101 Violin Styles / Antonio Taninho Evora, Ivo Pires, Noel Silva Fortes. Violin,Guitar,Cavaquinho,Ukulele.
102 Rural and Urban Funana Music / Antonio Taninho Evora, Manuel Nacimento Gonçalves, Ramiro Mendes. Guitar.
103 Seafarers and Longshoremen / Benjamin J. Lopes, Gabriel da Rosa.
Local Numbers:
FP-1995-CT-0350
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July 3, 1995.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection 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.
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
Minimally covers the terminus of the wind-powered (sail) era and more fully documents the peak of the engine (steam) era of commercial cargo and passenger vesselsk, including freight and dockage services, maintenance and provisioning, ferry service, navigation (tug and tow) assistance, plus leisure cruising and touring. There is not a significant amount of material on battle or war ships. Includes both short distance routes such as lakes, rivers, and islets, and longer trans-oceanic crossings.
Documents within the collection consist of handbills, broadsides, leaflets, books, business cards, advertisements, insurance forms, wreck reports, passenger lists, baggage tags, freight manifests, rate cards, correspondence on letterhead stationery, booklets, newspaper clippings, postcards, menus, periodicals, manuals, photographs, engravings, woodcuts, sketches, bills of lading, receipts, catalogues, ledgers, journals, purchase orders, broadsides, brochures, custom forms, schedules, shipping and receiving documents, early steam guides, timetables, lithographs, announcements, etc. There are no navigational nautical maps. There is very little in the way of international import/export records. However, domestic and North American freight services are well-covered through invoices, bills of lading, manifests, and receipts for goods and services.
Some materials cover the history and development of steamships, particularly in the latter half of the nineteenth century with the iron screw replacing the wooden paddle steamer in the 1850s. The late 1860s brought the compound engine, which led to the steamship, previously used for the conveyance of mails and passengers, to compete with the sailing vessel in the carriage of cargo for long voyages. The 1870s brought improvements in accommodation for the passenger, with the midship saloon, conveniences in state-rooms, and covered access to smoke rooms and ladies cabins.
Ownership of specific lines and vessels was very fluid throughout shipping history, including the renaming of vessels. Mergers, dissolution, and absorption of fleets were frequent. Thus, researchers should independently seek out a more detailed history for any entity of particular interest.
The general maritime business series focuses on good and services related to maritime operations such as repair, shipbuilding, parts, ticket agents, chandlers, groceries, coal supply, dockage, wharfs/marinas, etc.
Operation records of named vessels contains primarily bills of lading and similar receipts for the movement of material goods or in-water services such as tow and tug assistance.
The largest series covering shipping lines and conglomerates offers a wide assortment of miscellaneous, nonexhaustive operation records for cargo and passenger lines and corporations, typically those with multiple holdings. These documents may include receipts, bills of lading, correspondence, and financial ledgers, plus promotional material for services and routes offered. Passenger sailings and luxury cruise documentation may contain menus, passenger lists, itineraries, shore excursion information, souveniers such as luggage tags, ticket stubs, and postcards. See also the subject category Menus, for additional examples of passenger and cruise ship menus.
When not associated with any of the above, general examples of materials related to the industry have been by arranged by their material type such as images, reports, and serial publications. More formal documentation, especially legal and reports, can be found here.
Narrative type materials related to lore, history, and building and design specifications have been sorted by subject. A scarce amount of material covers ships used for military service. Likewise, there are a few examples of maritime related material from the art world, mostly in the form of catalogues for exhibits or auction of paintings and scale models.
A note on vessel names: those used as contract carriers of mail and when in service, were entitled to unique prefix designations such as Royal Mail Ship (RMS.), otherwise, the ship name may be preceded by the more generic S.S. for single-screw steamer or steamship, SV for sailing vessel, PS for paddle steamer, RV for research vessel or similar type prefix. USS is the standard for the United States Navy commissioned ships while in commission, with HMS used for His/Her Majesty's Ship of the British Royal Navy.
Some of the major lines/companies represented in the collection include: American Line, American Steamship Company, Anchor Line, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, Cunard-Anchor Line, Cunard Line, Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited, Cunard White Star Line, Eastern Steamship Lines, Furness, Withy & Company, Hamburg American Line (HAPAG) / Hamburg Amerika Linie, Holland America Line (N.A.S.M. / HAL), Inman Line, International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM), International Navigation Company, North German Lloyd (Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen), Panama Pacific Line, Peninsular and Oriental, Red Star Line, Royal Mail Steam Packet, U.S. Mail Steamship Company, United States Lines, White Star Line.
