Popular Entertainment

Elvis Presley Record

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.

Date: 1960s

We Help Daddy

Original artwork, of pages 2 and 3, for the book We Help Daddy, written by Mini Stein with illustrations by Eloise Wilkin, and published by Western Publishing Company, Inc.
Description (Brief)

Original artwork, of pages 2 and 3, for the book We Help Daddy, written by Mini Stein with illustrations by Eloise Wilkin, and published by Western Publishing Company, Inc. in New York, New York, in 1962.

A Graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Eloise Wilkin (1904-1987) studied illustration. In her early years she worked as a freelance artist in New York City, illustrating schoolbooks for children learning to read, paper dolls and puzzles. She was married and raising a family in upstate New York when she started working from home creating illustrations for Little Golden Books in 1946. A prolific illustrator, Wilkin's work is easily identifiable for her adorable images of children with round faces and rosy pink cheeks. It is reported that she modeled her characters on her own family members and friends. Her beautifully detailed settings and backgrounds demonstrate her meticulous research and attention to detail. Her depiction of the idyllic home and family life reflected the post war optimism of the 1950s. She worked for Little Golden Books until 1984 and continued to design dolls for Vogue and Madame Alexander.

A stalwart Catholic, Wilkins was much attuned to the awakening social conscious of the 1960s. In 1964, the National Urban League, headed up by Whitney Young, brought attention to what he considered a fundamental omission on the part of the juvenile publishing world who he accused of racial stereotyping. Indeed, there were no children of color depicted in this vast category of books, but Eleanor Wilkin was one of the first illustrators to include an integrated classroom in We Like Kindergarten.

Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1962
maker
Wilkin, Eloise Burns
ID Number
1992.0634.093.03
accession number
1992.0634
catalog number
1992.0634.093.03

Typescript for Bob Newhart routine "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue"

Typescript for the Bob Newhart comedy routine "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue." The script is typed on three pages of typewriter paper in black ink.
Description (Brief)
Typescript for the Bob Newhart comedy routine "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue." The script is typed on three pages of typewriter paper in black ink. Newhart wrote the sketch in 1960 for his stand-up comedy act at Houston's Tidelands nightclub; that act was recorded and released as The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, a popular and acclaimed comedy album that went on to win Newhart two Grammy Awards.
The routine consists of an imaginary conversation between Abraham Lincoln and a Madison Avenue advertising executive. In talking through Lincoln’s upcoming Gettysburg Address, the ad man advises the sixteenth president on his image (“Abe, would you leave the beard on?”), suggests jokes and merchandising tie-ins, and bats down Lincoln’s speech revisions. The ad man’s insincere platitudes, prioritization of style over substance, and obsession with focus group testing poke fun at the popular perception of the advertising world’s asinine commercialism. His frustration with Lincoln’s earnest and thoughtful intelligence, out of its historical context, reads like relatable frustration with a coworker who just doesn’t get the point of a collaborative project. Meanwhile the sketch’s irreverent and ahistorical representation of Lincoln’s dithering deflates the mythology around the venerated leader. The routine even ends with the ad man suggesting that Lincoln “take in a play,” suggesting he may have been responsible for the president’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre. Newhart wrote in his 2006 book I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This that he was inspired to write the monologue by a 1957 study of the advertising world, The Hidden Persuaders, “which talked about the danger of PR men creating images in presidential campaigns to the degree that you were voting for a personality rather than a leader’s ideology.”
Bob Newhart changed the face of American comedy in his six decade-long career as a stand-up comedian and film and television actor. Newhart’s genial, halting, square delivery obscured a sly, subversive, and quietly revolutionary form of satire. Eschewing the more aggressive and controversial style of “sick comic” contemporaries like Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl, Newhart’s deadpan, stammering, straight man persona allowed him to subtly excoriate social mores, crassness and greed, hypocrisy, and the absurdities of modern American life. His debut comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart became first comedy LP ever to hit number one on the Billboard charts, first (of two) comedy album to win a Grammy for Album of the Year, and Newhart became the only comedian to ever win a Grammy as Best New Artist. He began acting in film and television, including two acclaimed and long running sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978) and Newhart (1982-1990). Newhart has continued to play small roles and make guest appearances into his 90s, including a recurring guest role on The Big Bang Theory that won him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2013. Newhart won the 2002 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, has been inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, and earned a 1962 Golden Globe award for Best TV Star as well as his three Grammy Awards in 1961.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
around 1960
Associated Name
Lincoln, Abraham
maker
Newhart, Bob
ID Number
2023.0059.01
accession number
2023.0059
catalog number
2023.0059.01

