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.

Resource Type: Posters

Embassy Hall Sabado, Sept. 3

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2016.0032.067
accession number
2016.0032
catalog number
2016.0032.067

Chapter 14: Superman at Bay poster

Poster for the 1948 Columbia Pictures Superman serial film Chapter 14: Superman at Bay. The poster features a photograph of a scene from the film.
Description (Brief)
Poster for the 1948 Columbia Pictures Superman serial film Chapter 14: Superman at Bay. The poster features a photograph of a scene from the film. In 1948, Columbia Pictures produced a 15-chapter serial, Superman, using real actors and basic animated special effects which was advertised to attract young movie-goers. Kirk Alyn starred as Superman and developed the role of Clark Kent.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1948
producer
Columbia Pictures
associated person
Alyn, Kirk
maker
Columbia
Columbia Pictures
ID Number
1987.0213.029
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.029

Superman II: The Adventure Continues movie poster

Poster for the 1980 film Superman II: The Adventure Continues. The poster depicts Superman flying headstrong into three black draped villains with New York City and Ellis Island as a backdrop.
Description (Brief)
Poster for the 1980 film Superman II: The Adventure Continues. The poster depicts Superman flying headstrong into three black draped villains with New York City and Ellis Island as a backdrop. Richard Lester directed this superhero adventure film about Superman’s battles with three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1980
associated person
McClure, Marc
Kidder, Margot
depicted; associated person
Reeve, Christopher
ID Number
1987.0213.039
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.039

Movie Poster advertising "Five of Hollywood's Most Distinctive Stars"

This poster advertises the availability of videocassette movies starring "Five of Hollywood's Most Distinctive Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Errol Flynn." All five stars are pictured in spotlights on a burgundy, gray, and green background.Cur
Description (Brief)
This poster advertises the availability of videocassette movies starring "Five of Hollywood's Most Distinctive Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Errol Flynn." All five stars are pictured in spotlights on a burgundy, gray, and green background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1987
depicted (sitter)
Bogart, Humphrey
Cooper, Gary
Davis, Bette
Cagney, James
Flynn, Errol
ID Number
1987.0128.03
accession number
1987.0128
catalog number
1987.0128.03

Superman III Movie Poster

Poster for the 1983 film Superman III. Richard Lester directed this superhero adventure film starring Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, and Jackie Cooper.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Poster for the 1983 film Superman III. Richard Lester directed this superhero adventure film starring Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, and Jackie Cooper.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1982
date used
1982
depicted; associated person
Kidder, Margot
associated person
McClure, Marc
depicted; associated person
Reeve, Christopher
associated person
Pryor, Richard
ID Number
1987.0213.033
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.033

She's Gotta Have It Movie Poster

Movie poster for She's Gotta Have It. Spike Lee directed this 1986 romantic comedy about a woman and her three lovers. Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, and Spike Lee star in this film.Currently not on view
Description
Movie poster for She's Gotta Have It. Spike Lee directed this 1986 romantic comedy about a woman and her three lovers. Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, and Spike Lee star in this film.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1986
Associated Name
Lee, Spike
ID Number
1987.0128.04
accession number
1987.0128
catalog number
1987.0128.04

Superman in Scotland Yard Poster

Poster advertising Superman in Scotland Yard which was episodes from the television series The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves repackaged as a theatrical film in 1954.
Description (Brief)
Poster advertising Superman in Scotland Yard which was episodes from the television series The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves repackaged as a theatrical film in 1954. The film was a compilation of three episodes of the television series, including Episode 34 “A Ghost for Scotland Yard,” Episode 49 “Lady in Black,” and Episode 38 “Panic in the Sky.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1954
depicted; associated person
Neill, Noel
associated person
Larson, Jack
copyright holder
National Comics Publications, Inc.
depicted; associated person
Reeves, George
maker
National Comics Publications, Inc.
ID Number
1987.0213.028
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.028

Superman in Exile Poster

Poster advertising Superman in Exile what was episodes from the television series The Adventures of Superman repackaged as a theatrical film in 1954.
Description (Brief)
Poster advertising Superman in Exile what was episodes from the television series The Adventures of Superman repackaged as a theatrical film in 1954. The film was a compilation of three episodes of the television series, including Episode 33 “Superman in Exile,” Episode 36 “The Face and the Voice,” and Episode 51 “The Whistling Bird.” The poster features a large image of George Reeves as Superman flying.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1954
associated person
Neill, Noel
Larson, Jack
copyright holder
National Comics Publications, Inc.
depicted; associated person
Reeves, George
maker
National Comics Publications Inc.
ID Number
1987.0213.005
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.005

