Popular Entertainment - Overview
This Museum's popular entertainment collections hold some of the Smithsonian's most beloved artifacts. The ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz reside here, along with the Muppet character Kermit the Frog, and props from popular television series such as M*A*S*H and All in the Family. But as in many of the Museum's collections, the best-known objects are a small part of the story.
The collection also encompasses many other artifacts of 19th- and 20th-century commercial theater, film, radio, and TV—some 50,000 sound recordings dating back to 1903; posters, publicity stills, and programs from films and performances; puppets; numerous items from World's Fairs from 1851 to 1992; and audiovisual materials on Groucho Marx, to name only a few.
"Popular Entertainment - Overview" showing 200 items.
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sound recording: I Can't Get Started; The Prisoner's Song
- Description (Brief)
- Bunny Berigan and his Orchestra. side 1: I CAN'T GET STARTED; side 2: THE PRISONER'S SONG (Victor 36208)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1937
- recording artist
- Bunny Berigan and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.722
- maker number
- 36208
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.722
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Without a Song; Deep River
- Description (Brief)
- Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra. side 1: WITHOUT A SONG; side 2: DEEP RIVER (Victor 36396)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1941
- recording artist
- Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.723
- maker number
- 36396
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.723
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: King Porter; Sometimes I'm Happy
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: KING PORTER; side 2: SOMETIMES I'M HAPPY (Victor 25090)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1935
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.115
- maker number
- 25090
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.115
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Dinah; Moonglow
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman Quartet. side 1: DINAH; side 2: MOONGLOW (Victor 25398)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1936
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman Quartet
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.116
- maker number
- 25398
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.116
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Exactly Like You; Love Me Or Leave Me
- Description (Brief)
- side 1: Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. EXACTLY LIKE YOU; side 2: Benny Goodman Trio. LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (Victor 25406)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1936
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- Benny Goodman Trio
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.117
- maker number
- 25406
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.117
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Somebody Loves Me; Jam Session
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: SOMEBODY LOVES ME; side 2: JAM SESSION (Victor 25497)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1936
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.118
- maker number
- 25497
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.118
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sound Recording, "And the Angels Sing"
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman (1909-1986,) the King of Swing, was one of the America’s most popular band leaders and the leader of one of the first racially integrated musical groups. Goodman was a clarinetist by training, and his big band performances in Chicago and New York throughout the 1930s helped make jazz a respectable musical form. He and his orchestra performed the first jazz concert in New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1938. “And the Angels Sing,” recorded in 1939, was one of Goodman’s many hits. The musician would go on to play a variety of music, including bebop and classical.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.119
- maker number
- 26170
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.119
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Remember; Blue Skies
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: REMEMBER; side 2: BLUE SKIES (Bluebird B-10680)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1935-1936
- 1935
- 1936
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Bluebird
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.1056
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.1056
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- catalog number
- 1988.698.1056
- maker number
- B-10680
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: King Porter; Sometimes I'm Happy
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: KING PORTER; side 2: SOMETIMES I'M HAPPY (Victor 25090)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1935
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.1058
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.1058
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- catalog number
- 1988.698.1058
- maker number
- 25090
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Stompin' At the Savoy; Breakin' In a Pair Of Shoes
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY; side 2: BREAKIN' IN A PAIR OF SHOES (Victor 25247)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1936
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.1059
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.1059
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- catalog number
- 1988.698.1059
- maker number
- 25247
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center