innovations and technical and social changes. These traditional ways of doing, making, and being are continually, sometimes even daily, reinvented and applied to the circumstances of individual and institutional life. Innovation and tradition are not opposites, but are processually related to how we use our cultural inheritance - whether that be in music or the museum, handicraft or statecraft - to define and shape the future. The dialogue created at the Festival, in which cultural traditions were respectfully presented, discussed, and even passed along, was therefore considered to be vital to our continued civic health.

On the second day of the 1994 Festival, its founder Ralph Rinzler passed away after a long illness. On July 7, 1994, a memorial service was organized by Ralph's friends and associates (see the recordings in the Masters of Traditional Arts program). Clydia and Reeves Nahwooksy provided a Comanche Baptist invocation. Mile Seeger, Guy Carawan, and Bill Monroe played and sang. Bernice Reagon sang, as did the Bahamians. Bess Hawes, Jeffrey LaRiche, Ann Romano, and James Early spoke of his legacy. Memorial messages were read from Pete Seeger, Alan Lomax, Henry Glassie, Roger Abrahams, Rajeev Sethi, and others. Lucille Dawson spoke about the profound effects the Festival's Native American programs had had on Indian education and civil rights, and Mike Thomas spoke for the Smithsonian custodians who always found in Ralph a friend and supporter. Other impromptu memorials were conducted by the Bahamian and Thai participants.

The 1994 Festival took place during two four-day weeks (July 1-4 and July 7-10) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 12th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History (see site plan).

The 1994 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; essays provided background on the Festival and each of the four programs.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies.

Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies

Richard Kurin, Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Smithsonian/Folkways Recordngs; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Richard Kennedy, Program Analyst; Carla Borden, John Franklin, Program Managers; Olivia Cadaval, Amy Horowitz, Marjorie Hunt, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Folklorists/Curators; Betty Belanus, Education Specialist; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Kenneth M. Bilby, Roland Freeman, Ivan Karp, Alan Lomax, Worth Long, Research Collaborators

Folklife Advisory Council

Roger Abrahams, Jacinto Arias, Jane Beck, Pat Jasper, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Bernice Reagon, John Roberts, Carol Robertson, Gilbert Sprauve, Jack Tchen, Ricardo Trimillos, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez

National Park Service

Roger Kennedy, Director; Robert G. Stanton, Regional Director, National Capital Region

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1994 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

World music  Search this

Folklore  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Folk art  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

arts and crafts  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Genre/Form:

Digital images

Audiocassettes

Audiotapes

Photographic prints

Contracts

Notes

Correspondence

Plans (drawings)

Memorandums

Business records

Negatives

Video recordings

Videotapes

Sound recordings

Slides (photographs)

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1994 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1994

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1994 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5ddc8ca3e-7575-4fbe-aeaa-f2be18f19d0d

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-1994

Medium:

Porcelain with cobalt decoration under colorless glaze

Dimensions:

H x Diam: 4.7 × 21.6 cm (1 7/8 × 8 1/2 in)

Style:

Jingdezhen ware

Type:

Vessel

Origin:

Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

Date:

1506-1521

Period:

Ming dynasty

Topic:

dragon  Search this

Jingdezhen ware  Search this

Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)  Search this

lotus  Search this

Zhengde reign (1506 - 1521)  Search this

China  Search this

porcelain  Search this

Chinese Art  Search this

Credit Line:

Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Accession Number:

F1962.17a-b

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

Related Online Resources:

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3c29a9ecc-bad4-4682-a96b-d35e872d501f

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:fsg_F1962.17a-b

Medium:

Bronze

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 17.1 × 10.3 × 8.2 cm (6 3/4 × 4 1/16 × 3 1/4 in)

Type:

Vessel

Origin:

Anyang, probably Henan province, China

Date:

ca. 1100-1050 BCE

Period:

Late Shang dynasty

Topic:

Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE)  Search this

inscription  Search this

wine  Search this

China  Search this

Chinese Art  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Wolf Ladejinsky

Accession Number:

F1979.47a-b

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

Related Online Resources:

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3aa413b16-357f-4815-ab75-d75e887d3ec3

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:fsg_F1979.47a-b

Artist:

Shunkosai Hokushu 春好斎 北洲 (fl. ca. 1810-1832)  Search this

Medium:

Ink and color on paper

Dimensions:

H x W (image and sheet): 38 × 125.8 cm (14 15/16 × 49 1/2 in)

Type:

Print

Origin:

Osaka, Japan

Date:

ca. early 19th century

Period:

Edo period

Topic:

Edo period (1615 - 1868)  Search this

theater  Search this

kabuki  Search this

Japan  Search this

actor  Search this

yakusha-e  Search this

Japanese Art  Search this

pentaptych  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Gregory T. Kruglak

Accession Number:

S1994.57a-e

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

Related Online Resources:

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3bf8b708f-c019-4c4a-a56c-cbca130bd468

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:fsg_S1994.57a-e

Collector:

Rosin, Henry D., Dr.  Search this

Rosin, Nancy  Search this

Creator:

Lyman, Benjamin Smith, 1835-1920  Search this

Ueno, Hikoma, 1838-1904  Search this

Beato, Felice, b. ca. 1825  Search this

Stillfried, Raimund, Baron von, 1839-1911  Search this

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Names:

Meiji, Emperor of Japan, 1852-1912  Search this

Shōken, Empress, consort of Meiji, Emperor of Japan, 1850-1914  Search this

Extent:

616 Items (approximate count)

Culture:

Ainu  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Mammoth plates

Photographs

Photograph albums

Stereographs

Cartes-de-visite

Photographic prints

Place:

Japan

Japan -- 1890-1900

Kyoto (Japan)

Tokyo (Japan)

Yokohama-shi (Japan)

Date:

1860 - ca. 1900

Scope and Contents:

Assembled by collectors Dr. Henry D. Rosin and Nancy Rosin to document nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century photography of Japan. Includes albumen prints, portions handcolored, some signed and numbered in the negative. Taken by photographers Felice Beato (b. ca. 1825), Baron Raimon von Stillfried (1938-1911), Kusakabe Kimbei (active 1880s), Ueno Hikoma (1838-1904), Ogawa Kazumasa (1860-1929) and unknown photographers to depict architecture, landscapes, formal studio portraits, and daily activities.

Arrangement:

Organized chronologically by the creators.

Biographical / Historical:

Henry and Nancy Rosin were collectors of Japanese photography of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Local Numbers:

FSA A1999.35

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Topic:

Photography of women  Search this

Streets -- Japan  Search this

Temples -- Japan  Search this

Samurai  Search this

Sumo wrestlers  Search this

Religion  Search this

Japanese tea ceremony  Search this

Genre/Form:

Mammoth plates

Photographs -- 1850-1900

Photograph albums

Stereographs -- 1860-1900

Cartes-de-visite

Photographic prints

Citation:

Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. FSA.A1999.35. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation.

Identifier:

FSA.A1999.35

See more items in:

Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc377c3c477-251b-43d9-8ce5-9626389db8ca

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-fsa-a1999-35

Collection Creator:

Ellis, Estelle  Search this

Container:

Box 18, Folder 5

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1945 April 15

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but negatives in Box 62 are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

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:

Estelle Ellis Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Estelle Ellis Collection

Estelle Ellis Collection / Client Files / 1.37: Seventeen Magazine (Triangle Publications)

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep88f9c098d-6d54-4951-9dd9-39ec7a018590

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0423-ref1456

Creator:

California Shop.  Search this

Kemp, Helen Misch, 1894-1948 (store owner/manager)  Search this

Kemp, Barbara  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (2 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Clippings

Photographs

Place:

California -- Fashion -- 1930-1940

New York (N.Y.) -- Fashion -- 1930-1940

Date:

1938-1942

Summary:

The records of the California Shop, a shop specializing in West Coast decorative arts located in New York City, New York.

Scope and Contents note:

Collection consists of a bound volume used as both a log of visitors to the shop and a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, ephemera, magazine articles, announcements, and invitations to fashion shows. The first few pages of the volume are the guest book. The remaining pages were used as the scrapbook and is in reverse chronological order. There are also loose pages from the volume and its wooden covers, with a portion of a map of the Audencia of Guadalajara used as the cover illustration. Of particular interest are the typewritten manuscripts documenting Kemp's ideas for starting the California Shop. In addition, there are photographs of the shop, possibly in 1941, and Helen Kemp.

Arrangement:

Materials are arranged as a single series.

Biographical / Historical:

Helen Misch Kemp opened the California Shop on November 15, 1938 at 677 Madison Avenue in New York City. Kemp was born April 22, 1894 in New York to Moses and Jennie Misch but had moved to California in 1936 where she worked in the women's clothing trade. Some time later she moved back to New York and noticed a distinction between the clothing and merchandise created in California as opposed to what was being offered in New York. California was also gaining a reputation in the fashion industry for its women designers who were combining chic styles, comfort, and unique colors for the American female market. Armed with a keen eye for fashion and shrewd business sense Kemp opened her shop to provide California craftsmanship to an eastern market. Kemp took annual trips to California to select what she considered was the best for her customers. While the California Shop sold mostly women's clothing it also offered products such as preserves, copper household utensils, cookware, trays, wastebaskets, spice jars, wall pockets, flower containers, pottery, and jewelry. On October 15, 1940, the shop moved to 674 Madison Avenue, where it occupied a larger space. Kemp closed her shop in 1942 due to war time difficulties in getting merchandise from California. Helen Kemp died on February 13, 1948, at the age of fifty-four.

Related Materials:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Collections relating to women in business and fashion industry

Estelle Ellis Collection (AC0423)

Brownie Wise Papers (AC0509)

Dorothy Shaver Papers (AC0631)

NW Ayer Advertising Agency Records (AC0059)

Division of Costume Audiovisual Collection (AC0801)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

Ming-Ju Sun Garfinckel's Fashion Drawings (AC0897)

Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection (AC752)

Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection (AC0729)

Joseph Magnin Poster Collection (AC0355)

Provenance:

Barbara Kemp

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.

Topic:

Women in business -- 1930-1940  Search this

Women -- Employment  Search this

Women -- History -- 1930-1940 -- New York  Search this

advertising -- 1930-1940 -- California  Search this

advertising -- Clothing and dress -- 1930-1940  Search this

advertising -- Clothing trade -- 1930-1940  Search this

advertising -- Fashion -- 1930-1940  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Clippings -- 1930-1950

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1930-1940

Citation:

The California Shop Records, 1938-1942, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Barbara Kemp.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0572

See more items in:

The California Shop Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a5184ea9-93d5-4637-8da2-3239b2d20434

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0572

Creator:

Eskimo Pie Corporation.  Search this

Nelson, Christian Kent, 1893-1992  Search this

Extent:

15 Cubic feet (50 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Advertisements

Sheet music

Posters

Photographs

Business records

Legal records

Clippings

Date:

1921-1996

Scope and Contents:

Printed advertisements, photographs (including negatives and slides), sales presentation materials and packaging; patent and legal information, clippings, posters, scripts for radio commercials, sheet music for jingles, etc. Also includes personal papers (correspondence) of Christian Nelson, inventor of the Eskimo Pie.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into eight series.