Don't Talk To Him

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963
depicted (sitter)
Richard, Cliff
ID Number
2017.3021.338
nonaccession number
2017.3021
catalog number
2017.3021.338

Enchantment

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
ID Number
2017.3021.351
nonaccession number
2017.3021
catalog number
2017.3021.351

I Feel So Bad; Wild In the Country

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
recording artist
Presley, Elvis
manufacturer
RCA Victor
ID Number
1996.3034.06132
label number
47-7880
catalog number
1996.3034.06132
nonaccession number
1996.3034

Bossa Nova U.S.A.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Bossa Nova U.S.A. (Columbia CL 1998).33-1/3 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Bossa Nova U.S.A. (Columbia CL 1998).
33-1/3 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963
recording artist
Dave Brubeck Quartet
manufacturer
Columbia
ID Number
1978.0670.781
maker number
CL 1998
accession number
1978.0670
catalog number
1978.0670.781

Pets N' Pals Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1962. The lunch box has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. This pets n’ pals lunch box features an image of the collie Lassie on one side, and the stallion Black Beauty on the other.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1962. The lunch box has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. This pets n’ pals lunch box features an image of the collie Lassie on one side, and the stallion Black Beauty on the other.
Date made
1962
maker
Thermos
ID Number
2001.3087.11.01
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.11.01

Camera-ready comic panel, entitled Laugh It Off

Laugh It Off was a comic panel series created by New Yorker cartoonist Sydney "Syd" Hoff (1912-2004) and distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1957 to 1971. The panels often illustrated funny moments or situations people find themselves in on a daily basis.
Description
Laugh It Off was a comic panel series created by New Yorker cartoonist Sydney "Syd" Hoff (1912-2004) and distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1957 to 1971. The panels often illustrated funny moments or situations people find themselves in on a daily basis. In this panel, a boss addresses one of his workers that is putting on his jacket to leave: "I don't mind you leaving early to avoid the traffic rush, Folsom, but it itsn't even noon yet."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
8/10/1966
08/10/1966
graphic artist
Hoff, Syd
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22346
catalog number
22346
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Blue Chips".

"Blue Chips", drawn by Morrie Brickman (1917-1994), is based on stock traders and their dealings with the economic uncertainties of the times. This was a precursor to Brickman's most famous cartoon, "The Small Society", which deals with money, politics, and national issues.
Description
"Blue Chips", drawn by Morrie Brickman (1917-1994), is based on stock traders and their dealings with the economic uncertainties of the times. This was a precursor to Brickman's most famous cartoon, "The Small Society", which deals with money, politics, and national issues. In this strip, Pigeon gets advice from his advisor, Bartlett.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
9/24/1966
graphic artist
Brickman, Morrie
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22357
catalog number
22357
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "All-Stars: Sandy".

Al Liederman (aka Leeds) drew cartoons over a forty-year period, including a stint as assistant artist on Marvel's "Captain America". During his early career and towards the end of his career, Liederman created sports-themed and editorial cartoons, including "Li'l Leaguer".
Description
Al Liederman (aka Leeds) drew cartoons over a forty-year period, including a stint as assistant artist on Marvel's "Captain America". During his early career and towards the end of his career, Liederman created sports-themed and editorial cartoons, including "Li'l Leaguer". In this strip, a baseball player figures out that the base coach is just swatting a bee, not giving a signal to the batter.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/03/1966
graphic artist
Liederman, Al
publisher
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22412
catalog number
22412
accession number
277502

The End Of The World

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1962
lyricist
Dee, Sylvia
composer
Kent, Arthur
depicted (sitter)
Davis, Skeeter
ID Number
2017.3021.353
nonaccession number
2017.3021
catalog number
2017.3021.353

