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 1454 items.
Page 1 of 146
Sheet Music, "A-Tisket A-Tasket"
- Description
- Over the course of her sixty-year career, Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996) became known to fans and colleagues as "The First Lady of Song." Her rise to international fame as a jazz and popular singer coincided with the rise of an American entertainment industry that brought music to millions through concerts, sound recordings, film, radio, and television. In 1938, Fitzgerald came up with the idea for a song called "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," basing her lyric on a 19th–century nursery rhyme. Her 1938 Decca recording of the song over time became a million–seller.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1938
- lyricist
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- maker
- Robbins Music Corporation
- ID Number
- 1984.1117.04
- accession number
- 1984.1117
- catalog number
- 1984.1117.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Dizzy Gillespie's B–flat Trumpet
- Description
- This custom–made "Silver Flair" trumpet belonged to renowned trumpeter, bandleader, and composer John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, a founder of the modern jazz style known as bebop. Renowned for his musical virtuosity and for his impish good humor and wit, Gillespie played this trumpet in the early 1980s. Its uniquely shaped upturned bell was Gillespie's internationally known trademark.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1981
- owner
- Gillespie, Dizzy
- user
- Gillespie, Dizzy
- maker
- King Musical Instruments
- ID Number
- 1986.0003.01
- catalog number
- 1986.0003.01
- accession number
- 1986.0003
- serial number
- 673792
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sheet Music, "Over the Rainbow"
- Description (Brief)
- “Someday I’ll wish upon a star/And wake up where the clouds are far/Behind me./Where troubles melt like lemon drops/Away above the chimney tops/That’s where you’ll find me.” E.Y.”Yip”Harbug’s hopeful lyrics made “Over the Rainbow” from the film The Wizard of Oz an instant favorite with 1939 audiences. The song, composed by Harold Arlen, quickly became a national standard and the signature ballad of the film’s star, Judy Garland (1922–1969).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1986.0021.28
- catalog number
- 1986.0021.28
- accession number
- 1986.0021
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Prince's Yellow Cloud Electric Guitar
- Description
- Custom-made in 1989 by the Minneapolis, Minn., firm of Knut-Koupee Enterprises, this Yellow-cloud electric guitar was designed and used by Prince. The musician's distinctive personal symbol adorns both the top and the side of the fingerboard. Custom work for famous instrumentalists and musicians provides an important marketing tool for small-scale guitar makers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1989
- maker
- Haugen, Barry
- Rusan, David
- Knut-Koupee Enterprises, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1993.0435.01
- catalog number
- 1993.0435.01
- accession number
- 1993.0435
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sound Recording
- Description
- Elvis Aron Presley (1935—1977) is one of the best-known and most influential figures in popular music. Throughout his career, Elvis incorporated pop, gospel, country, and blues elements into creating his trademark style and earning his mainstream success.
- This recording is the first of Elvis's many albums that he made for RCA. The company took a major risk in releasing a full album from this new "rock & roll" artist, as teenagers were more likely to buy 45 rpm singles than a full LP. The Elvis Presley album included recording sessions Elvis did for RCA and five previously unissued songs recorded earlier with Sun Records. After the album's release in March 1956, Elvis Presley eventually went on to become the first rock & roll album to reach number one on national record sales charts, and RCA's first million-dollar-earning pop album.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1956
- recording artist
- Presley, Elvis
- manufacturer
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 2000.3053.1039
- nonaccession number
- 2000.3053
- catalog number
- 2000.3053.1039
- label number
- LPM-1254
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sound Recording, "When the Saints Go Marching In"
- Description (Brief)
- Born in New Orleans in 1901, jazz musician Louis Armstrong (d. 1971)was known for his distinctive trumpet-playing and vocal style. He often improvised jazz riffs using his voice rather than his instrument, “scatting” notes and melodies rather than singing actual words. Armstrong transformed traditional church songs like “When the Saints Go Marching In” into jazz melodies fit for brass bands. Nicknamed Satchmo, short for “satchel-mouth,” he helped popularize the solo performance in jazz music. His musical style influenced singers Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra
- maker
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.208
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- maker number
- 25153
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.208
- 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, "The Beer Barrel Polka"
- Description (Brief)
- The Andrews Sisters—Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne—began their music career performing in vaudeville shows throughout the country. “Beer Barrel Polka” was one of their biggest hits, quickly becoming a popular jukebox selection. Based on a Czechoslovakian song, “Beer Barrel Polka” helped inspire an interest in international music in the United States. The sisters continued touring as a group into the 1950s, eventually selling over 90 million records.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Andrews Sisters
- maker
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1981.0656.239
- accession number
- 1981.0656
- maker number
- 2462
- catalog number
- 1981.0656.239
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Program, Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra
- Description (Brief)
- This silk program commemorates a 1939 appearence of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, led by internationally renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957) . The popular orchestra was featured on weekly radio broadcasts and popular sound recordings.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- associated person
- Toscanini, Arturo
- associated institution
- NBC Symphony Orchestra
- ID Number
- 1983.0549.10
- accession number
- 1983.0549
- catalog number
- 1983.0549.10
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sound Recording, "Over the Rainbow"
- Description (Brief)
- Judy Garland (1922-1969) began her musical career as a vaudeville performer, touring the country with her two sisters until the early 1930s. Having signed with MGM Studios in 1935, she was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at age sixteen. Garland’s 1939 Decca recording of “Over the Rainbow” is not the version featured in the film. The b-side track "The Jitterbug," was originally intended for the same film, but studio producers cut it before deciding on the final script. The record reached the fifth position on the Billboard charts in 1939, and along with The Wizard of Oz, cemented Garland’s status as a major celebrity.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Garland, Judy
- maker
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1986.0771.35
- accession number
- 1986.0771
- maker number
- 2672
- catalog number
- 1986.0771.35
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- Next Page