Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. 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.
Biographical files cover the period from 1938-1989 and include resumes, clippings, correspondence, certificates, awards, speeches, brochures for exhibitions, and artwork.
The project files cover the period from 1934-1961 and contain clippings, catalogs, brochures, and scrapbooks. This material documents Bach's work as an industrial designer, architect, and painter from 1934-1992.
The files on the Ridgeway Center mall are particularly extensive. Photographs cover the period from 1937-1961 and document Bach's design projects, particularly the Ridgeway Center, his house in Stamford, and the Miami and New York offices of Callaway Mills. Portraits of Bach and his family are included as well.
Glass lantern slides document Bach's interior and exterior design projects. Also included are several signed and numbered prints of Bach's watercolor scenes of the Riviera.
Arrangement:
The Collection i s arranged into three series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials and Project Files, 1934-1989
Series 2: Photographs, 1942-1961
Series 3: Lantern slides (glass), undated
Biographical / Historical:
Industrial designer, architect, and painter. Born in Germany, 1904. Bach studied film directing and design in Europe. He turned to industrial design upon immigrating to the United States in 1926. His design work from 1932-1953 include a Philco radio, furniture for Heywood-Wakefield, carpets for Bigelow-Sanford, and appliances for General Electric. Bach designed and built his own home in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1938.
In the late 1940s, he developed a plan for one of the first shopping malls in America, the Ridgeway Center in Stamford, Connecticut. He remodeled the interior and exterior of Sach's furniture store, 1948-1949, and redesigned the Seneca Textile Building on 34th Street in Manhattan in 1952. Bach moved to Florida in 1959, where he designed the Palm Trail Plaza, a marina apartment complex in Delray Beach, completed in 1961. In addition, Bach was also a noted painter. His watercolors were featured in numerous exhibitions in the United States and Europe.
Related Archival Materials:
Materials at the Smithsonian
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Drawings and Prints Department holds 431 drawings of designs for furniture, textiles, lamps, pianos, clocks, appliances, and retail, office, and home interiors
Provenance:
Collection donated by Alfons Bach in 1993.
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.
The collection consists of motion picture exhibition ephemera (lantern slides, publicity photographs, and paper) saved by Robert L. Sardino during his years working in motion picture theaters in Syracuse, New York.
Content Description:
The collection consists of archival materials saved by Robert L. Sardino during the years he was employed in motion picture theaters in Syracuse, New York. This collection also contains objects Sardino salvaged when the Paramount Theater in Syracuse, New York was demolished in 1967. He spent the bulk of his career at the Paramount Theater. Included are theater schedules; blank payroll documents; photographs of employees, theater interiors, and marquees, as well as publicity stills of actors and for motion pictures; certificates; motion picture advertising and press releases. There is a large number of glass lantern slides relating to a variety of topics such as current news events, sports, scenic views, and "coming attractions."
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1, Personal Papers and Ephemera, 1942-1981, undated
Series 2, Paramount and Schine Theaters (Syracuse, New York), 1947-1970, undated
Series 3, Motion Pictures, Publicity Stills, Advertisements, and Souvenir Programs 1942-1968, undated
Series 4, Lantern Slides, 1914-1915, undated
Subseries 4.1, American Press Association, undated
Subseries 4.2, Brenkert Light Projection Company (BLPC), undated
Subseries 4.4, Maurice Workstel, Incorporated, undated
Subseries 4.5, Other, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Robert L. Sardino was born in New York state December 11, 1897, the son of John and Palma Sardino. Both of his parents were born in Italy, and Palma notes in the 1920 census that she had immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1881. His father died at an early age and by the 1920 census Palma was listed as being head of the household. Robert joined the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), local 376, on January 24, 1915. According to family oral history Robert began work at the age of fourteen, in the 1920 census he is noted as an "operator" in a "picture show." His brothers, Frank and Alphonsa, were both in the motion picture theater business. By 1930 Frank is noted as a "theater proprietor." Alphonsa is noted as a "picture theater" manager as early as 1920. For the greatest part of his life, Robert worked in and around Syracuse, New York. During his working life, he was employed by Paramount-Publix Corporation, later known as Paramount Pictures, Incorporated and also the Schine Corporation theater owners and developers. He worked in Syracuse at the Paramount Theater which was demolished in 1967. Family history maintains Robert worked until he was seventy-five years old.