Biographical / Historical:

Eskimo Pie, America's first chocolate covered ice cream bar, was invented by Christian Kent Nelson in his home laboratory in 1920. Nelson patented his invention and the ice cream bar quickly rose in popularity in America. By 1922, Nelson was earning $2000 per day in royalties on his product.

Christian K. Nelson was born on March 12, 1893, in Gunstrup, Denmark, to Pedar Nelson and Margerethe Madesen Nelson. While Nelson was an infant, the seven Nelson children and their parents emigrated to the United States. The dairy farming family settled in Illinois, Wisconsin, and finally in Iowa in 1903. In Onawa, Iowa, Nelson opened a small confectionery shop near the high school where he worked as a teacher. The inspiration for the invention of Eskimo Pie was a boy's indecision in Nelson's confectionery store in 1920. A boy started to buy ice cream, then changed his mind and bought a chocolate bar. Nelson inquired as to why he did not buy both. The boy replied, "Sure I know--I want 'em both, but I only got a nickel." For weeks after the incident, Nelson worked around the clock experimenting with different methods of sticking melted chocolate to frozen ice cream until he found cocoa butter to be the perfect adherent.

Immediately, he produced 500 ice cream bricks with a chocolate candy coating. The "I-Scream Bars" were a hit at the local village fireman's picnic and Nelson began searching for companies to manufacture his new product.

On July 13, 1921, Nelson and chocolate maker Russell C. Stover entered into a joint agreement to market and produce the product. It was decided the name would change from Nelson's "I-Scream Bar" to "Eskimo Pie". In the hand-written agreement composed the same day the two met for the first time, the entrepreneurs agreed to "coat ice cream with chocolate [sic] divide the profits equally." They decided to sell the manufacturing rights to local ice cream companies for $500 to $1000, plus royalties on each Eskimo Pie sold.

Nelson and Stover began their business venture with an advertising campaign in Des Moines, Iowa. The first 250,000 pies produced were sold within 24 hours. By spring 1922, 2,700 manufacturers sold one million Eskimo Pies per day. On January 24, 1922, the United States granted patent number 1,404,539 for the Eskimo Pie. Nelson's patent applied to any type of frozen material covered with candy. Nelson also had the name "Eskimo Pie" trademarked. Initially, even the word "Pie" in a brand name frozen treat was covered by this trademark. The breadth of the patent was detrimental to Eskimo Pie because of growing legal costs associated with its defense.

Russell Stover sold his share of the company in 1922. Because of the cost of litigation, high salaried salesmen, and difficulties in collecting royalties, the company was sold in 1924. Eskimo Pie became a subsidiary of United States Foil Company, the supplier of the Eskimo Pie wrapper. Headed by R.S. Reynolds, Sr., the company later became known as Reynolds Metals Company.

In 1925, dry ice was invented. Nelson was eager to find a way to make buying Eskimo Pie as easy as buying another snack from a vendor. Nelson began to market thermal jugs with dry ice supplied with Eskimo Pies to vendors without access to a freezer. This increased visibility and distribution and made Eskimo Pie an "impulse" item.

The patent litigation continued until October 3, 1929, when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the lower courts declared that the 1922 patent was invalid, due to "lack of invention." Eskimo Pie resembled an earlier product that also called for ice cream with cocoa butter dipped in chocolate. The judge declared that Nelson had merely changed the shape for an existing product. Even his trademark on the work "pie" was invalidated, as the judge said the word had a wide variety of use.

Nelson retired to California and assigned his royalties to his wife, Myrtle Skidmore "Skid" Nelson. However, Nelson, reportedly "bored," came out of retirement in 1935 to rejoin Eskimo Pie and work on new products. Nelson continued to create ice cream innovations such as ice patties and colored ice cream holiday centers within Eskimo Pie products. In 1955, Nelson was awarded a patent for his Eskimo Machine. The machinery squeezed out ice cream of the correct dimensions which was then cut into bars. This process was faster than the older method of molding the ice cream bar. After a decline in sales during the Great Depression, Eskimo Pie received a boost from sales to the United States armed forces during World II. Rising commodity prices in the post war era forced the company to reduce the size of the product. However, the distinct foil wrapper remained the same. Nelson officially retired from Eskimo Pie in 1961 as vice-president and director of research. Surviving his wife by one year, he died March 8, 1992.

In 1992, Eskimo Pie became independent of Reynolds' Metals. The company continues to market dozens of shapes, sizes, and types of frozen treats. The brand name Eskimo Pie continues to have strong consumer recognition and has appeared in cartoons, movies, and even in Funk and Wagnall's Dictionary.

Sources

"He Made Kids Scream for Ice Cream," 1959, manuscript from collection Nelson-Stover Agreement, July 13, 1921, manuscript from the collection U.S. Patent 1,404,539 January 24, 1922, manuscript from the collection

Scope and Content Note

The Eskimo Pie Collection consists primarily of materials relating to the advertising, business, and packaging of its ice cream products. The collection includes numerous photographs, printed advertisements, and packaging materials. It also contains company annual reports and newsletters, business history, information on machines and equipment used in manufacturing the product, and the history of the invention of Eskimo Pie. The formulas and directions for creating many of the Eskimo Pie products are included.

Series 1: CHRISTIAN NELSON PAPERS, 1921-1992 - Contains personal information on the inventor of Eskimo Pie, Christian Nelson, including his correspondence and financial information. Most of the correspondence is business related. Subseries 1: Christian Nelson Personal Papers, 1933-1988 - These materials include tax information, bank account information, and a few documents related to his personal life. Not many documents of a personal nature are in the collection. Most details of his life are found in magazine and newspaper clippings in Series 2, Subseries 4. Subseries 2: Nelson Correspondence (by correspondent), 1944-1946 - This subseries contains Nelson's business correspondence previously arranged alphabetically by correspondent. The correspondence only dates from 1944-1946. Subseries 3: Nelson and Business Correspondence (by date), 1920-1990 - Arranged chronologically by decade, this correspondence consists of letters on various topics that were scattered throughout the collection. Most of these letters are business related but many have personal notations within them. Not all letters include Nelson.

Series 2: HISTORICAL AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION, 1921-1992 - This series includes any information that helps to narrate the story of the invention of Eskimo Pie and the company that sold the product. It contains company scrapbooks of specific years, important historical documents regarding Eskimo Pie history, and newspaper clippings and magazine articles that summarize the detailed history of the company. Subseries 1: Background Information on Company, 1921-1992 - This information includes company scrapbooks that contain articles, letters, promotions and/or advertisements for a particular year. The scrapbooks often relate the history of Eskimo Pie in past years as well as representing the year of the scrapbook. Other materials such as the Eskimo Pie patent, and information on Christian Nelson and Russell Stover with their original agreement are included. Subseries 2: Information on Related Companies, 1947-1987 - This material contains annual reports and the company publications of Reynolds Aluminum which supplied the Eskimo Pie wrapper. Eskimo Pie became a subsidiary of Reynolds (then known as US Foil Company) in 1924. Other companies whose products are related to Eskimo Pie are also included. Subseries 3: Patent and Legal Information, 1921-1965 - Important legal documents of the Eskimo Pie business are arranged in this subseries by type of document. The patents include many of Nelson's patents as well as other patents of invention related to ice cream. Subseries 4: Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1920-1990 - Most articles in the subseries are related to the history or business of Eskimo Pie, although a few are not. Cartoons that use the Eskimo Pie name are included.

Series 3: MANUFACTURING AND EQUIPMENT, 1922-1990 - This series documents the machinery and equipment used to produce, package, and freeze the ice cream. It also includes the specific formulas of Eskimo Pie products with ingredients and directions for their preparation. Subseries 1: Machinery, 1922-1990 - This series is comprised of catalogues, plans, and brochures on general types of machines used to create ice cream along with very specific types of machines with specific names (such as the Eskimo Machine). It also includes video footage of a 1990 production line. Some photographs of equipment are included in the catalogues but other photographs of machinery can be found in Photographs under Series 5, Subseries 1. Subseries 2: Formulae and Directions, 1942-1963 - Formulas and specifications to create certain Eskimo Pie products make up this series. The formulas and directions were sent to franchise manufacturers and field personnel and state how to use the machinery to create the desired product. The folders labeled with product numbers include booklets of formulas and the folders labeled with formulas of specific products are loose pages or additions to the booklets. Other formulas and directions for specific products can be found in some of the promotional brochures in Series 7 Subseries 4.

Series 4: ESKIMO PIE COMPANY RECORDS, 1951-1995 - The company records in this series are comprised of Annual Company Reports and Company Newsletters. Subseries 1: Eskimo Pie Annual Reports, 1951-1995 - The Annual Reports include financial information as well as the names of the directors, officers, and management personnel for that particular year. Subseries 2: Eskimo Pie Newsletters, 1968-1979 - These monthly newsletters function as a company information tool for employees. They include company news along with general interest features such as cartoons, news of the company sports teams, announcements of vacations and birthdays, etc.

Series 5: PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES, 1928-1990 - This series consists of photographs and negatives of various subject matter. Subseries 1: Photographs, 1928-1990 - These photographs are arranged by subject matter. Some of the main subject categories of the photographs include machinery and equipment, advertising, promotions, and pictures of Christian Nelson at company events. Subseries 2: Photograph Negatives and Slides, 1928-1990 - This subseries includes many negatives of the photographs already contained in Subseries 1. Only one folder in this subseries is slides.

Series 6: ESKIMO PIE BUSINESS INFORMATION, 1921-1990 - This series consists of any records pertaining to the business of the Eskimo Pie company including finances, marketing, sales, promotions, personnel information, packaging, and publications. It does not include advertising. Subseries 1: General Business Information, 1922-1990 - Business information that did not fit into any particular business category comprises this series. Each folder's information is very specific to its own particular topic and is arranged chronologically. Subseries 2: Marketing, 1927-1996 - This series includes any marketing information that attempts to sell Eskimo Pie to the consumer. This information does overlap with some aspects of advertising and packaging, as they also function as marketing tools to promote increased buying. It also includes promotional materials for the film AWho's Minding the Mint?" which featured an Eskimo Pie ice cream man as a character. The information is organized by specific years or time periods. Subseries 3: Employee Information and Incentives, 1952-1970 - This subseries includes general information such as personnel lists and phone lists but also includes incentive campaigns for employees. These incentive campaigns were directed towards salesmen, particularly route driver salesman, and propose prize rewards for sales. The booklets in box 31 include the ads for incentives to be sent out to the salesmen throughout the year. Along with the ads are explanations of the incentive and the company's reasoning behind its approach to the salesmen in that particular ad. The prizes to be awarded are not specifically listed but are displayed in pictures in many of the incentive ads. Subseries 4: Premiums and Promotions, 1937-1990 - Information on premiums in which consumers save wrappers and send them to Eskimo Pie for goods as well as special promotions are included in this subseries. Lists of goods that can be purchased with the corresponding number of wrappers are included. Other promotions include prizes for contests or special offers with Eskimo proofs of purchase. This subseries includes promotional brochures that explain the new promotions. Subseries 5: Financial Information, 1932-1990 - Any business information pertaining to Eskimo Pie's finances, sales, and\or profits is included in this subseries. It also includes U.S. Foil Royalty Reports that report the number of wrappers shipped and manufactured of different businesses including those of Eskimo Pie (Eskimo Pie was a subsidiary of U.S. Foil). The U.S. Foil reports are addressed to Myrtle Nelson. Bank information of Frozen Products, Inc., which manufactured Eskimo Pie and Eskimo confections, is also included. Subseries 6: Packaging, 1921-1954 - This subseries consists of actual boxes, wrappers, lids, and sticks that were used in packaging Eskimo Pie products. The materials are organized by types of packaging and the dates of the materials are generally unclear. Subseries 7: General Publications Related to Ice Cream, 1935-1990 - Listed in chronological order, these publications provide information on the ice cream, dairy, and chocolate industries in a specific time frame. These publications generally do not mention Eskimo Pie products.

