Popular Entertainment

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.

Purple posterboard with painted advertisement for mutoscope motion picture "Western Courage" with painted representations of Native American crafts. Two attached photographs are stills from the film showing Native Americans dancing by a teepee and a white man tied to a tree.
Description (Brief)
Purple posterboard with painted advertisement for mutoscope motion picture "Western Courage" with painted representations of Native American crafts. Two attached photographs are stills from the film showing Native Americans dancing by a teepee and a white man tied to a tree. By the turn of the century, American cultural commentators were bemoaning the closing of the nation's western frontier, and Native Americans became frequent features in motion pictures which depicted the old West. Tribal customs were reduced to stereotypical "Indian" character behavior in films such as this one, where Native Americans are depicted as simplistic and hostile to white settlers.
Description
The Mutoscope Collection in the National Museum of American History’s Photographic History Collection is among the most significant of its kind in any museum. Composed of 3 cameras, 13 viewers, 59 movie reels and 53 movie posters, the collection documents the early years of the most successful and influential motion picture company of the industry’s formative period. It also showcases a unique style of movie exhibition that outlasted its early competitors, existing well into the 20th century.
The American Mutoscope Company was founded in 1895 by a group of four men, Elias Koopman, Herman Casler, Henry Marvin and William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, to manufacture a motion picture viewer called the mutoscope and to produce films for exhibition. Dickson had recently left the employ of Thomas Edison, for whom he had solved the problem of “doing for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear” by inventing the modern motion picture. Casler and Dickson worked together to perfect the mutoscope, which exhibited films transferred to a series of cards mounted in the style of a flip book on a metal core, and avoided Edison’s patents with this slightly different style of exhibition. The company’s headquarters in New York City featured a rooftop studio on a turntable to ensure favorable illumination, and the short subjects made here found such success that by 1897, the Edison company’s dominance of the industry was in danger. American Mutoscope became American Mutoscope & Biograph in 1899, when the namesake projector, invented by Casler, became the most used in the industry.
Mutoscope viewers were found in many amusement areas and arcades until at least the 1960s. Their inexpensiveness and short, often comical or sensational subjects allowed the machines a far longer life than the competing Edison Kinetoscope. The company also found success in its production and projection of motion pictures, though its activity was mired by patent litigation involving Thomas Edison through the 1910s. The notable director D. W. Griffith was first hired as an actor, working with pioneering cinematographer G. W. “Billy” Bitzer, before moving behind the camera at Biograph and making 450 films for the company.
Griffith and Bitzer invented cinematographic techniques like the fade-out and iris shot, made the first film in Hollywood and launched the careers of early stars Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish. The company, simply renamed the Biograph Company in 1909, went out of business in 1928 after losing Griffith and facing a changing movie industry.
The Museum’s collection was acquired in the years between 1926 and the mid-1970s. The original mutograph camera and two later models of the camera were given to the Smithsonian in 1926 by the International Mutoscope Reel Company, which inherited Biograph’s mutoscope works and continued making the viewers and reels through the 1940s. The viewers, reels and posters in the collection were acquired for exhibition in the National Museum of American History, and were later accessioned as objects in the Photographic History Collection. Many of the mutoscope reels in the collection date to the period from 1896-1905, and show early motion picture subjects, some of which were thought to be lost films before their examination in 2008.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2008.0095.011
accession number
2008.0095
catalog number
2008.0095.011
Blue posterboard with painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "Broncho Busters & Indian Warriors!!" The poster includes an attached photograph depicting a scene from the movie, in which Native American horsemen ride before an assembled crowd at a parade ground.
Description (Brief)
Blue posterboard with painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "Broncho Busters & Indian Warriors!!" The poster includes an attached photograph depicting a scene from the movie, in which Native American horsemen ride before an assembled crowd at a parade ground. Wild West shows like that of Buffalo Bill Cody were familiar spectacles to most Americans in the early 20th century. Wild West show companies, often composed of Native Americans, cowboy actors, and a variety of animals, toured the country as did circuses, playing to large crowds eager to catch a glimpse of the nation's disappearing frontier culture. This mutoscope movie poster proves that even filmed versions of such shows found a popular audience.
Description
The Mutoscope Collection in the National Museum of American History’s Photographic History Collection is among the most significant of its kind in any museum. Composed of 3 cameras, 13 viewers, 59 movie reels and 53 movie posters, the collection documents the early years of the most successful and influential motion picture company of the industry’s formative period. It also showcases a unique style of movie exhibition that outlasted its early competitors, existing well into the 20th century.
