American Vaudeville Museum collection
Collection area: Performing Arts
Collection dates: 1845-2007 bulk (bulk 1910-1940)
This collection, originally located at the American Vaudeville Museum in Boston, comprises theatre programs and postcards, sheet music, magazines, playbills, photographs and posters, stage scripts and other manuscripts, clippings and scrapbooks, films, miscellaneous papers, and a large collection of LP albums, as well as some entertainers' costumes and accessories. Some materials are included as photocopies rather than in original form. There are primary materials such as scrapbooks and handwritten stage scripts that document the careers of particular performers, often couples or family members. The collection focuses on vaudeville but encompasses other forms and eras of American entertainment as well, such as film and recorded music.
Specific descriptions of scope and content are provided for each series, along with biographical notes for the individual performers' collections.
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