Series 7: ADVERTISING MATERIALS, 1922-1992 - The advertising materials included in this series mainly consist of the actual advertisements. Little written information on specific advertising campaigns is included with the print, radio, and television advertisements. The promotional brochures do include some written information on the product the company is promoting. Subseries 1: Print Advertisements, 1922-1989 - This subseries includes a range of types of advertisements. Some ads include printed ads in magazines and newspapers while many are proofs of advertisements that will go to print. Other types of advertisements include banners, decals, and railstrips which appear to be point of purchase displays for vending machines, ice cream stands, ice cream carts or trucks, or even the grocery store. Although the scrapbooks mainly consist of advertisements, they also include packaging, machinery, and marketing information. Subseries 2: Radio Advertisements, 1930-1985 - This small subseries includes scripts for radio announcements and advertisements. The sheet music for the radio jingles, "I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream," "Oh My, Eskimo Pie,"and "New Eskimo Pie on a Stick" are included here. Subseries 3: Television Advertisements, 1948-1992 - The television materials included consist of story boards, scripts for television advertisements with corresponding still photographs, television commercials, and little written information on television campaigns. Subseries 4: Promotional Brochures, 1951-1964 - This subseries consists of materials pertaining to new products or special occasion items (e.g. Christmas, Halloween). The brochures were probably sent to vendors, distributors and /or ice cream producers. The brochures intended for vendors and distributors contain samples of advertising, packaging, point of purchase displays and in some instances, inexpensive premiums to be awarded to consumers. The brochures for ice cream manufacturers contain some of the same material as well as the formula and directions for the product, a list of equipment required, and a price list for rental of that equipment. The material, contained in the boxes has been organized alphabetically where possible.

Series 8: MISCELLANEOUS, 1921-1979 - This series includes materials found in the collection with no apparent relation to Christian Nelson or Eskimo Pie. Random materials that display the Eskimo Pie logo are also included.

Provenance

The Eskimo Pie collection was donated on May 10, 1996, to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center.

Related Collections The Division of Cultural History has several objects which are also part of the Eskimo Pie Collection.

The Archives Center holds many collections related to ice cream and the food industry including: #58 Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (see Dairy)

#78 Faris and Yamna Naff Arab-American Collection, 1880-1995 (see waffle cone machine)

#112 Famous Amos Collection, 1979-1983

#300 Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, 1790-1980 (see Ice Cream)

#451 Good Humor Collection, 1930-1990

#588 Carvel Ice Cream Records, 1934-1989

#594 Krispy Kreme Donut Corporation Records, 1937-1997

Separated Materials:

Related artifacts housed in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).

Provenance:

Collection donated by Dave Clark, Eskimo Pie Corporation, July 12, 1996.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Copyright and trademark restrictions.

Topic:

Stereotypes (Social psychology)  Search this

Polar bear in art  Search this

Ice cream industry -- Equipment and supplies  Search this

Ice cream industry  Search this

Ethnic imagery  Search this

advertising -- 20th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Advertisements

Sheet music -- advertising

Posters

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 1890-1920

Business records -- 20th century

Photographs -- 20th century

Legal records

Clippings

Citation:

Eskimo Pie Corporation Records, 1921-1996, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0553

See more items in:

Eskimo Pie Corporation Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8e0810377-c08a-4f7e-88e4-1babfa719b19

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0553

Creator:

Williams, Ralph William  Search this

Breck Company.  Search this

Dial Corporation.  Search this

American Cyanamid Company  Search this

Sheldon, Charles  Search this

Names:

Basinger, Kim  Search this

Gray, Erin  Search this

Hamill, Joan  Search this

Shields, Brooke  Search this

Tiegs, Cheryl  Search this

Extent:

6.5 Cubic feet (16 boxes, 188 pieces of original artwork)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Pastels (visual works)

Advertisements

Business records

Date:

circa 1936-1995

Summary:

The collection documents the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood through correspondence, photographs, paintings, and print advertisements.

Scope and Contents:

188 pieces of original advertising art (mostly pastel drawings), and photographs, correspondence, and business records, documenting the development and evolution of the Breck Girls advertising campaign. Original advertising art includes portraits of famous models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, and Erin Gray. Artists represented include Charles Sheldon and Ralph William Williams. The 2006 addendum consists of approximately one sixth of one cubic foot of papers relating to Cynthia Brown's selection as a Breck Girl, 1988 and her induction into the Breck Hall of Fame.

Arrangement:

Collection divided into four series.

Series 1: Company history, 1946-1990

Series 2: Photographs, 1960-1995

Series 3: Print ads, 1946-1980

Series 4: Original artwork, 1936-1994

Biographical / Historical:

Dr. John Breck is credited with developing one of the first liquid shampoos in the United States, in Springfield Massachusetts in 1908; Breck is also credited with introducing the first ph-balanced shampoo, in 1930. During the early years of the business, distribution remained localized in New England, and the product was sold exclusively to beauty salons until 1946. Advertising for the brand began in 1932, but appeared only in trade publications, such as Modern Beauty Shop.

Edward Breck, son of the founder, assumed management of the company in 1936. Breck became acquainted with Charles Sheldon, an illustrator and portrait painter who is believed to have studied in Paris under Alphonse Mucha, an artist noted for his contributions to Art Nouveau style. Sheldon had achieved some measure of fame for his paintings of movie stars for the cover of Photoplay magazine in the 1920s, and had also done idealized pastel portraits for the cover of Parents magazine. He created his first pastel portraits for Breck in 1936, launching what would become one of America's longest running ad campaigns. When the company began national advertising (and mass distribution) in 1946, the campaign featured Sheldon's 1937 painting of seventeen-year old Roma Whitney, a spirited blonde. Ms. Whitney's profile was registered as Breck's trademark in 1951. When he retired in 1957, Sheldon had created 107 oil paintings and pastels for the company. Sheldon was known to favor ordinary women over professional models, and in the early years of the campaign, the Breck Girls were Breck family members, neighbors or residents of the community in which he worked; company lore holds that nineteen Breck Girls were employees of the advertising agency he founded in 1940. A Breck advertising manager later described Sheldon's illustrations as, "illusions, depicting the quality and beauty of true womanhood using real women as models." The paintings and pastels form a coherent, if derivative, body of work which celebrates an idealized vision of American girlhood and womanhood, an ideal in which fair skin, beauty and purity are co-equal.

Ralph William Williams was hired to continue the Breck Girls campaign after Sheldon's retirement. Between 1957 and his death in 1976, Williams modified the Breck Girl look somewhat through the use of brighter colors and a somewhat heightened sense of movement and individuality. The advertising manager during his tenure recalled that Aat first Williams continued in Sheldon' manner, but in later years, as women became more independent, he would take care to integrate each girl' particular personality; he studied each girl and learned her special qualities. During these years, Breck Girls were identified through the company's sponsorship of America's Junior Miss contests. Williams work includes pastels of celebrities Cybil Shepard (1968 Junior Miss from Tennessee), Cheryl Tiegs (1968), Jaclyn Smith (1971, 1973), Kim Basinger (1972, 1974) and Brooke Shields (1974) very early in their careers.

By the 1960s, at the height of its success, Breck held about a twenty percent share of the shampoo market and enjoyed a reputation for quality and elegance. Ownership of the company changed several times (American Cyanamid in 1963; Dial Corporation in 1990). The corresponding fluctuations in management of the company and in advertising expenditures tended to undermine the coherence of the national advertising campaign. In addition, despite William's modifications, the image had become dated. Attempts to update the image misfired, further limiting the brand's coherence and effectiveness. Finally, increased competition and an absence of brand loyalty among consumers through the 1970s and 1980s helped push Breck from its number one position into the bargain bin. The Breck Girl campaign was discontinued around 1978, although there have been at least two minor revivals, first in 1992 with the Breck Girls Hall of Fame, and again in 1995 when a search was begun to identify three new Breck Women. Scope and Content: The 188 pieces of original advertising art (62 oil paintings on board, 2 pencil sketches on paper, and 124 pastels on paper) and related photographs, correspondence and business files in this collection document the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood. The collection is a perfect fit with other 20th century Archives Center collections documenting the efforts of American business to reach the female consumer market. The Estelle Ellis Collection (advertising and promotions for Seventeen, Charm, Glamour and House & Garden and many other clients) the Cover Girl Collection (make-up), the Maidenform Collection (brassieres), and the Tupperware Collections offer a prodigious body of evidence for understanding the role women were expected to play as consumers in the 20th century.

These advertising images also offer fertile ground for research into the evolution of popular images of American girlhood and womanhood. The research uses of the collection derive primarily from its value as an extensive visual catalog of the ideal types of American women and girls, arising and coalescing during a period in which 19th century ideals of womanhood were being revisited (the depression, the war years, the immediate post-war period) and continuing, with slight modifications and revisions, through several decades during which those historical ideals were being challenged and revised.

Related Materials:

Several items of packaging, 1930s-1980s are held in the former Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life); an 18k gold Breck insignia pin is in the former.

Provenance:

The Dial Corporation through Jane Owens, Senior Vice President, Gift, June 1998.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

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.