Robert served in the military during World War I. On his registration card he is described as being of medium height and build, grey eyes, and black hair. He was then working as an auto mechanic in Old Forge, New York. In May 1928, Robert married Florence Owen, daughter of David and Charlotte Bostwick Owen. They had two children, Delores and Roberta. The marriage ended and in the 1940 census Robert was living with his daughters and was noted as being a projectionist in a movie theater. Later that year he married Irene Boniface Simiele, also a divorcee, with a young son, Joseph.
Robert died in Syracuse, New York on February 3, 1981.
Related Materials:
The Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds these objects associated with this collection: Accession number 1984.0789 includes: Basket; Frame, Exit Sign; Screen, Cinerama; Speaker, Car, Drive-in Movie; Plate, End-Seat Aisle Camp Cover; Holder; Disc, Transcription.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Irene B. Sardino, widow of Robert L. Sardino, to the Division of Social and Cultural History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, in 1984.
Restrictions:
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.
Scrapbooks and posters documenting the burlesque career of Irene Jewell (stage name Ricki Covette), who at 6'8" was billed as "The World's Tallest Exotic Dancer."
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of eight scrapbooks and five posters documenting the burlesque career of Irene Jewell (stage name Ricki Covette), who at 6'8" was billed as "The World's Tallest Exotic Dancer." The albums contain clippings; letters; certificates; photographs, including photographs of her act; ephemera, such as postcards, travel brochures, postcards, and decals, from her travels; advertisements; and theater programs.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: Scrapbooks
Series 2: Posters
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1925 in rural Alberta, Canada, Irene Jewell aspired to become a singer and dancer. Moving to the United States in the 1950s, Jewell began a thirty-year career in show business, including theater, small parts in television and film, but especially burlesque, under her stage name "Ricki Covette." Billed as "The World's Tallest Exotic Dancer" at 6'8" and the "Glamazon," Covette's career spanned the peak of burlesque's popularity; her career highlights included headlining at clubs, including an 82-week stint at the ShoBar in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a solo act world tour in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the Americans. Besides her burlesque career, Covette also had parts in theater, including playing the role of Gymnasia in the 1963-1964 tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and appearing in the 1966 film The Swinger. After she left show business, she started a successful second career as a real estate broker in the Los Angeles area and travelled with her husband, cinematographer Stuart Jewell, shooting footage of nature and culture. In 2010 she appeared in Leslie Zemeckis's documentary, Behind the Burly! Covette died in February 2016.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2014 by Irene Jewell (stage name Ricki Covette).
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Social Security numbers are present and have been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
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.
Sargent, Howard Harrop, Jr., 1911-1986 Search this
Extent:
0.02 Cubic feet (1 oversized map folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Certificates
Date:
April 25, 1942
Summary:
Howard Harrop Sargent, Jr. (1911--1986) was a test pilot who was the first person to fly an aircraft powered by the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engine. This collection consists of a Wasp Major Club certificate issued to Sargent.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a Wasp Major Club certificate issued to Howard Harrop Sargent, Jr. indicating that he was the first pilot to fly an aircraft powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engine. The certificate, which measures approximately 16 x 14 inches, is dated April 25, 1942 and is signed by Pratt & Whitney's General Manager, name unreadable, and Chief Engineer, Andrew Willgoos.
Arrangement:
Collection is a single item.
Biographical / Historical:
Howard Harrop Sargent, Jr. (1911--1986) was a test pilot who was the first person to fly an aircraft powered by the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engine. Sargent obtained his pilot's license in 1929 and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1933. Sargent was immediately hired by Pratt & Whitney as an Experimental Test Pilot and by 1939 was their Chief Test Pilot. On April 25, 1942, Sargent became the first person to fly an aircraft powered by the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engine while making a test flight in a Vultee (Vengeance) XA-31B from Vultee Field in Downey, California. Sargent worked for Raymond Engineering in Connecticut beginning in 1947.
The Wasp Major Club was created by Pratt & Whitney to document the first 100 pilots to fly an aircraft powered by a Wasp Major R-4360 engine.
Provenance:
Douglas B. Sargent, Gift, 2023, NASM.2024.0007
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.