Arrangement:
Ships, Boats, and Vessels is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
General Maritime Businesses
Operation Records of Named Vessels
Shipping Lines/Conglomerates
Miscellaneous Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Keepsakes
Images
Ledger
Legal
News Clippings
Regulatory
Reports
Serial Publications
Stamps/Cigarette Cards
Associations and Societies
Images, Artwork, Racing, Technical Literature
Subject
Battleships, Warships
Destination Guides
Employment and Licensing
Insurance
Maritime History
Maritime Models and Art
Revue Generale Des Sciences
Warshaw Administrative Records
Related Materials:
Several other Warshaw Subject Categories may have closely related material such as Submarines and Transportation. For casual and recreational boating see Boats and Boating Equipment and Yachts. Other subject categories that may have related materials include: Canals, Dredging, Engines, Menus, Railroads (point of common transportation transfer), and Tours. .
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Steamboats [Ships, Boats, and Vessels] is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Ships, Boats, and Vessels, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
101 Violin Styles / Alcides da Graca, Augusto De Pina, Ivo Pires. Violin,Guitar,Cavaquinho,Ukulele,Fiddle.
102 Festival Encounters: Connections with the Mother Country / Benjamin J. Lopes, Gabriel da Rosa.
103 Cranberries and the Cape Verdean-American Community / Ken Semedo, Laura Russel.
Local Numbers:
FP-1995-CT-0333
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 26, 1995.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection 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.
An interview with Ronald H. Pearson conducted 1979 May 31-1981 Nov. 23, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Pearson discusses his early training in design from his father, Ralph Pearson, an artist and writer; his education in political science at the University of Wisconsin; World War II duty in the merchant marine; training at the School for American Craftsmen; early exhibitions; and development of production pieces.
Biographical / Historical:
Ronald H. Pearson (1924-1996) was a silversmith from Deer Isle, Me.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel and 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 55 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Katherine Schmidt papers, circa 1922-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The collection documents individuals who served in the Merchant Marine's and Navy between 1943 and 1946.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of primarily of reminscenes with individuals who served n the Merchant Marine and Navy.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: Individual Reminiscences, 1945-1997
Series 2: Supplemental Documentation, 1943-2001-08
Provenance:
Collection donated by Delia Porter, date unknown, and Jack B. Navarre, August 24, 1990.
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:
World War, 1939-1945 -- Merchant Marine Search this
Navarre, Jack B., 1925- (merchant seaman) Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 17
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1991
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
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:
Merchant Marine/Navy World War Two Oral History and Memorabilia Collection, 405, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
0.7 Linear feet (ca. 600 items (on microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1942-1980
Scope and Contents:
Materials relating to the annual art exhibitions of paintings by U.S. merchant seamen, organized and directed by Peterson. Included are: a 4 page typescript carbon describing Peterson's involvement with the exhibitions; rough drafts of her curriculum vitae and her resume; correspondence with museum directors, government agencies, artists, John Taylor Arms, Leon Kroll, Philip Kappel, and others; writings by Peterson and others; photographs of the seamen, their art work, and the exhibitions; a scrapbook with exhibition catalogs, announcements, clippings; photographs, and other material regarding the exhibitions; loose clippings and news releases; a book, ART IN THE ARMED FORCES, 1944, edited by Aimee Crane; and one issue of HERITAGE VILLAGER MAGAZINE, 1978.
Biographical / Historical:
Curator, exhibition designer; Conn. Asked by Vice Admiral Emory S. Land, of the War Shipping Administration to establish a recreation department for wartime merchant seamen. Developed, organized, and directed 5 annual exhibitions of paintings of merchant seamen of the U.N. (1943-1946). Juries for these shows included John Taylor Arms, chairman, Leon Kroll, Reginald Marsh, Jo Davidson, Raphael Soyer, and other well-known artists. The exhibitions were shown in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. and other museums around the country.
Provenance:
Donated 1983 by Isabel Peterson.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm.