Topic:

Shampoos -- advertising  Search this

Hair -- Shampooing  Search this

advertising -- 20th century  Search this

Feminine beauty (Aesthetics)  Search this

Beauty contestants  Search this

Beauty culture  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000

Pastels (visual works)

Advertisements -- 20th century

Business records -- 20th century

Citation:

Breck Girls Collection, ca. 1936-1995, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0651

See more items in:

Breck Girls Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8391c0d4c-0f44-4123-acb3-bd54f8a86aa3

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0651

Creator:

Hills Bros. Coffee, Inc.  Search this

Extent:

65 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Advertising cards

16mm motion picture film

Annual reports

Artwork

Beverage labels

Blueprints

Business ephemera

Bulletins

Business letters

Business records

Catalogs

Color photographs

Color negatives

Commercial art

Correspondence

Direct mail

Ephemera

Exhibit plans

Financial records

Genealogies

Home movies

Ledger drawings

Office files

Office memoranda

Packaging

Photographic prints

Photographs

Price lists

Proof sheets

Promotional literature

Receipts

Sales records

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Television programs

Window displays

Date:

1856-1989, undated

Summary:

Printed advertisements, scrapbooks, correspondence, marketing research, radio commercial scripts, photographs, proof sheets, reports, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, television commercial storyboards, blueprints, legal documents, and audiovisual materials primarily documenting the history, business practices, and advertising campaigns of the Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated. Collection also documents the professional and private lives of the Hills family; insight into the cultivation, production, and selling of coffee; and construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists of printed advertisements, scrapbooks, correspondence, marketing research, radio commercial scripts, photographs, proof sheets, reports, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, television commercial storyboards, blueprints, legal documents, and audiovisual materials. These materials primarily document the history, business practices, and advertising campaigns of Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated. Correspondence, genealogies, and home movies reveal a more domestic and social Hills family while company records document business activities outside of the home. Company records also provide insight into the cultivation, production, and selling of coffee, and the company's technological responses to the changes in the coffee trade, and consumer consumption demands. Of interest is the company's participation in social and cultural events including the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915, and the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939. In addition, the collection includes the company's documentation of the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936. The collection is arranged into thirteen series.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into thirteen series.

Series 1, Hills Family Papers, 1856-1942, undated

Subseries 1.1, Austin Herbert Hills, Sr. Papers, 1856-1875, undated

Subseries 1.2, Austin Herbert Hills, Jr. Papers, 1875-1923

Subseries 1.3, Herbert Gray Hills Correspondence, 1923-1942

Series 2, Background Materials, 1896-1988, undated

Series 3, Coffee Reference Files, 1921-1980, undated

Subseries 3.1, Hills Bros. Coffee Company Literature, 1921-1976, undated

Subseries 3.2, Coffee Industry Literature, 1924-1980, undated

Series 4, Advertising Materials, circa 1890s-1987, undated

Subseries 4.1, Scrapbooks, 1906-1978, undated

Subseries 4.2, Historical Albums, 1911-1967

Subseries 4.3, Ephemera, 1890s-1987

Subseries 4.4, Portfolios, 1919-1985, undated

Subseries 4.5, Proof sheets, 1922-1968

Subseries 4.6, Advertising Forms, 1922-1971, undated

Subseries 4.7, Newspaper and Magazine Advertising, 1926-1971, undated

Subseries 4.8, Sampling Campaigns, 1928-1941

Subseries 4.9, General Files, 1923-1978, undated

Subseries 4.10, NW Ayer Advertising Agency, 1943, 1958

Subseries 4.11, Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising Agency, 1963-1968, undated

Series 5, Photographs, 1882-1973, undated

Subseries 5.1, Employees, 1882-1961, undated

Subseries 5.2, Division Offices, 1924-1931, undated

Subseries 5.3, Facilities and Vehicles, 1927-1973, undated

Subseries 5.4, Advertising, 1925-1959, undated

Subseries 5.5, Sales, circa 1921-1939, undated

Subseries 5.6, Packaging, 1884-1969, undated

Subseries 5.7, Grocery Store Displays, circa, 1901-1935

Subseries 5.8, Store Tests, 1938

Subseries 5.9, Window and Wall Displays, 1928, 1930, 1934

Subseries 5.10, Publicity, 1933-1936, undated

Subseries 5.11, Miscellaneous, 1898-1949, undated

Subseries 5.12, Coffee and Tea Industry, 1900s-1947,. undated

Series 6, Sales and Marketing Records, 1906-1989, undated

Subseries 6.1, Bulletins for Salesmen, 1912-1969

Subseries 6.2, Division Bulletins and General Letters, 1925-1927

Subseries 6.3, Correspondence, 1919-1989

Subseries 6.4, Conventions and Meetings, 1915-1971

Subseries 6.5, Salesmen Materials, 1906-1973, undated

Subseries 6.6, Reports and Studies, 1941-1978

Subseries 6.7, Marketing Research, 1956-1978, undated

Subseries 6.8, Pricing Information, 1949-1965

Series 7, Employee Records, 1934-1966

Series 8, Accounting and Financial Records, 1903-1960, undated

Series 9, Office Files, 1915-1970, undated

Subseries 9.1, General, 1915-1969, undated

Subseries 9.2, T. Carroll Wilson Correspondence, 1941-1970

Series 10, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Materials, 1933-1986, undated

Subseries 10.1, Background Information, 1933-1986, undated

Subseries 10.2, Photographic Materials, 1933-1936, undated

Series 11, Golden Gate International Exposition Materials, 1915-1940, undated

Subseries 11.1, Coffee Theater, circa 1939

Subseries 11.2, Exposition Attendance, 1915-1940

Subseries 11.3, Correspondence, 1937-1940, undated

Subseries 11.4, Construction, 1937-1940, undated

Subseries 11.5, Blueprints, 1937-1939

Subseries 11.6, Behind the Cup, 1937-1940, undated

Subseries 11.7, Newspaper Cooperation, 1939

Subseries 11.8, Solicitations and Replies, 1938-1940

Subseries 11.9, Miscellaneous, 1938-1940

Series 12, World War II Materials, 1939-1949, undated

Subseries 12.1, Production and Quotas, 1942-1946

Subseries 12.2, Rationing, 1939-1946

Subseries 12.3, Containers and Closures, 1942-1949, undated

Subseries 12.4, Appeals, 1948

Subseries 12.5, Advertising Campaigns, 1942, undated

Subseries 12.6, Machinists' Strike Scrapbooks, 1945-1946

Series 13, Audio Visual Materials, 1930-1984, undated

Subseries 13.1, Moving Images, 1930-1966

Subseries 13.1.1, Television Commercials, 1951-1984

Subseries 13.1.2, Television Programs, 1951-1967

Subseries 13.1.3, Promotional Materials, 1939-1977

Subseries 13.1.4, Hills Bros. Activities, 1930-1962

Subseries 13.1.5, Miscellaneous Film and Video, 1938-1966

Subseries 13.2, Sound Recordings, 1934-1967, undated

Subseries 13.2.1, Radio Commercials, 1941-1967, undated

Subseries 13.2.2, Radio Programs and Other Broadcasts, 1934-1956, undated

Subseries 13.2.3, Cardboard Discs, 1941-1960; undated.

Biographical / Historical:

Reuben Hills, on one occasion, stated regarding his company's growth; ...success in business is fifty per cent judgment and fifty per cent propitious circumstances." The rise of Hills Bros. Coffee Incorporated from a retail dairy stall in San Francisco's old Bay City Public Market reflects the reality of Reuben's statement. Aided by brother Austin's three years of experience in the retail dairy business the early success of the brothers was in Reuben's own words both circumstance and hard work. When Reuben and Austin began to produce roasted coffee there were at least twenty-five other companies already engaged in some form of coffee production and distribution in San Francisco including, of course, the well-known Folger Company started by William Bovee (which began in San Francisco thirty years earlier). Most of these coffee businesses were started by family groups which contributed to the growth of San Francisco.

San Francisco in the nineteenth century was ripe for the importing and roasting of coffee. The foundation for commercial production of coffee dated back to the 1820s when English planters brought coffee to Costa Rica. By the early 1840s German and Belgian planters followed with coffee plantations in Guatemala and El Salvador, two of the several Central American countries where Hills Bros. would obtain its mild coffee beans. During the Gold Rush (1849) San Francisco rapidly expanded and grew. Coffee was imported and sold, after roasting, to restaurants and hotels. Yankee gold miners and others without equipment to roast and brew their own coffee, populated "coffee houses." In 1873 two brothers, Austin Herbert and Reuben Wilmarth Hills arrived in San Francisco from their home in Rockland, Maine with their father Austin who had come to California some years earlier. Five years later in 1878 A. H. and R. W. Hills established a retail stall to sell dairy products in the Bay City Market under the name of their new partnership "Hills Bros." Their small business expanded in less than four years with the acquisition of a retail coffee store titled Arabian Coffee & Spice Mills on Fourth Street in San Francisco. In two more years (1884) still larger quarters were occupied at Sacramento and Sansome Streets. Soon after this they disposed of their retail dairy business but continued as wholesale distributors of some dairy products including butter. Their coffee was labeled "Arabian Roast"' supported by the now famous trademark design of a man in turban and beard with a flowing yellow gown. This was created by a San Francisco artist named Briggs and since then (1897) has remained as the official trademark of Hills Bros. Coffee - a lasting symbol of coffee quality. Hills Bros. dairy division was eliminated in 1908 after company destruction by the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. By 1924 all miscellaneous products including tea, had been dropped by the company which from then on referred to itself as "coffee only."

Emphasis on the quality of the finished product has long been a major selling point in the history of Hills Bros. advertising and marketing. The company's desire to keep abreast of technological advances in coffee production is a legacy of Austin and Reuben Hills, and is reflected in the company records, in its advertising and its self-perception. It was probably 1898 when Austin Hills and Thomas Hodge, partners who managed the wholesale dairy product operations were looking for a suitable can for exporting butter that could not be manufactured in San Francisco at that time, decided to consult Norton Brothers, a progressive can manufacture company in Chicago. Whether Austin traveled to Chicago or arranged with his brother Reuben to stop off there in route to New York (where he frequently spent time at the New York Green Coffee Exchange) to present the problem to Norton Brothers, which brother made the actual contact with Norton Brothers is not important today, but the results of that visit were real. Norton Brothers had just received patents on a process for packing foods in vacuum and thought it might solve the butter problem. In short order arrangements were made for shipping cans and machinery from Chicago to San Francisco including agreement for exclusive use on the West Coast for a reasonable period. Thus, Hills Bros. butter became the first known food product to ever be packed in vacuum. Once this started Reuben Hills had the idea that what worked well with butter might also be used for coffee. Experimental vacuum-packing of coffee in butter cans supported the theory that taking the air out of coffee would keep the product fresh for indefinite periods. No time was lost in getting new cans and more machinery and in July 1900 Hills Bros. Coffee as "the original vacuum-pack" was placed on the market. With the advent of this technology Hills Bros. changed the product name from "Arabian Roast" to "Hills Bros. Highest Grade Java and Mocha Coffee" and continued with the new trademark that had been started in 1897. Vacuum-packing extended the shelf life and travel ability of the product, thus new markets, national and international, were opened.

A change in the coffee industry of America was on the way. Hills Bros. remained the pioneer of vacuum-packing for thirteen years until a similar process was adopted by M.J.B., another leading coffee company in San Francisco. Other packers on the West Coast soon followed, but it was not until after World War I that East Coast coffee producers turned to vacuum-packaging.

