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 14 items.
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sound recording: Shirt Tail Stomp; Blue
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Boys. side 1: SHIRT TAIL STOMP; side 2: BLUE (Brunswick 80030)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1928
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Boys
- maker
- Brunswick
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.1051
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.1051
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- maker number
- B-1007
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: It's So Good; Dirty Dog
- Description (Brief)
- Jack Teagarden and the Whoopie Makers. side 1: IT'S SO GOOD; side 2: DIRTY DOG (United Hot Club of America 39/40)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1929
- recording artist
- Teagarden, Jack
- Whoopie Makers
- Jack Teagarden and the Whoopie Makers
- McPartland, Jimmy
- Rodin, Gil
- Freeman, Bud
- Goodman, Benny
- Briedis, Vic
- Morgan, Dick
- Goodman, Harry
- Bauduc, Ray
- maker
- United Hot Club of America
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.2206
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.2206
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.2206
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
National Carbon Co. "Eveready" Radio Receiver With Speaker
- Description
- Radios, like this Eveready model 2, provided many families of the 1920s with a new form of home entertainment. Amateurs began making home radios to transmit and receive messages early in the 1900s. But using these radios called for engineering skills and a license. Early receivers, called "crystal detectors," while relatively easy to make, required some technical skill and were low in power.
- In 1916, David Sarnoff proposed that American Marconi Company sell broadcast transmitting equipment and "radio music boxes" that could receive the broadcast signals. After World War I, Sarnoff and his idea became part of the new Radio Corporation of America (RCA). A 1920 prototype radio designed by Alfred Goldsmith featured a few simple controls and needed no technical training to operate. RCA and other companies established AM (Amplitude Modulation) stations and began selling receivers. Stereo broadcasts were unknown, so radios needed only one speaker.
- Listeners were entranced by this new medium that delivered both local news and nationwide "network" programming. Since radios could operate on batteries, reception spread beyond cities. Unelectrified rural areas began tuning in, making farm life seem less isolated. Families began to gather around their radios in the evenings to hear music, sports, comedy, drama—and the commercials that paid for "free" programming. The voices of political leaders and entertainment celebrities reached millions of Americans.
- Elaborately styled cabinets, usually of wood, disguised technical components and allowed the radio to blend more easily with other home furnishings. This Eveready model is unusual. The cabinet is metal instead of wood, and can accept optional legs that permit the radio to be converted to a floor-standing model. Radio quickly became popular with Americans, so much so that statistics indicate only two electrical items sold well throughout the Great Depression: light bulbs and radios.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1928
- early developer of radio receivers
- Goldsmith, Alfred
- maker
- National Carbon Company
- ID Number
- 2002.0149.01
- catalog number
- 2002.0149.01
- accession number
- 2002.0149
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Graveyard Dream Blues; Weary Way Blues
- Description (Brief)
- Ida Cox. side 1: GRAVEYARD DREAM BLUES; side 2: WEARY WAY BLUES (Signature 907)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1923
- recording artist
- Cox, Ida
- Lovie Austin and her Blues Serenaders
- maker
- Signature
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.0751
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.0751
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- catalog number
- 1988.698.0751
- maker number
- 907
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Warning To Boys, A; Warning To Girls, A
- Description (Brief)
- Mack Allen. side 1: A WARNING TO BOYS; side 2: A WARNING TO GIRLS (Harmony 729-H)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1928
- recording artist
- Allen, Mack
- Dalhart, Vernon
- maker
- Harmony
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.10445
- collector/donor number
- 12912
- maker number
- 729-H
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Christmas In Jail Ain't That a Pain; Prison Cell Blues
- Description (Brief)
- Leroy Carr. side 1: CHRISTMAS IN JAIL AIN'T THAT A PAIN; side 2: PRISON CELL BLUES (Vocalion 1432)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1929
- recording artist
- Carr, Leroy
- maker
- Vocalion
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.13040
- collector/donor number
- 7828
- maker number
- 1432
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Handful Of Keys; Viper's Drag
- Description (Brief)
- Fats Waller. side 1: HANDFUL OF KEYS; side 2: VIPER'S DRAG (RCA Victor 27768)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1929
- 1934
- recording artist
- Waller, Fats
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.427
- maker number
- 27768
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.427
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Ain't Misbehavin'; Exactly Like You
- Description (Brief)
- Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra. side 1: AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'; side 2: EXACTLY LIKE YOU (Vocalion 3040)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1929
- 1930
- recording artist
- Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra
- maker
- Vocalion
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.446
- maker number
- 3040
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.446
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: 57 Varieties; I Ain't Got Nobody
- Description (Brief)
- Earl Hines. side 1: 57 VARIETIES; side 2: I AIN'T GOT NOBODY (Columbia 35875). from the album, "Hot Jazz Classics - Earl Hines" (Columbia C-41)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1928
- recording artist
- Hines, Earl
- maker
- Columbia
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.495
- maker number
- 35875
- C-41
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.495
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Caution Blues; Monday Date, A
- Description (Brief)
- Earl Hines. side 1: CAUTION BLUES; side 2: A MONDAY DATE (Columbia 35876). from the album, "Hot Jazz Classics - Earl Hines" (Columbia C-41)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1928
- associated person
- Hines, Earl
- maker
- Columbia
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.496
- maker number
- 35876
- C-41
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.496
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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