A family history, an interview with Ciel Frampton, Thalinger's Senior Thesis for Antioch College, letters between Thalinger and his wife Ciel Frampton during World War II, sketches and drawings, photographs and other materials document the lives and careers of sculptor Frederic Jean Thalinger and his painter father, E. Oscar Thalinger. Biographical material includes a family history written by Thalinger's son Ernest, resumes, certificates, address books, notes and clippings on both Frederic and Oscar, an inventory of Oscar's paintings and Ernest's March 1987 audio tape of his mother's reminiscences about meeting Frederic.
Correspondence between Thalinger and his wife forms the bulk of the correspondence. Letters between family members refer predominately to conditions during World War II, Thalinger's tour of duty in the U.S. Merchant Marines, the effects of Thalinger's lengthy separations from his wife and son, the state of their mental and physical health, and their lack of financial security. Writings include Thalinger's thesis on the relevance of his college experience to his future career, notes, poems and essays. Printed material includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs pertaining to both Frederic and Oscar. Photographs show Thalinger, family, friends and sculpture.
Numerous photographs of sculpture, many taken by Thalinger, are included in project files, along with notes, clippings, correspondence, price lists, and a set of blueprints for play sculpture intended to replace conventional playground structures.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, born in St. Louis, Missouri. Father, E. Oscar Thalinger, was a painter and served as registrar at the City Art Museum, St. Louis.
Provenance:
Ernest Thalinger assembled, collected and annotated his father's papers. He compiled the family history and updated resume. The placement of photographs of sculpture into subject files is based on Ernest Thalinger's prior arrangement and annotations of the papers.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Brannock Device Company Records, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
The largest series in the collection, the sales and distribution series documents Brannock's sales, partnerships he entered into, and the legal measures he took to ensure his company's success. The series is divided into three subseries: United States--Private Sector, United States--Military, and Foreign.
The United States--Private Sector subseries is further divided: Patents and Trademarks, 1928-1971; Direct Sales, 1926-1973; Salesmen Files, 1925-1935; and Shoe Fairs, 1938-1968.
The Patents and Trademarks, 1928-1971, contains patent and trademark certificates; correspondence with Brannock's lawyer, Theodore E. Simonton, and others in reference to obtaining patents and trademarks; and sales inquiries from those wishing to buy Brannock's patents.
The Direct Sales, 1926-1973, contains customer information and form letters; rental contracts, 1926-1927; customer correspondence, 1927-1989; customer service endeavors, and sales figures.
Arranged alphabetically, the Salesmen Files, 1925-1935 document the enthusiasm for the device experienced by shoe store owners across the country as they inquired about selling it followed by their disappointment with commission percentages and the fact that large shoe companies were getting the device at a discount and distributing it among their affiliates, and therefore not buying from salesmen.
The Shoe Fairs, 1938-1968, contains trade literature, visitation reports, and correspondence from Charles Brannock and his employees while attending the National Shoe Fair and the National Safety Congress and Exposition in Chicago from 1938 to 1968. It is organized chronologically by event. The information learned at the fairs was also useful in keeping abreast of the latest in shoe fashion for the Park-Brannock store.
The United States--Military, 1928-1972 subseries contains correspondence, contracts, and orders relating to the sale of the Brannock Device to the military. The subseries is arranged into seven smaller series: Army, 1939-1962; Coast Guard, 1932-1945; Marine Corps, 1943-1956; Merchant Marine, July 1944-August 1944; Navy, 1928-1970; Women's Army Corps, 1942-1944; and Miscellaneous Military Branches, undated. Arrangement within each smaller series is chronological.
Additional documentation on the Brannock Device in the military are in the following series: articles can be found in the Historical Background series; competitors' designs, drawings, specifications, and materials employed to make military devices are in the Product Development series; instructions and military-theme ads are in the Advertising and Marketing series, and photographs of military fittings and military devices are located in the photographs series.
The Foreign, 1937-1986, subseries documents the complex legal relationship between the Brannock Device Company, the Selby Shoe Company, the Brannock Device Company's lawyer, Theodore E. Simonton, and others as the companies strove for protection and distribution of the Brannock Device in foreign countries. It is arranged into five smaller series: Foreign Trademark Listings; Correspondence about Patents, Trademarks, and Distribution, 1928-1986; Patents and Trademarks; London Speech about Shoe-Fitting and the Company History; and Film Strip.