Production and advertising of coffee continued to change with new technology. In the late 1880s San Francisco coffee importers began to "cup test" coffee beans for quality but the majority still depended on sight and smell. Reuben Hills and a few other coffee personalities in San Francisco are credited with the cup test method of appraising coffee quality. In its new home office and plant opened in San Francisco in 1926, Hills Bros. adopted "controlled roasting" in which coffee was roasted a few pounds at a time, but continuously. Developed in 1923 under the direction of Leslie Hills and Lee Maede, company engineer, "controlled roasting" employed the use of instruments to control the temperature and speed of operations, resulting in perfect roasting control that could not be depended on from batch to batch by even the most experienced coffee roasting expert. In 1914 the partnership known as Hills Bros. was incorporated under the same name. In 1928 a sales organization was formed under the name of Hills Bros. Coffee, Incorporated, but within four to five years the parent company absorbed Hills Bros. Coffee, Incorporated and adopted its name. A second plant was built in Edgewater, New Jersey, completed in 1941 to meet the needs of the increasing growth of areas between Chicago and the East Coast.

During World War II Hills Bros. faced conservation rules restricting use of tin for coffee cans. A timely method of high-speed packing in glass jars by Owens Illinois Glass Company made it possible for Hills Bros. as well as other companies in the industry to continue vacuum-packing during this period. Price control and coffee rationing were other war time necessities to which the industry adjusted.

Hills Bros. Coffee, Incorporated passed out of family ownership in 1976 when the company was purchased by a Brazilian corporation named Copersucar. In 1983 a group of local investors in San Francisco brought ownership back to where it had started and sold the business in 1984 to Nestlé Holdings, Incorporated, (effective January 1, 1985) which handled the acquisition of several companies in the United States for Nestlé S. A. Vevey, Switzerland.

Historical note written by T., Carroll Wilson, company historian and archivist, 1993.

Related Materials:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

NW Ayer Advertising Agency Records, NMAH.AC0059

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, NMAH.AC0060

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.AC0143

General Merchandise Account Book, NMAH.AC0189

Duke Ellington, NMAH.AC0301

Product Cookbooks Collection, NMAH.AC0396

Charles W. Trigg Papers, NMAH.AC0411

Princeton University Posters Collection, NMAH.AC0433

Landor Design Collection, NMAH.AC0500

Industry on Parade Film Collection, NMAH.AC0507

Sandra and Gary Baden Collection of Celebrity Endorsements in Advertising, NMAH.AC0611

Fletcher and Horace Henderson Collection, NMAH.AC0797

Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs, NMAH.AC0945

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, NMAH.AC1086

Alice Weber Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC1144

Henry "Buddy" Graf and George Cahill Vaudeville and Burlesque Collections, NMAH.AC1484

Division of Cultural History, National Museum of American History

Artifacts include coffee packaging, Golden Gate International Exposition sampling cups and saucers, a bowling shirt, and coffee cans.

Provenance:

These records were donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but the negatives and audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

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.

Topic:

Coffee  Search this

advertising -- 20th century  Search this

advertising -- 1930-1940 -- California  Search this

advertising -- 1980-1990  Search this

Advertising agencies -- 20th century  Search this

advertising -- 1940-1950  Search this

advertising -- 1970-1980  Search this

advertising -- 1980-1990  Search this

advertising -- Audio-visual materials  Search this

advertising -- Beverages -- 1930-1990  Search this

advertising -- Business ephemera  Search this

Advertising campaigns -- 20th century  Search this

Advertising executives  Search this

Advertising, Direct-mail  Search this

Agricultural crops -- Fields  Search this

Genre/Form:

Advertising cards -- 19th century.

16mm motion picture film

Annual reports

Artwork

Beverage labels

Blueprints -- 20th century

Business ephemera

Bulletins

Business letters

Business records -- 20th century

Business records -- 19th century

Catalogs -- 20th century

Color photographs

Color negatives

Commercial art

Correspondence

Correspondence -- 19th-20th century

Direct mail

Ephemera -- 19th century

Ephemera -- 20th century

Exhibit plans

Financial records -- 19th century

Financial records -- 20th century

Genealogies

Home movies

Ledger drawings

Office files

Office memoranda

Packaging -- 20th century

Photographic prints

Photographs -- 19th century

Photographs -- 20th century

Price lists

Proof sheets

Promotional literature

Receipts -- 20th century

Sales records

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Sound recordings

Sound recordings -- Audiotapes -- Open reel

Television programs

Window displays

Citation:

Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated Records, 1856-1989, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0395

See more items in:

Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8de2ab00c-0e83-43df-9a02-26cffe43e069

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0395

Donor:

Mair, LaVeda  Search this

Creator:

Mair, Francis M., 1916-1991 (commercial artist)  Search this

Names:

Landor Associates  Search this

United States. Naval Training School  Search this

Landor, Walter  Search this

Extent:

56 Cubic feet (104 Boxes, 40 map-folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Beverage labels

Fruit crate labels

Labels

Place:

San Francisco (Calif.)

Date:

1935-1994

Summary:

Client files, administrative files, artwork, and collected food labels from graphic and industrial designer Francis Mair. Mair specialized in beverage labels and packaging during his many years with Landor Associates in San Francisco. Late in his career, he directed Landor's Museum of Packaging History. His prolific freelance career included designs for furniture, decorative arts, letterhead, and corporate images. His personal artwork included alphabets, typefaces, and sketchbooks. Much of his personal artwork is humorous or erotic.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists largely of client files and artwork from Mair's years with Landor Associates and his freelance design work. Mair's specialty was the design of beverage containers, labels, and packaging, and there is a significant body of material produced for West Coast and national breweries and wineries. Mair also managed Landor's Museum of Packaging Antiquities, and there are several boxes of the Museum's administrative files. Of particular interest is Mair's large collection of historical and contemporary wine, liquor, and fruit crate labels (both foreign and domestic). The labels seem to have served as an inspiration and a record of his work, as well as documentation of historical packaging for the Museum. Mair's freelance clients were diverse, though most of them were small businesses and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to food and beverage labels, these commissions included posters, promotional materials, letterhead and personal announcements, invitations, and cards. Lastly, the collection includes personal artwork and records of entrepreneurial projects (such as the Flexigon, a flexible geometric toy).

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into eight series.

Series 1, Professional Materials, 1956-1991, undated

Series 2, Landor Associates Files, 1946-1993, undated

Series 3, Landor Museum of Packaging Antiquities, 1960-1989, undated

Series 4, Freelance Client Files, 1946-1989, undated

Series 5, United States Naval Training School, Radio Chicago, 1943-1945, undated

Sereis 6, Personal Artwork and Designs, 1935-1994, undated

Series 7, Reference Files, 1950-1985, undated

Series 8, Labels, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Francis Marion Mair was born in Streator, Illinois to Alexander Morrison Mair and Jessie C. Williams on May 5, 1916. He began his career as an artist and designer at the University of Illinois School of Design in Chicago receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting in 1938. That year he joined the United States Navy and where he designed visual aids for the Naval Training School in Chicago, Illinois. Even at this early stage in his career, acute design sense and humor are evident in his work. In 1949, he joined Landor Associates in San Francisco, California where he worked for forty years, retiring in 1989. At Landor, he specialized in designing packaging and labeling for beverages. He also was the director of Landor's Museum of Packaging History which shared quarters with Landor Associates on the Ferryboat Klamath. Throughout his career, Mair took on diverse freelance projects. One of his most successful was the Suva line of rattan furniture and decorative objects for Decorative Imports. Mair published articles in Advertising Age, Industrial Design, Advertising Techniques, and Wines and Vines. Mair died on April 29, 1991 in Contra Costa County, California.

Related Archival Materials:

Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Industry on Parade (NMAH.AC.0507)

Reel #167, Sitting Bull's Last Stand, 1953. Peter Meindl, a German woodcarver, making cigar store wooden Indians, New Hampshire.

Walter Landor and Associates (AC0500)

NW Ayer Advertising Agenecy Records (AC0059)

Hills Bros. Coffee Company Records (AC395)

Emmett McBain Afro American Adertising Poster Collection (AC0192)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

Marilyn E. Jacklear Memorial Collection of Tobacco Advertisements (AC1224)

Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project (AC0198)

Related Materials:

A glass final production version of a French's mustard jar and three hand-carved, solid-wood prototypes for this jar are in the Museum's Division of Work and Industry. These were found in Mair's home studio.

Provenance:

Collection donated by LaVeda Mair, April 23, 1996.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Copyright for a portion of the collection held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use.

Topic:

advertising -- 20th century  Search this

Beverages -- advertising -- 1940-1990  Search this

Commercial art -- 1940-1990  Search this

Industrial design  Search this

Erotica  Search this

Graphic design  Search this

Labels -- Alcoholic beverages  Search this

Labels -- Crates -- Fruit  Search this

Liquors -- advertising -- 1940-1990  Search this

Nudes  Search this

Nudity  Search this

Packaging  Search this

Rattan furniture  Search this

Toys  Search this

Wine labels  Search this

Wit and humor  Search this

Wit and humor in advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Beverage labels

Fruit crate labels

Labels

Citation:

Francis M. Mair Papers, 1938-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of LaVeda Mair.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0548

See more items in:

Francis M. Mair Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep84a770482-60c2-4ea2-adc0-0d89a54d2dc9

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0548

Creator:

Bunting, George L., Jr.  Search this

Brinkley, Christie  Search this

Ellsworth, Scott, Dr.  Search this

Colonel, Sheri  Search this

Giordano, Lynn  Search this

Ford, Eileen  Search this

Hall, L. C. "Bates"  Search this

Grathwohl, Geraldine  Search this

Huebner, Dick  Search this

Harrison, Fran  Search this

Lindsay, Robert  Search this

Hunt, William D.  Search this

McIver, Karen  Search this

MacDougall, Malcolm  Search this

Noble, Stan  Search this

Nash, Helen  Search this

Noxell Corporation.  Search this

Bergin, John  Search this

O'Neill, Jennifer  Search this

Oelbaum, Carol  Search this

Pelligrino, Nick  Search this

Poris, George  Search this

Roberts, F. Stone  Search this

Tiegs, Cheryl  Search this

Troup, Peter  Search this

Weithas, Art  Search this

Witt, Norbert  Search this

Names:

Noxzema Chemical Company  Search this

Extent:

15.5 Cubic feet (30 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Business records

Audiotapes

Bumper stickers

Annual reports

Oral history

Photographs

Press releases

Scrapbooks

Television scripts

Videotapes

Tear sheets

Place:

Hunt Valley (Maryland)

Baltimore (Md.)

Maryland

Date:

1959-1990

Summary:

The Cover Girl Make-Up Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project, 1923-1991, is the result of a year-long study in 1990, which examined the advertising created for Noxell Corporation's Cover Girl make-up products from 1959 to 1990. The objective of the project was to document, in print and electronic media, the history of Cover Girl make-up advertising since its inception in 1959.