The American Mutoscope Company was founded in 1895 by a group of four men, Elias Koopman, Herman Casler, Henry Marvin and William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, to manufacture a motion picture viewer called the mutoscope and to produce films for exhibition. Dickson had recently left the employ of Thomas Edison, for whom he had solved the problem of “doing for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear” by inventing the modern motion picture. Casler and Dickson worked together to perfect the mutoscope, which exhibited films transferred to a series of cards mounted in the style of a flip book on a metal core, and avoided Edison’s patents with this slightly different style of exhibition. The company’s headquarters in New York City featured a rooftop studio on a turntable to ensure favorable illumination, and the short subjects made here found such success that by 1897, the Edison company’s dominance of the industry was in danger. American Mutoscope became American Mutoscope & Biograph in 1899, when the namesake projector, invented by Casler, became the most used in the industry.
Mutoscope viewers were found in many amusement areas and arcades until at least the 1960s. Their inexpensiveness and short, often comical or sensational subjects allowed the machines a far longer life than the competing Edison Kinetoscope. The company also found success in its production and projection of motion pictures, though its activity was mired by patent litigation involving Thomas Edison through the 1910s. The notable director D. W. Griffith was first hired as an actor, working with pioneering cinematographer G. W. “Billy” Bitzer, before moving behind the camera at Biograph and making 450 films for the company.
Griffith and Bitzer invented cinematographic techniques like the fade-out and iris shot, made the first film in Hollywood and launched the careers of early stars Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish. The company, simply renamed the Biograph Company in 1909, went out of business in 1928 after losing Griffith and facing a changing movie industry.
The Museum’s collection was acquired in the years between 1926 and the mid-1970s. The original mutograph camera and two later models of the camera were given to the Smithsonian in 1926 by the International Mutoscope Reel Company, which inherited Biograph’s mutoscope works and continued making the viewers and reels through the 1940s. The viewers, reels and posters in the collection were acquired for exhibition in the National Museum of American History, and were later accessioned as objects in the Photographic History Collection. Many of the mutoscope reels in the collection date to the period from 1896-1905, and show early motion picture subjects, some of which were thought to be lost films before their examination in 2008.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2008.0095.012
accession number
2008.0095
catalog number
2008.0095.012
"The New Mutants began as a 1982 spin-off of the long running Marvel Comics series The X-Men.
Description
"The New Mutants began as a 1982 spin-off of the long running Marvel Comics series The X-Men. Like the X-Men, the New Mutants are a group of young mutants born with superpowers who are often persecuted for their differences.
The cover for this issue features the character of Danni Moonstar, also known as Psyche (and later, Mirage.) A mutant of Cheyenne descent, Moonstar possesses psionic and telepathic abilities, including the ability to create powerful illusions.
This issue was written by Chris Claremont, with art by Bill Sienkiewicz.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1984-08
maker
Marvel Comics
ID Number
2018.0171.20
accession number
2018.0171
catalog number
2018.0171.20
Posterboard with pre-printed design and painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "The Stage at Coyote Holes" - starring Wally Wales.
Description (Brief)
Posterboard with pre-printed design and painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "The Stage at Coyote Holes" - starring Wally Wales. An attached photograph depicts a scene from the movie in which a man threatens a Native American with a revolver in an "Old West" town. The Western film genre is almost as old as the motion picture itself; Edwin S. Porter's 1902 film "The Great Train Robbery" is often considered the first narrative motion picture, and it also gave birth to the Western genre. The motion picture advertised on this poster stars Wally Wales (born Hal Taliaferro), an actor who appeared in over 200 films and usually played a cowboy or prospector in low-budget "B" Westerns. By the 1920s, when this poster was made, Western films were highly popular among American audiences and stars like Wally Wales could attract audiences who were familiar with their past performances.
Description
The Mutoscope Collection in the National Museum of American History’s Photographic History Collection is among the most significant of its kind in any museum. Composed of 3 cameras, 13 viewers, 59 movie reels and 53 movie posters, the collection documents the early years of the most successful and influential motion picture company of the industry’s formative period. It also showcases a unique style of movie exhibition that outlasted its early competitors, existing well into the 20th century.
The American Mutoscope Company was founded in 1895 by a group of four men, Elias Koopman, Herman Casler, Henry Marvin and William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, to manufacture a motion picture viewer called the mutoscope and to produce films for exhibition. Dickson had recently left the employ of Thomas Edison, for whom he had solved the problem of “doing for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear” by inventing the modern motion picture. Casler and Dickson worked together to perfect the mutoscope, which exhibited films transferred to a series of cards mounted in the style of a flip book on a metal core, and avoided Edison’s patents with this slightly different style of exhibition. The company’s headquarters in New York City featured a rooftop studio on a turntable to ensure favorable illumination, and the short subjects made here found such success that by 1897, the Edison company’s dominance of the industry was in danger. American Mutoscope became American Mutoscope & Biograph in 1899, when the namesake projector, invented by Casler, became the most used in the industry.