The foreign trademark listings were compiled periodically by the Brannock Device Company to keep track of their patents and trademarks. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. The actual patent and trademark certificates are arranged by country, and some folders also contain accompanying correspondence. This series does not contain all patents and trademarks issued to protect the Brannock Device internationally; some of the trademarks listed in the container list are renewals and therefore would not be the date of first issue. The London speech is a file of notes Charles Brannock used when giving a speech on his company's history and success in London, England. The sound-slide, instructional film strip is entitled "The Key to Repeat Sales." This series contains a transcript with a frame-by-frame description of each slide and accompanying narration.
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research use.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Brannock Device Company Records, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Includes letters of Max Weber, José de Creeft, Thomas Hart Benton, and Carol Janeway
Collection Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Hugo Gellert papers, 1916-1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
The collection documents the professional activities of Joseph Selle (1906-1988), a photographer and proprietor of Fox Movie Flash, a street photography business in San Francisco, California. There are a few documents relating to Selle's personal life, but the bulk of the papers relate to his street photography business. Most of the documents date from between 1945 and 1975 and include insurance papers, correspondence, legal documents, receipts, tax records, cashbooks, employment applications, newspaper clippings, licenses and permits, payroll materials, and bank statements, as well as samples of photographs from the business.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the professional activities of Joseph Selle (1906-1988), a photographer and proprietor of Fox Movie Flash, a street photography business in San Francisco, California. There are a few documents relating to Selle's personal life, but the bulk of the papers relate to his street photography business. Most of the documents date from between 1945 and 1975 and include insurance papers, correspondence, legal documents, receipts, tax records, cashbooks, employment applications, newspaper clippings, licenses and permits, payroll materials, and bank statements, as well as samples of photographs from the business.
Series 1, Biographical Information, 1938-1981 and undated, contains textual documents providing personal information on Joseph Selle, including seller's permits, his marriage license to Augusta Crosbie Selle, a bail receipt from the Berkeley Police Department, correspondence, business and identification cards, a map of the University of California, Berkeley campus where Selle took photographs, and a copy of his eulogy. Other materials in this series include a contract transferring ownership of Actionette Studios from Selle and T. Hegge to Kurt Reiss, court documents related to the lawsuit Reiss brought against Selle and Hegge, correspondence with lawyers, and rental lease agreements. This series also contains newspaper clippings about Selle and Fox Movie Flash, as well as clippings relating to street photography, advertisements placed by Selle to hire photographers, and attendance records of California State Fairs, some of which Selle photographed.
Series 2, Operating Records, 1941-1981 and undated, consists of four subseries: Subseries 1, Administrative Materials, 1941-1975 and undated; Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1938-1981; Subseries 3, Weekly Reports, 1947-1952; and Subseries 4, Payroll, 1945-1948. This series contains the bulk of the information about Selle's street photography business. Materials include licenses and permits for Selle and his photographers, including Bob Rose, the donor of this collection and promotional manager for Fox Movie Flash. Other materials include insurance policies, office supplies (such as stationary and rubber stamps), booklets containing blank order cards handed to potential customers, applications for employment, weekly reports on the photographs taken by all employees (which are arranged chronologically by employee surname), and payroll ledgers.
Also included is correspondence with Selle and Fox Movie Studios. The bulk of the subseries consists of letters, although some telegrams and postcards are included. Some of the letters relate to personal matters, though the majority of them deal directly with the operation of the business. Frequent correspondents includes officials at the California State Fair, where Selle held a concession to take candid photographs in 1949, 1952, 1953, and 1956. Selle also corresponded with his lawyer William H. Rois of Rois & Fowler when he was being sued by Kurt Reiss for breach of contract and misrepresentation about Actionette Studios. Additionally, Selle received correspondence from the Better Business Bureau which mediated between Fox Movie Flash and dissatisfied customers who requested refunds. The remainder of the correspondence consists of orders for photographs taken by Fox Movie Flash cameramen by customers, and orders to and from vendors for supplies.
Series 3, Financial Records, 1940-1975 and undated, consists of four subseries: Subseries 1, Business Records, 1944-1947; Subseries 2, Tax Records, 1945-1975; Subseries 3, Bank Records, 1942-1975; and Subseries 4, Receipts, 1940-1975. This series contains both personal and business financial records of Selle and Fox Movie Flash. Included are city, state and federal tax returns, as well as tax documents from the California Department of Employment. Also included are business records and ledgers, bank statements, bills, checks, financial notes, payroll ledgers, and receipts. Many of his receipts are from equipment and materials purchased for the company, including film, developing chemicals, and paper from companies such as Ansco Photographic Materials and Equipment, Brooks Cameras, Eastman Kodak Stores, and The Haloid Company; equipment repair from Friedberg-Smith Optical Instruments; bus tickets and material shipping to and from Fresno from Pacific Greyhound Lines; postage from the United States Postal Service; office supplies from Wobblers, Inc.; and help wanted advertisements from theSan Francisco Examiner.