Scope and Contents:

Twenty-two oral history interviews (conducted by Dr. Scott Ellsworth for the Archives Center) and a variety of print and television advertisements, photographs, scrapbooks, personal papers, business records and related materials were gathered by the Center for Advertising History staff. The objective was to create a collection that provides documentation, in print and electronic media, of the history and development of advertising for Cover Girl make-up since its inception in 1959.

Collection also includes earlier material related to other Noxell products, including Noxzema, with no direct connection to the Cover Girl campaign.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into eight series.

Series 1: Research Files

Series 2: Interviewee Files

Series 3: Oral History Interviews

Series 4: Television Advertising Materials

Series 5: Print Advertising Materials

Series 6: Company Publications and Promotional Literature

Series 7: Photographs

Series 8: Scrapbooks

Biographical / Historical:

George Avery Bunting founded the Noxzema Chemical Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1917. In the 1890s, he left behind a teaching job on Maryland's Eastern shore to move to Baltimore, where he hoped to pursue a career as a pharmacist. He landed a job as errand boy and soda jerk at a local drugstore, where he worked while attending classes at the University Of Maryland College of Pharmacy. Valedictorian of the Class of 1899, Bunting was promoted to manager of the drugstore, which he purchased. Bunting began to experiment with the formulation of medicated pastes and compounds, which he marketed to his customers. In 1909, he began refining a medicated vanishing cream, which he introduced in 1914. "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy," an aromatic skin cream containing clove oil, eucalyptus oil, lime water, menthol and camphor, was mixed by hand at his pharmacy. Marketed locally as a greaseless, medicated cream for the treatment of a variety of skin conditions, including sunburn, eczema, and acne, the product was renamed "Noxzema" for its reputed ability to "knock eczema." By 1917, the Noxzema Chemical Company was formed. During the 1920s, distribution of the product was expanded to include New York, Chicago, and the Midwest and, by 1926, the first Noxzema manufactory was built in northwest Baltimore to accommodate the demand for nearly a million jars a year.

Having achieved a national market by 1938, Noxzema Chemical Company executives pursued product diversification as a means to maintain the corporate growth of the early years. In the 1930s and 1940s, line extensions included shaving cream, suntan lotion and cold cream, all with the distinctive "medicated" Noxzema aroma.

In the late 1950s, Bill Hunt, director of product development at Noxzema, suggested a line extension into medicated make-up. Creatives at Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles, Incorporated (SSC&B), Noxzema's advertising agency since 1946, suggested that the advertising for the new product focus on beauty and glamour with some reference to the medicated claims made for other Noxzema products. In contrast to other cosmetics, which were sold at specialized department store counters, Noxzema's medicated make-up would be marketed alongside other Noxzema products in grocery stores and other mass distribution outlets. After experimenting with names that suggested both glamour and the medicated claims (including Thera-Blem and Blema-Glow), Bill Grathwohl, Noxell's advertising director, selected Carolyn Oelbaum's "Cover Girl," which conveyed the product's usefulness as a blemish cover-up, while invoking the glamorous image of fashion models. These three elements of the advertising, wholesome glamour, mass marketing, and medicated make-up, remain central to Cover Girl advertising nearly a half-century later.

Beginning with the national launch in 1961, American and international fashion models were featured in the ads. The target audience was identified as women between eighteen and fifty-four and, initially, the "glamour" ads were targeted at women's magazines, while the "medicated" claims were reserved for teen magazines. Television ads featured both elements. Cover Girl advertising always featured beautiful women -- especially Caucasian women, but the Cover Girl image has evolved over time to conform to changing notions of beauty. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Cover Girl was refined and aloof, a fashion conscious sophisticate. By the 1970s, a new social emphasis on looking and dressing "naturally" and the introduction of the "Clean Make-up" campaign created a new advertising focus on the wholesome glamour of the "girl next door," a blue-eyed, blonde all-American image. In the 1980s, the Cover Girl look was updated to include African-American, Hispanic and working women.

In January 1970, SSC&B bought 49% of the Lintas Worldwide advertising network. After SSC&B was acquired by the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1979, the entire Lintas operation was consolidated under the name SSC&B/Lintas in 1981. With the Procter & Gamble buy-out of the Noxell Corporation in September 1989, the cosmetics account was moved to long-time P&G agency Grey Advertising, in order to circumvent a possible conflict of interest between P&G competitor Unilever, another Lintas account. In 1989 SSC&B/Lintas, Cover Girl's agency since its launch in 1961, lost the account it helped to create and define, but the brand continues to dominate mass-marketed cosmetics.

This project is the result of a year-long study of advertising created for the Noxell Corporation's Cover Girl make-up products, 1959-1990. The effort was supported in part by a grant from the Noxell Corporation. The target audience was identified as women 18-54, and initially, the "glamour" ads were targeted at women's magazines, while the "medicated" claims were reserved for teen magazines. Television ads featured both elements. Cover Girl advertising has always featured beautiful women (especially Caucasian women), but the Cover Girl image evolved over time to conform with changing notions of beauty. In the late 1950s-1960s, the Cover Girl was refined and aloof, a fashion conscious sophisticate. By the 1970s, a new social emphasis on looking and dressing "naturally" and the introduction of the "Clean Make-up" campaign created a new advertising focus on the wholesome glamour of the "girl next door," a blue-eyed, blonde all-American image. Through the 1980s, the Cover Girl look was updated to include African-American and Hispanic models and images of women at work.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records (AC0059)

Separated Materials:

"The Division of Home and Community Life, Costume Collection (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds eighty-six cosmetic items and one computer that were also donated by the Noxell Corporation in 1990 in conjunction with the oral history project. These artifacts include lipstick, manicure sets, brushes, make-up, eye shadow, blush, powder puffs, eyelash curler, nail polish, and mascara. See accession number 1990.0193.

"

Provenance:

Most of the materials in the collection were donated to the Center for Advertising History by the Noxell Corporation, 1990. All storyboards and videoscripts, and a large collection of business records and proofsheets were donated by George Poris in June 1990. All mechanicals were donated by Art Weithas in June 1990. (These contributions are noted in the finding aid).

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Copyright and trademark restrictions.

Topic:

Women in advertising  Search this

advertising -- 1930-1940 -- California  Search this

Cosmetics -- advertising  Search this

Endorsements in advertising  Search this

Beauty culture  Search this

advertising -- 1950-2000  Search this

African American women -- Beauty culture  Search this

Modelling -- 1950-1990  Search this

Sex role in advertising  Search this

Radio advertising  Search this

Television advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews -- 1950-2000

Business records -- 20th century

Audiotapes

Bumper stickers

Annual reports

Oral history -- 1990-2000

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000

Press releases

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Television scripts

Videotapes

Tear sheets

Citation:

Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Sponsor:

The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0374

See more items in:

Cover Girl Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89b09e4c7-64e7-4074-b65e-0d097966d1e3

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0374

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Office of the Director  Search this

Subject:

Eldredge, Charles C  Search this

Lowe, Harry 1922-  Search this

Taylor, Joshua C (Joshua Charles) 1917-1981  Search this

Davis, Robert Tyler  Search this

Scott, David W. 1916-  Search this

Beggs, Thomas M  Search this

Tolman, Ruel P (Ruel Pardee) 1878-1954  Search this

Holmes, William Henry 1846-1933  Search this

Broun, Elizabeth  Search this

National Gallery of Art (U.S. : 1906-1937)  Search this

National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.) Office of the Director  Search this

National Museum of American Art (U.S.) Office of the Director  Search this

Physical description:

3.67 cu. ft. processed holdings

6 cu. ft. unprocessed holdings

Type:

Manuscripts

Electronic records

Compact discs

Black-and-white photographs

Color photographs

Clippings

Brochures

Date:

1908

1908-2017

Topic:

Museums--Administration  Search this

Art museums  Search this

Advisory boards  Search this

Art museum directors  Search this

Local number:

SIA RS00818

Restrictions & Rights:

Materials less than 15 years old Restricted. Contact reference staff for details

See more items in:

Commission Records 1908-2017 [Smithsonian American Art Museum Office of the Director]

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_225687

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Digital images

Business records

Contracts

Notes

Sound recordings

Plans (drawings)

Negatives

Audiotapes

Memorandums

Slides (photographs)

Audiocassettes

Photographic prints

Video recordings

Videotapes

Date:

June 25-July 5, 1992

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1992 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 5 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: The Changing Soundscape in Indian Country

Series 3: Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas

Series 4: New Mexico

Series 5: Workers at the White House

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 1992 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

The Columbus Quincentenary that was commemorated in 1992 gave pause to reflect on the forces that over the preceding 500 years had shaped social life in the Americas. The Festival programs on New Mexico, Maroons, and American Indian musics illustrated important historical and ongoing processes through which communities establish cultural identities in complex and dynamic social circumstances.

"The Changing Soundscape in Indian Country," produced jointly with the National Museum of the American Indian, explored ways that Indian musicians and their communities creatively adapted elements from the musical traditions brought to this continent from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. Although many of the forms of this Indian music are non-Indian in origin, the themes and performance styles clearly address Indian experience and aesthetic expectations. In their creative hands, as Festival visitors could experience first-hand, external musical influences became part of the self-definition of Indian identity and trenchant commentary on what had been happening in "Indian Country" over the past five centuries.

Nowhere is the connection between creativity and self-definition more clear than in the cultural identities of contemporary Maroon peoples, whose ancestors escaped plantation slavery in the Americas and founded independent societies. Faced with the task of constructing and defending their positions, Maroons creatively defined themselves from a variety of sources. While their political institutions, expressive arts, religions, and other social forms were predominantly African in origin, they drew from a broad range of African cultures, and from European and Native American cultures as well. Much of the aesthetic component of Maroon cultures - their vibrant traditions of verbal and visual arts, shared with Festival visitors on the National Mall - encourages the cohesiveness of their society and voices themes that embody common experience and interest.

The Spanish Conquest established the Western Hemisphere's European presence and its most widely spoken language. While the original conquerors' culture did not value the Native cultures it encountered, over the centuries segments of Hispanic and Native American and later English-speaking and other populations engaged one another, by necessity, in ways that gave rise to today's rich array of cultural identities. New Mexico's distinctive cultural landscape took shape in this way, represented by some peoples who sustain their cultural identities through centuries-old combinations of Indian and European forms of thought and action, and by others whose basis of identity lies in reaffirming the wisdom and relevance of ancestral ways. Festival visitors could witness how, in New Mexico, cultural identity reflects the changes that continue to be wrought from the varieties of these social encounters.

The 1992 Festival also marked the 200th anniversary of the White House. Not a king's palace but rather "the people's house," the White House is at once national symbol, executive office and conference center, ceremonial setting, museum, tourist attraction, and family residence. The Festival revealed the culture of White House workers, who supported this broad array of functions over a span of history shaped by remarkable events, people and social change. White House workers had made the White House work with their labor and dedication. The Festival's living exhibition presented some of the skills, experiences, and values through which they gave shape to their occupational identities, calling visitors' attention to an important human component of the 200 year institutional history.