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Judge Parker

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Judge Parker comic strip shows Charles holding Casandra Canabar and Randy Parker hostage, telling them to report to the police that the emergency call had been a false alarm.Harold Anthony LeDoux (1926-2015) moved to New York City after W
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Judge Parker comic strip shows Charles holding Casandra Canabar and Randy Parker hostage, telling them to report to the police that the emergency call had been a false alarm.
Harold Anthony LeDoux (1926-2015) moved to New York City after World War II and began drawing for the Famous Funnies comic books. In 1953 he began assisting Dan Heilman on the comic strip Judge Parker. LeDoux took over the strip after Heilman's death in 1965 and retired in 2006.
Judge Parker (1952- ) was created by psychiatrist and writer Nick Dallis. Dallis invited Dan Heilman, who had previously assisted on Buz Sawyer and Mary Worth,to be the artist for Judge Parker. The title character was a widower with two children, who later married a younger woman. Originally written as an attractive crime-fighting character, Parker had by the 1960s become more conservative and sedate while the younger attorney, Sam Driver, became more central to the cast, along with his client and girlfriend, Abby, and her two children.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-08-21
graphic artist
LeDoux, Harold
publisher
Publishers Newspapers Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22570
catalog number
22570
accession number
277502

"May I Have a Dream with You?"

This sheet music is for the song “May I Have the Next Dream with You?” with words and music by Harry, Charles and Henry Tobias. It was published by Tobey Music Corpoation in New York, New York in 1968.Currently not on view
Description
This sheet music is for the song “May I Have the Next Dream with You?” with words and music by Harry, Charles and Henry Tobias. It was published by Tobey Music Corpoation in New York, New York in 1968.
Location
Currently not on view
publishing date
1968
publisher
Tobey Music Corp.
ID Number
1983.0529.12
accession number
1983.0529
catalog number
1983.0529.12

"Love Makes the World Go 'Round"

This sheet music is for the song “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round,” with words and music by Bob Merrill. It was published by Robbins Music Corporation in New York, New York, in 1961. This song was featured in the 1961 Broadway musical Carnival!
Description
This sheet music is for the song “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round,” with words and music by Bob Merrill. It was published by Robbins Music Corporation in New York, New York, in 1961. This song was featured in the 1961 Broadway musical Carnival! originally produced by David Merrick, with book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Carnival! premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on April 12, 1961 and starred Anna Maria Alberghetti, James Mitchell, Kaye Ballard, Pierre Olaf, and Jerry Orbach.
Location
Currently not on view
publishing date
1961
publisher
Robbins Music Corporation
ID Number
1983.0830.23
accession number
1983.0830
catalog number
1983.0830.23

Engine Engine Number Nine

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
depicted (sitter); composer
Miller, Roger
maker
Burlington Music Co. Ltd.
ID Number
2017.3021.355
nonaccession number
2017.3021
catalog number
2017.3021.355

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Debbie Deere".

"Debbie Deere", the first newspaper comic strip created and drawn by Frank Bolle (b. 1924), was published from 1966 to 1969 by McNaught Syndicate. Debbie is a newspaper advice columnist, who is continually involved in the drama of her fans.
Description
"Debbie Deere", the first newspaper comic strip created and drawn by Frank Bolle (b. 1924), was published from 1966 to 1969 by McNaught Syndicate. Debbie is a newspaper advice columnist, who is continually involved in the drama of her fans. Although the strip was short lived, it allowed Bolle to gain recognition as a comic strip artist; he went on to draw five other strips including "Winnie Winkle". In this strip, Mr. Boyd, Debbie's boss, criticizes her writing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
07/15/1966
graphic artist
Bolle, Frank
publisher
McNaught Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22556
catalog number
22556
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Muggs and Skeeter

Muggs and Skeeter, also published under the title Muggs McGinnis from 1927 until 1936, was created and drawn by Wallace "Wally" Bishop (1906-1982). The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1927 until 1974.
Description
Muggs and Skeeter, also published under the title Muggs McGinnis from 1927 until 1936, was created and drawn by Wallace "Wally" Bishop (1906-1982). The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1927 until 1974. The comic strip featured two boys, Muggs and Skeeter, and their adventures in boyhood (and teenage-boyhood). In this strip, Muggs and Skeeter are disappointed because they were not invited to Suzie's party.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
9/7/1966
08/22/1966
graphic artist
Bishop, Wally
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22440
catalog number
22440
accession number
277502