Mutoscope viewers were found in many amusement areas and arcades until at least the 1960s. Their inexpensiveness and short, often comical or sensational subjects allowed the machines a far longer life than the competing Edison Kinetoscope. The company also found success in its production and projection of motion pictures, though its activity was mired by patent litigation involving Thomas Edison through the 1910s. The notable director D. W. Griffith was first hired as an actor, working with pioneering cinematographer G. W. “Billy” Bitzer, before moving behind the camera at Biograph and making 450 films for the company.
Griffith and Bitzer invented cinematographic techniques like the fade-out and iris shot, made the first film in Hollywood and launched the careers of early stars Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish. The company, simply renamed the Biograph Company in 1909, went out of business in 1928 after losing Griffith and facing a changing movie industry.
The Museum’s collection was acquired in the years between 1926 and the mid-1970s. The original mutograph camera and two later models of the camera were given to the Smithsonian in 1926 by the International Mutoscope Reel Company, which inherited Biograph’s mutoscope works and continued making the viewers and reels through the 1940s. The viewers, reels and posters in the collection were acquired for exhibition in the National Museum of American History, and were later accessioned as objects in the Photographic History Collection. Many of the mutoscope reels in the collection date to the period from 1896-1905, and show early motion picture subjects, some of which were thought to be lost films before their examination in 2008.
date made
ca 1928
depicted
Wales, Wally
ID Number
2008.0095.009
accession number
2008.0095
catalog number
2008.0095.009
Princess Dancing Bear was created by puppeteer Frank Paris, who performed with the marionette in shows for adult audiences that were staged in American theaters and nightclubs during the 1930s through the 1950s.
Description (Brief)
Princess Dancing Bear was created by puppeteer Frank Paris, who performed with the marionette in shows for adult audiences that were staged in American theaters and nightclubs during the 1930s through the 1950s. The marionette, which stands nearly three feet tall, has the statuesque torso of a chorus girl or an exotic dancer, and is costumed in an abbreviated costume of halter and panties decorated with white feathers and silver sequins. Its face is equipped with high, sloping cheekbones and a smoldering, sloe-eyed stare worthy of a Marlene Dietrich. Two long black braids, made of strands of fringe, are crowned with a detachable, top-to-toe headdress of white feathers, silver sequins, and glass beads. Its long legs are joined to feet which sport white and silver slippers. The puppet has a beaded headband inscribed with Paris’s name. The overall effect of the marionette evokes a visual impression that combines ethnic stereotype and exotic sensuality and is the embodiment of the puppeteer’s characteristically sophisticated style, which one critic has deemed “the Paris Label.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1935 - 1955
maker
Paris, Frank
ID Number
1980.0352.01
accession number
1980.0352
catalog number
1980.0352.01
Laredo, also published as Laredo Crockett by Bob Schoenke was distributed by The Register and Tribune Syndicate from 1950 to 1965. The comic strip had a Western theme, featuring American Indians, cowboys, and the title character, Laredo Crockett.
Description
Laredo, also published as Laredo Crockett by Bob Schoenke was distributed by The Register and Tribune Syndicate from 1950 to 1965. The comic strip had a Western theme, featuring American Indians, cowboys, and the title character, Laredo Crockett. In this strip, Ben is taken into police custody because it appears that he shot Cholla in the back.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
04/15/1965
graphic artist
Schoenke, Bob
publisher
Register and Tribune Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22558
catalog number
22558
accession number
277502
Little Joe, created and drawn by Ed Leffingwell (d. 1936) and later, his brother Robert until 1972, was distributed by The News Syndicate Company and the Chicago Tribune Syndicate from 1933 to 1972.
Description
Little Joe, created and drawn by Ed Leffingwell (d. 1936) and later, his brother Robert until 1972, was distributed by The News Syndicate Company and the Chicago Tribune Syndicate from 1933 to 1972. Leffingwell began his career as an assistant artist on Little Orphan Annie, so the character Little Joe and the early storyline often resembles that of Annie. The strip features a teenage boy, Joe, and his family and workers on a ranch in the western U.S. In this strip, Joe and Dead-Pan cross a ravine by using a fallen log.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
03/06/1966
graphic artist
Leffingwell, Ed
publisher
News Syndicate Co., Inc.
ID Number
GA.22402
catalog number
22402
accession number
277502

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