Series 4, Photographs, 1941-1950 and undated, contains photographic prints, most sized four by six inches. Additionally there are fifteen photographic prints that have been mounted onto both sides of four by six sheets of metal or wood. These mounted prints were used by the photographers to display sample photographs to prospective customers. These mounted prints have been placed into sink mats for protection. The photographs were taken on the streets of San Fransisco, at the 1941 California State Fair in Sacramento and on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The majority of the campus photographs feature college students, graduates, and faculty members. These photographs also feature male soldiers and sailors, and "WAVES," women in the US Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve). The street photographs in San Fransisco feature unknown pedestrians, Selle and other street photographers, camera equipment, and celebrities. The celebrities in these photographs include actors Edward G. Robinson, Tony Curtis and Bing Crosby, heavyweight boxer Primo Carnera, and burlesque dancer Noel Toy.
Arrangement:
Collection is divided into four series.
Series 1, Biographical Information, 1938-1981 and undated
Series 2, Operating Records, 1941-1981 and undated
Subseries 1, Administrative Materials, 1941-1975 and undated
Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1938-1981
Subseries 3, Weekly Reports, 1947-1952
Subseries 4, Payroll, 1945-1948
Series 3, Financial Records, 1940-1975 and undated
Subseries 1, Business Records, 1944-1947
Subseries 2, Tax Records, 1945-1975
Subseries 3, Bank Records, 1942-1975
Subseries 4, Receipts, 1940-1975
Series 4, Photographs, 1941-1950 and undated
Biographical / Historical:
Street photographer Joseph (Joe) Nicolas Selle (1906-1988) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in the small, rural town of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. His father, born in Strasbourg, Germany, worked as a portrait photographer. In 1933, he moved to the West Coast. According to a eulogy found in the collection written by a member of the Elks Club, Selle attended barber school before joining the Merchant Marines as a seaman, though the dates of his service are unknown. The eulogy indicates that Selle, along with a man named Harry Chesterfield, worked on a project that allowed for fresh water to reach the island prison of Alcatraz.
Selle began taking photographs at the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair, and began working as a street photographer in 1936. He traveled to Texas, where he met his future wife, Augusta ('Gusta) Crosbie from San Antonio, Texas. They were married on May 29, 1938 in Nevada and then moved to Washington state. In 1940, Selle operated his first street photography business with co-owner T. Hegge, called Actionette Studios. The business had two offices, one in Seattle, Washington at 1331 3rd Avenue, (at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Union Street) and one in Spokane, Washington (at the corner of Riverside and Wall Street). In each city, Selle and Hegge stood near major thoroughfares and photographed pedestrians as they walked by. They then handed the pedestrians photograph order cards with a specific number that correlated with their photograph. If the customer was interested, they could send the order card with their home address and twenty-five cents to Actionette Studios, where Selle and Hegge would print the photograph and mail it to the customer.
Selle moved to San Francisco in either 1939 or 1940, and sought a buyer for his business. On November 12, 1940, Selle and Hegge entered into a conditional sales contract with Kurt Riess for the rights, equipment, and property of Actionette Studios for five thousand dollars. On December 16, 1940, Selle and Hegge were summoned by the Superior Court of the State of Washington as defendants in Riess vs. Selle and Hegge. Riess alleged that Selle and Hegge fraudulently misrepresented the profitability of the business in Spokane; Selle and Hegge denied the charges. They reached a settlement, the details of which are unknown.
Licensed to drive a public vehicle in 1942, Selle worked as a taxi cab driver and a rental car chauffeur periodically until 1945 while taking photographs on the streets of San Francisco. On May 16, 1946, Selle became licensed to conduct business as the owner of Fox Movie Flash, the street photography company he would operate for the next forty years. The office was located in downtown San Francisco at 942 Market Street, above the Pix Theater. Selle and the photographers he hired would stand on street corners and photograph pedestrians as they walked by. The solicitation process was similar to that of Actionette Studios. The photographers would hand pedestrians they photographed an order card with the number of the photograph printed on it, which the customer could then mail along with a specific payment, (ranging from twenty five cents in the mid-1940s to two dollars in the 1970s) for copies of the image.