Guitar From Ipanema

Laurindo Almeida. Guitar From Ipanema (Capitol T-2197).33-1/3 rpmCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Laurindo Almeida. Guitar From Ipanema (Capitol T-2197).
33-1/3 rpm
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1964
recording artist
Almeida, Laurindo
manufacturer
Capitol
ID Number
1978.0670.802
maker number
T-2197
accession number
1978.0670
catalog number
1978.0670.802

BeatlesTrading Card

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1964
depicted (sitter)
Starr, Ringo
maker
Topps Chewing Gum
ID Number
1987.0717.08.08
accession number
1987.0717
catalog number
1987.0717.08.08

Help Me, Rhonda; Kiss Me, Baby

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
recording artist
Beach Boys
manufacturer
Capitol
ID Number
1996.3034.00409
catalog number
1996.3034.00409
label number
5395
nonaccession number
1996.3034

BeatlesTrading Card

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1964
depicted (sitter)
Lennon, John
maker
Topps Chewing Gum
ID Number
1987.0717.08.05
accession number
1987.0717
catalog number
1987.0717.08.05

Camera-ready comic page, entitled Life's Like That

Life’s Like That, created and drawn by Fred Neher (1903-2001), was distributed by Bell-McClure Syndicate and later the United Features Syndicate, from 1934 until 1977. The comic was a gag panel about everyday life.
Description
Life’s Like That, created and drawn by Fred Neher (1903-2001), was distributed by Bell-McClure Syndicate and later the United Features Syndicate, from 1934 until 1977. The comic was a gag panel about everyday life. This comic page features characters such as Golde, Some Punkins and Will-Yum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/04/1966
graphic artist
Neher, Fred
publisher
Bell-McClure Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22423
catalog number
22423
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Donald Duck".

The Walt Disney character Donald Duck debuted in 1934 in a comic strip entitled "Wise Little Hen" which was published in the Silly Symphonies comic strip series.
Description
The Walt Disney character Donald Duck debuted in 1934 in a comic strip entitled "Wise Little Hen" which was published in the Silly Symphonies comic strip series. Donald debuted in his own "Donald Duck" black and white daily comic strip on Febuary 7, 1938 and in 1939 he had his own Sunday color comic strip. Al Taliaferro (1905-1969) drew the majority of the strips until the late 1960s, which were distributed by King Features Syndicate. In this strip, Donald attempts to karate chop a board to impress his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. However, he ends up with a big splinter in his hand.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
08/11/1966
graphic artist
Disney, Walt
publisher
Walt Disney Productions
graphic artist
Taliaferro, Al
author
Karp, Bob
ID Number
GA.22409
catalog number
22409
accession number
277502

Herb Shriner's Hoosier Boy Harmonica

This harmonica was made by M. Hohner in Germany, about 1965. It is a Herb Shriner Hoosier Boy model in the key of C, with 10 single holes and 20 reeds. The harmonica has a brown stained wooden comb with gold-tone enameled metal cover plates nailed to the top and bottom.
Description

This harmonica was made by M. Hohner in Germany, about 1965. It is a Herb Shriner Hoosier Boy model in the key of C, with 10 single holes and 20 reeds. The harmonica has a brown stained wooden comb with gold-tone enameled metal cover plates nailed to the top and bottom. It is accessioned with its original cardboard box. The harmonica is stamped:

[caricature of Herb Shiner] Herb Shiner
Hoosier Boy

(and the box is marked):

HERB SHINER’S
HOOSIER BOY

M. HOHNER HARMONICA MADE IN GERMANY

Herbert Arthur "Herb" Shriner (1918-1970) was an American humorist, radio personality and television host. He learned to play harmonica in grade school and continued to play throughout adulthood. In between playing harmonica, Shriner told stories about a fictional Hoosier hometown. This became his performance style throughout his radio and television appearances.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
Hohner, M.
ID Number
1988.0783.070
accession number
1988.0783
catalog number
1988.0783.070

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