The 1992 Festival took place during two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-5) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 13th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan).

The 1992 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays provided background on the Festival and each of the four programs, with shorter essays spotlighting particular traditions and offering a forum for statements from Maroon spokespeople.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies.

Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies

Richard Kurin, Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Director, Quincentenary Projects; Richard Kennedy, Program Analyst; Vivian Chen, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Folklorists; Ken Bilby, Marjorie Hunt, Curators; Carla Borden, John Franklin, Program Managers; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Betty Belanus, Frank Proschan, Nicholas Spitzer, Research Associates

Folklife Advisory Council

Roger Abrahams, Jacinto Arias, Jane Beck, Pat Jasper, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Bernice Reagon, John Roberts, Carol Robertson, Gilbert Sprauve, John Tchen, Ricardo Trimillos, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez

National Park Service

James M. Ridenour, Director; Robert G. Stanton, Regional Director, National Capital Region

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1992 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

Folklore  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

arts and crafts  Search this

World music  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Folk art  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence

Digital images

Business records

Contracts

Notes

Sound recordings

Plans (drawings)

Negatives

Audiotapes

Memorandums

Slides (photographs)

Audiocassettes

Photographic prints

Video recordings

Videotapes

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1992 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1992

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1992 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5f73b77d3-05ca-40f8-be62-39e38b1d04cd

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-1992

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Memorandums

Contracts

Sound recordings

Audiocassettes

Video recordings

Audiotapes

Notes

Photographic prints

Plans (drawings)

Correspondence

Digital images

Slides (photographs)

Business records

Videotapes

Negatives

Place:

Caribbean Area

Latin America

Puerto Rico

Chile

Colombia

Cuba

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Guatemala

Paraguay

Venezuela

Date:

June 24-July 5, 2009

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 5 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: Las Américas: Un mundo musical/The Americas: A Musical World

Series 3: Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture

Series 4: Special Events

Series 5: Wales Smithsonian Cymru

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

The twentieth century saw an unprecedented, worldwide acceleration of social change. Often, such rapid evolution outpaced time-honored values and practices, eroding their currency, overwhelming cultural self-determination and displacing the local with the foreign. In a time-span as short as a single generation, entire languages, musical traditions, and other expressive cultural systems were abandoned in favor of cultural trappings invented by others. The 43rd annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2009 told another version of this story, inviting visitors to explore the process of cultural evolution from the other side of the equation. Festival audiences were able to experience the creativity, resilience, and fortitude of people, institutions, and cultures that follow their own path amid a torrent of contrarian voices.

Wales Smithsonian Cymru provided a forum for discovering how the Welsh people successfully integrate both the tradition and the change that are part of their cultural heritage. On the one hand, about one-fifth of the country's three million inhabitants speak Welsh (Cymru is the Welsh word for Wales). And the people of Wales still work to preserve the rustic rural landscapes that have long informed their sense of self. On the other hand, the Welsh can lay claim to the nineteenth-century mantle of being "the first industrialized nation," and they take pride in their ongoing innovative spirit. How have the Welsh managed to navigate the turbulent waters of continuity and change to shepherd an economically and culturally sustainable society into the future? The Festival offered visitors the chance to find out firsthand from this "living exhibition" of Welsh heritage.

Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture presented living testimony to the resilience and imagination of a people. Out of three centuries of subjugation came a distinctive and separate black world, a source of refuge and endurance in the face of cruel and wrenching societal decimation. Tapping the power and the play of African American oral traditions and verbal arts, the program "gave voice" to this poignant, powerful, and quintessentially American story of cultural transcendence. Organized in partnership with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Giving Voice explored the realm of African American cultural creation via verbal expression, considering it as both a means of social resistance and a major contributor to contemporary American life. Festival visitors could listen and be moved by compelling stories about the history, struggles, and creativity of African Americans, told through six tracks of programming: storytelling, oral poetry, interpretive drama, children's and youth culture, humor, and radio.

Las Américas: Un mundo musical/The Americas: A Musical World showed how the seemingly monolithic term música latina refers in reality to an inviting rainbow of musical sounds, styles, and traditions. The program also supplied vivid proof that music can amount to much more than just music. Each tradition represented in Las Américas is a musical flag of identity, a beacon that unites cultural communities, and a means of cultural self-actualization. This Festival program, the result of eight years of research and documentation, was the fourth and final in a series dedicated to exploring Latino music as a window into the cultures that give it meaning. The overarching project, entitled Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture, began with the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series Tradiciones/Traditions. The series produced thirty recordings that had, as of the 2009 Festival, earned eight GRAMMY nominations, one GRAMMY, and one Latin GRAMMY. Additionally, the project included Música del Pueblo: A Smithsonian Virtual Exhibition ( musicadelpueblo.org), that featured dozens of video mini-documentaries of grassroots Latino musicians from the United States, Puerto Rico, and several Latin American countries.

The 2009 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 24-28 and July 1-5) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured three programs and the Rinzler Concert.

The 2009 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays (or, for Wales, a set of short essays) provided background on each of the programs.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Daniel Sheehy, Acting Director; Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Diana Parker, Festival Director; Stephen Kidd, Production Manager; Charlie Weber, Media Specialist; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings: Daniel Sheehy, Curator and Director; Anthony Seeger, Curator and Director (emeritus); D.A. Sonneborn, Assistant Director; Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections: Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Assistant Archivist; Cultural Heritage Policy: James Counts Early, Director; Sita Reddy, Fellow; Cultural Research and Education: Olivia Cadaval, Chair; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist (emeritus); Betty J. Belanus, James Deutsch, Marjorie Hunt, Richard Kennedy (emeritus), Diana Baird N'Diaye, Peter Seitel (emeritus), Curators, Folklorists, Education and Cultural Specialists; Robert Albro, Geri Benoit, Carla Borden, Irene Chagall, Patrick Delatour, Roland Freeman, Nancy Groce, Frank Proschan, Sita Reddy, Jesús "Chucho" Valdés, Patrick Vilaire, Research Associates

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Advisory Council

Kurt Dewhurst (chair), J. Scott Raecker (vice chair), Michael Asch (ex officio), Mounir Bouchenaki, G. Wayne Clough (ex officio), Anthony Gittens, Mickey Hart, John Herzog, Debora Kodish, Richard Kurin (ex officio), Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Libby O'Connell, Robert Santelli, Cathy Sulzberger

Smithsonian Folkways Advisory Council

Michael Asch (chair), Patricia Campbell, Hal Cannon, Don De Vito, Sandra Gibson, Suni Paz, Anthony Seeger, Fred Silber

National Park Service

Daniel N. Wenk, Acting Director; Peggy O'Dell, Regional Director; Lis Mendelson-Ielmini, Acting Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks

The Festival was supported by federally appropriated funds; Smithsonian trust funds; contributions from governments, businesses, foundations, and individuals; in-kind assistance; and food, recording, and craft sales. General support for this year's Festival came from the Music Performance Fund, with in-kind support provided by WAMU-88.5 FM and WashingtonPost.com.

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

arts and crafts  Search this

World music  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Folklore  Search this

Folk art  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

Genre/Form:

Memorandums

Contracts

Sound recordings

Audiocassettes

Video recordings

Audiotapes

Notes

Photographic prints

Plans (drawings)

Correspondence

Digital images

Slides (photographs)

Business records

Videotapes

Negatives

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.2009

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5e247a1d1-1f20-4bde-834d-e14879bbfd12

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-2009

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Plans (drawings)

Digital images

Contracts

Videotapes

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Negatives

Correspondence

Audiocassettes

Notes

Audiotapes

Slides (photographs)

Business records

Photographic prints

Memorandums

Date:

June 25-July 6, 2008

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 5 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon

Series 3: NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond

Series 4: Special Events

Series 5: Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

The 2008 Festival, as in previous years, brought together exemplary practitioners of diverse traditions from communities across the United States and around the world. The ongoing goal of the Festival is to encourage the vitality of these traditions by presenting them on the National Mall so that tradition-bearers and the public can learn from one another and understand cultural differences in a respectful way.

The 2008 Festival celebrated Bhutan's approach to life in the twenty-first century, which it calls the pursuit of "Gross National Happiness." The Bhutanese have chosen a unique path to development, rooted in deep respect for and protection of the kingdom's cultural and natural resources. The 2008 Festival program coincided with Bhutan's centennial celebration of the monarchy and implementation of the country's new democratic constitution. It emphasized the kingdom's protection of culture, community, and environment and was the largest and most comprehensive living exhibition of Bhutanese culture and traditions ever presented outside of the kingdom. Through craft and cooking demonstrations, dance and musical performances, and interactive discussions, the 2008 Festival explored the linkages between Bhutan's natural and cultural resources.

On the occasion of NASA's fiftieth anniversary, the 2008 Festival explored the spirit of innovation, discovery, and service embodied by the agency and its personnel. The program encouraged visitors to participate actively - to ask questions of the roughly one hundred participants who came to Washington from across the United States to represent a cross section of NASA's 18,000 employees and 40,000 contractors and grantees. NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond showcased the role that the men and women of NASA have played in broadening the horizons of American science and culture, as well as the role that they will continue to play in helping to shape the future by stirring the public imagination.

Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine focused on the rich heritage of these cultural traditions from every region of the Lone Star State. The sounds of Texas blues, swing, conjunto, country and western, gospel, and Tejano music were a sonic reminder of the state's breathtaking diversity. Texas's culinary traditions - from barbeque to kolache (pastry) making, from chicken-fried steak to Vietnamese specialties - made for an eye-opening and mouth-watering demonstration of the state's regional vastness and cultural range. An exhibit on Texas wine making explored the craft, skills, and terroir of the state's industry.

The 2008 Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert honored one of Ralph's long-term collaborators, René López, a music aficionado and cultural activist from New York's Puerto Rican community.

The 2008 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-6) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured three programs and the Rinzler Concert.

The 2008 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays and short features provided background on each of the programs.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Richard Kennedy, Acting Director; Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Diana Parker, Festival Director; Stephen Kidd, Production Manager; Charlie Weber, Media Specialist; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings: Daniel Sheehy, Curator and Director; Anthony Seeger, Curator and Director, Emeritus; D.A. Sonneborn, Assistant Director; Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections: Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Assistant Archivist; Cultural Heritage Policy: James Counts Early, Director; Cultural Research and Education: Olivia Cadaval, Chair; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist Emeritus; Betty J. Belanus, James Deutsch, Marjorie Hunt, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Peter Seitel (Emeritus), Curators, Folklorists, Education and Cultural Specialists; Christina Díaz-Carrera, Program Specialist; Robert Albro, Geri Benoit, Carla Borden, Irene Chagall, Andrew Cruz, Patrick Delatour, Roland Freeman, Nancy Groce, Frank Proschan, Sita Reddy, Sam-Ang Sam, Jesús "Chucho" Valdés, Patrick Vilaire, Research Associates; Omotayo Jolaosho, Fellow

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Advisory Council

Kurt Dewhurst (chair), J. Scott Raecker (vice chair), Michael Asch (ex officio), Mounir Bouchenaki, Anthony Gittens, Mickey Hart, John Herzog (ex officio), Debora Kodish, Richard Kurin (ex officio), Enrique Lamadrid, Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Libby O'Connell, Cristian Samper (ex officio), Robert Santelli, Cathy Sulzberger

Smithsonian Folkways Advisory Board

Michael Asch (chair), Patricia Shehan-Campbell, Hal Cannon, Don De Vito, Ella Jenkins, Anthony Seeger, Fred Silber

National Park Service

Mary Bomar, Director; Daniel N. Wenk, Deputy Director; Joseph M. Lawler, Regional Director; Margaret O'Dell, Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks

The Festival was supported by federally appropriated funds; Smithsonian trust funds; contributions from governments, businesses, foundations, and individuals; in-kind assistance; and food, recording, and craft sales. General support for this year's Festival came from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, and the Music Performance Fund, with in-kind support provided through Motorola, Sprint, WAMU-88.5 FM, Whole Foods Market, and WashingtonPost.com.