With a staff of photographers (including the donor of the collection, Bob Rose, who also served as a promotional manager), darkroom technicians, and administrative personnel, Fox Movie Flash documented life in the prime retail shopping districts of San Francisco. Selle would frequently position himself at one of his favorite intersections, typically in front of the Flood Building at Market and Powell Streets or in front of the Pix Theater at Market and Mason Streets. Some of his other favorite locations included the corners and side streets around Union Square, and on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The photographers used modified DeVry 35mm newsreel-type movie cameras that were loaded with 100-foot rolls of film, capable of snapping up to 1500 images. The cameras were focused ten feet in front of the photographer, allowing them to point and shoot a specific spot repeatedly. Selle had the rolls of film developed in his darkroom by technicians, and they printed the images that people ordered.
Fox Movie Flash photographers worked in the California towns of Fresno, San Jose, Sacramento, and Stockton, as well as San Francisco. The photographers in his employ photographed numerous celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Red Skelton, the Iranian Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini, Edward, the Duke of Windsor, and Wallis Simpson. According to Andrew Eskind of the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, which houses Selle's entire archive of photographs and negatives -- a total of about one million images -- Fox Movie Flash was in operation until the 1970s. Towards the end of his career as a street photographer, Selle and Augusta owned a beef cattle ranch in Sonoma, California. He died in 1988.
References
The Joseph Selle Collection of Street Vendor Photography
http://www.andreweskind.com/andy/streetphot/ (accessed on February 2, 2011)
Luminous Lint for Collectors and Connoisseurs of Fine Photography
http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/photographer/Joseph__Selle/A/ (accessed on February 2, 2011)
Richard L. Nelson Gallery & Fine Art Collection, University of California, Davis
http://nelsonga.ipower.com/archives/2005/04/joseph_selle.html (accessed on February 2, 2011)
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Bob Rose.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Some materials in Series 3, Financial Materials, Subseries 3, Bank Records, are restricted. Some materials contain items with social security numbers. See repository for more details.
Rights:
Copyright held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collections items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from the Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply.
The United States Shipping Board was created by the Shipping Act of 1916 for the establishment of a naval auxilary, naval reserve, and Merchant Marine. Booklet, Trade Routes & Shipping Services (1928), lists the numerous participant lines.Fleet: Strathnever.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Ships, Boats, and Vessels, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Gorrell, Edgar S. (Edgar Staley), 1891-1945 Search this
Container:
Box 4, Folder 12
Type:
Archival materials
Text
Date:
1936-1939
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Edgar S. Gorrell Collection, Acc. XXXX-0057, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Gorrell, Edgar S. (Edgar Staley), 1891-1945 Search this
Container:
Box 5, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Text
Date:
1936-1939
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Edgar S. Gorrell Collection, Acc. XXXX-0057, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Gorrell, Edgar S. (Edgar Staley), 1891-1945 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Text
Date:
1937
Scope and Contents:
Address delivered before the Boston Chamber of Commerce at the Transportation Conference, Boston, MA, Jan. 14, 1937
The Future of Transportation in the United States from the Viewpoint of: Air, Address delivered before the Chamber of Commerce of the United States at their 25th Annual Meeting, Apr. 28, 1937
Standing Upon the Threshold of a Profession, Address delivered at the graduation exercises of Norwich University, Northfield, VT, June 7, 1937 (2 copies)
America's National Policy on Aeronautics, Address delivered at Western Aviation Planning Conference, Sacramento, CA, Sept. 23, 1937 (2 copies)
Aviation, Yesterday and Today, Address delivered at the 8th Annual Mountain State Forest Festival, Elkins, WV, Oct. 9, 1937
Rationalization of Air Transport, Address delivered before the 7th Annual Convention of the National Association of State Aviation Officials, Miami, FL, Dec. 3, 1937 (2 copies)
The Why of S.2 and H.R.7273, Address delivered at the 7th Annual Convention of the National Association of State Aviation Officials, Miami, FL, Dec. 3, 1937 (2 copies)
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Edgar S. Gorrell Collection, Acc. XXXX-0057, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
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