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

Folk music  Search this

Folk art  Search this

World music  Search this

Folklore  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

arts and crafts  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Genre/Form:

Plans (drawings)

Digital images

Contracts

Videotapes

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Negatives

Correspondence

Audiocassettes

Notes

Audiotapes

Slides (photographs)

Business records

Photographic prints

Memorandums

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.2008

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk530dac77d-3fe2-44b8-a101-73fceb0de6f9

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-2008

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Negatives

Business records

Video recordings

Photographic prints

Memorandums

Sound recordings

Plans (drawings)

Digital images

Notes

Contracts

Slides (photographs)

Audiotapes

Videotapes

Audiocassettes

Place:

Caribbean Area

Jamaica

Date:

October 5-10, 1977

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1977 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 9 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: African Diaspora Street Culture

Series 3: America's Appetite (for Energy)

Series 4: Folklife in the Museum: Hall of Musical Instruments

Series 5: Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations

Series 6: Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery

Series 7: Native American Musical Styles

Series 8: Other Programs

Series 9: Virginia Folk Culture

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 1977 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

As early as 1974, managers within the Smithsonian had wondered what to do after the Bicentennial Festival - return to the pattern of smaller Folklife Festivals that had preceded, expand its scope to a Smithsonian Summer Festival that would present popular artistic forms as well, or discontinue it and focus on curating the research and Festival documentation. In the immediate wake of the Bicentennial Festival, plans were proposed for Ralph Rinzler to become head of a new, unnamed folklife unit that would process the documentary materials developed by the Festival and produce scholarly and educational publications. James R. Morris and the Division of Performing Arts would continue to produce the Festival. A broader Smithsonian Summer Festival was accordingly announced for 1977. However, a newly-constituted Folklife Advisory Council decided instead that the Festival's emphasis on traditional cultural should continue, but that the Festival should be moved to the fall and should be more closely integrated with the activities of relevant units of the Smithsonian, especially within the National Museum of History and Technology and National Museum of Natural History. A Folklife Program was established under Rinzler's direction, attached to the Office of American and Folklife Studies headed by Wilcomb E. Washburn (also chair of the Folklife Advisory Council).

The 1977 Festival was thus held October 5-10, on a site within the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). Additional outdoor activities were held on the terrace of the National Museum of History and Technology, and indoor activities took place in that museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Renwick Gallery. The Division of Performing Arts continued to provide overall technical support for the Festival, but each program component was curated by a different team, typically including cooperation between a Folklife Program folklorist and a curator within another Smithsonian museum (see the individual programs for the specific units collaborating on each presentation). Programming was originated by museum staff, then reviewed by the Advisory Council, to broaden the base of staff involvement in the research, planning, and presentation of this and other folklife endeavors.

The Festival featured several larger and numerous smaller programs; documentation of the 1977 Festival is divided into eight series:

Missing Title

African Diaspora Street Culture

America's Appetite (for Energy)

Folklife in the Museum: Hall of Musical Instruments (including presentations of hammered dulcimers andmusical traditions of India)

Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (including presentations of saddle making, Dunham Schoollore, Ellis Island & immigrant lore, pencil making, baseball bat turning, ethnic foods, Hispanic crafts)

Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (including presentations of paint on wood and crafting withnatural fibers)

Native American Musical Styles

Other Programs (including presentations of transportation, folklore in your community, family folklore,Louisiana Cajun social music)

Virginia Folk Culture

The 1977 Program Book provided information on each of the programs.

The Festival was jointly presented by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Council for Traditional Arts, and Music Performance Trust Funds. The 1977 Festival resulted from cooperation among a number of entities; those with overall responsibility included:

Folklife Advisory Council

Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Robert H. Byington, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, James Morris, Scott Odell, Bernice Reagon, Ralph Rinzler, E. Richard Sorenson

Folklife Program, Office of American and Folklife Studies

Ralph Rinzler, Director; Robert H. Byington, Deputy Director; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Ethnomusicologist; Susan Kalcik, Ethnic Folklore Specialist; Frank Proschan, Archivist; Steve Zeitlin, Family Folklore Specialist; Jack Santino, Occupational Folklore Specialist; Mike Herter, Documentation Coordinator; Jeffrey LaRiche, Energy Program Coordinator

Division of Performing Arts

James R. Morris, Director; Rosie Lee Hooks, African Diaspora Program Coordinator; African Diaspora Program Cultural Historian, Bernice Reagon; Shirley Cherkasky, Production Coordinator

National Park Service

William Whelan, Director

In addition, persons and bodies responsible for individual programs are identified in the relevant series note.

Fieldworkers, presenters, and curators:

Carl Scheele, William Sturtevant, Scott Odell, Eugene Knez, Nancy Groce, Holly Baker, Amy Kotkin, Karen Peiffer, Paul Wagner, William Foshag, James Leary, Diane Hamilton, Winifred Brendel, Robert Vogel, Richard Ahlborn, Roddy Moore, Chuck Perdue, Peter Row, Arnold Burghardt, Charlotte Heth, William Powers, Elaine Eff, Robert McCarl, Peter Seitel

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1977 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

arts and crafts  Search this

Folk art  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

World music  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Folklore  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence

Negatives

Business records

Video recordings

Photographic prints

Memorandums

Sound recordings

Plans (drawings)

Digital images

Notes

Contracts

Slides (photographs)

Audiotapes

Videotapes

Audiocassettes

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1977 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1977

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1977 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5af8fd0b4-8b0f-4172-b557-709554d9ab6e

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-1977

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiotapes

Videotapes

Memorandums

Plans (drawings)

Sound recordings

Photographic prints

Negatives

Audiocassettes

Business records

Correspondence

Notes

Digital images

Slides (photographs)

Video recordings

Contracts

Date:

October 4-9, 1978

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1978 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 10 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: Chesapeake Bay Traditions

Series 3: Children's Folklife

Series 4: Coal Miners & Oil Workers

Series 5: D.C. Folklore

Series 6: Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations

Series 7: Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery

Series 8: Mexican & Mexican American Traditions

Series 9: Other Programs

Series 10: San Juan Pueblo Culture

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 1978 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Program of the Office of American and Folklife Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

With the 1978 Festival, the Smithsonian began a five-year cycle of variations on the theme of "community," exploring folklore as the artistic expression of community life, and the pleasure and dignity found in that process. When the Smithsonian Folklife Program staff decided to use "community" as the theme of the 1978 presentation, they were not grafting an idea onto the Festival, but featuring an aspect of the Festival that had been present throughout its history. Folklore consists of the traditional ways in which community people work and play together, and their customary forms of entertaining and instructing each other. Community is composed of people meeting regularly who have inherited or developed ways of celebrating their sense of coming together.

"Community" had been involved in the past eleven festivals in many ways. For communities - whether inherited or joined - serve as a vital buffer between individuals and a world of megastates and megacorporations. They are more manageable units in which all can participate - men and women, young and old - and give some living proof of Schumacher's notion that "small is beautiful." Festival organizers sought to reaffirm that humans are important, and that we are, like plants and other animals, dependent upon communities for survival.

As with the preceding year, the 1978 Festival (October 4-9) was held on a site on the National Mall later to be occupied by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, between 14th and 15th Streets and between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive (see site plan). Indoor activities took place in the National Museum of History and Technology, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Renwick Gallery. The San Juan Pueblo programs took place outside of the National Museum of Natural History. As had been the case in 1977, Festival programming in the museums sought to connect objects on exhibit with people who could demonstrate, explain, or comment upon them; programming was again marked by collaboration between Folklife Program staff and museum curators. Festival programs included:

Missing Title

Chesapeake Bay Traditions

Children's Folklife

Coal Miners & Oil Workers

D.C. Folklore

Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (including presentations on Ellis Island, Dunham School,family folklore, sleeping car porters, and a wheelwright)

Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (featuring presentations on Mexican masks and on musicalinstruments)

Mexican & Mexican American Traditions

Other Programs (featuring organ-building in the Hall of Musical Instruments and sharecroppers in the Hallof Everyday Life in the American Past)

San Juan Pueblo Culture

The 1978 Program Book provided information on each of the programs, including a schedule and participant lists.

The 1978 Festival was again co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, McDonald's Washington Area Family Restaurants, and the Music Performance Trust Funds. It was organized by the Folklife Program within the Office of American and Folklife Studies.

Folklife Advisory Council

Wilcomb E. Washburn, Chairman, Roger Abrahams, Richard Ahlborn, Richard Dorson, William Fitzhugh, Lloyd Herman, Robert Laughlin, Scott Odell, Bernice Reagon, Ralph Rinzler, E. Richard Sorenson

Folklife Program, Office of American and Folklife Studies

Ralph Rinzler, Director; Jeffrey LaRiche, Program Coordinator; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Ethnomusicologist; Susan Kalcik, Folklorist; Steve Zeitlin, Folklorist; Jack Santino, Folklorist; Frank Proschan and Richard Derbyshire, Archivists

National Park Service

William J. Whelan, Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region

Fieldworkers and presenters:

Héctor Aguíñiga, Holly Baker, Karen Baldwin, Charles Camp, Susan G. Davis, Hazel Dickens, Jason Dotson, Ben Evans, Alicia González, Richard Haefer, Charlotte Heth, Marjorie Hunt, Amy Kotkin, Maria La Vigna, Phyllis May, Pat Mullen, Salvador Ortega, Keith Rollinson, Daniel Sheehy, Nick Spitzer, Peggy Yocom, Jean Alexander, Kate Rinzler, George McDaniels

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

Food habits  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Folklore  Search this

Folk art  Search this

World music  Search this

arts and crafts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiotapes

Videotapes

Memorandums

Plans (drawings)

Sound recordings

Photographic prints

Negatives

Audiocassettes

Business records

Correspondence

Notes

Digital images

Slides (photographs)

Video recordings

Contracts

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1978

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1978 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk53f9480fa-0587-4c44-8098-782e5c3c5e5c

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-1978