Superman Movie Poster

Poster for the 1978 film Superman. The poster depicts a metallic Superman emblem in the clouds with a rainbow streak cutting through it and the words, "You'll Believe a Man Can Fly" written in all white across bottom.
Description
Poster for the 1978 film Superman. The poster depicts a metallic Superman emblem in the clouds with a rainbow streak cutting through it and the words, "You'll Believe a Man Can Fly" written in all white across bottom. Richard Donner directed this superhero adventure film starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1978
associated person
McClure, Marc
Kidder, Margot
Puzo, Mario
Reeve, Christopher
ID Number
1987.0213.040
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.040

Stormy Weather

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1987
Associated Name
Calloway, Cab
Waller, Fats
depicted (sitter)
Horne, Lena
ID Number
1987.0128.02
accession number
1987.0128
catalog number
1987.0128.02

Movie Poster, Superman’s Peril

Poster for the 1954 movie "Superman's Peril" The film was a compilation of three previously released episodes of the popular television series "Adventures of Superman."Premiering in 1952, the syndicated program "Adventures of Superman" ran on television for 6 seasons and 104 epis
Description (Brief)
Poster for the 1954 movie "Superman's Peril" The film was a compilation of three previously released episodes of the popular television series "Adventures of Superman."
Premiering in 1952, the syndicated program "Adventures of Superman" ran on television for 6 seasons and 104 episodes. The three episodes packaged into the movie "Superman's Peril" were all taken from the show's second season (1953-1954.) They include the stories "The Defeat of Superman," "The Semi-Private Eye," and "The Golden Vulture."
The "Adventures of Superman" starred actor George Reeves in the title role. The show also featured Noel Neill as journalist Lois Lane, Jack Larson as cub reporter/ photographer Jimmie Olson, and John Hamilton as editor Perry White
The character of Superman first flew into action in 1938. The costumed superhero was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland Ohio, who used, among other things, Classical mythology, philosopher Fredrich Nietzche's concept of the "uber mensch," and the era's popular science fiction and adventure writing, for inspiration.
With his debut in Action Comics #1, Superman became an instant sensation with audiences, inspired by the "Man of Tomorrow's" virtue and heroics at time when the Nation was slowly emerging from the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression and moving closer to World War.
Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Superman was sent to Earth as a child, where our world's yellow sun granted him extraordinary powers such as flight, super-strength, near-invulnerability, as well as other extraordinary abilities including heat and X-Ray vision. As an adult living in the city of Metropolis, the alien, born Kal-El, protects his identity by assuming the persona of Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered" journalist.
Fighting for "Truth and Justice," Superman birthed a cultural fascination with superheroes, and has become one of the most recognizable and influential fictional characters in history. In addition to comic books, the character has been explored in all forms of media, including radio, television, and film, and has been used to promote a variety of successful consumer products, educational initiatives and public service campaigns.
Date made
1954
copyright holder
National Comics Publications, Inc.
depicted; associated person
Reeves, George
Neill, Noel
Larson, Jack
maker
National Comics Publications, Inc.
ID Number
1987.0213.026
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.026

Little Miss Marker movie poster

Movie poster for the 1934 film Little Miss Marker from the Palace Theatre in Port Richmond.
Description
Movie poster for the 1934 film Little Miss Marker from the Palace Theatre in Port Richmond. Shirley Temple, Adolphe Menjou, and Dorothy Dell star in this family comedy.
Movie posters such as this cardboard poster were placed in shop windows to advertise the movie that was playing in the local movie house. The shop owner was given two movie passes for displaying it in their store window.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1933
referenced
Temple, Shirley
ID Number
1985.0541.01
accession number
1985.0541
catalog number
1985.0541.01

Superman and the Jungle Devil Poster

Poster advertising Superman and the Jungle Devil which was episodes from the television series The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves repackaged as a theatrical film in 1954.
Description (Brief)
Poster advertising Superman and the Jungle Devil which was episodes from the television series The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves repackaged as a theatrical film in 1954. The film was a compilation of three episodes of the television series, including Episode 39 “Machine That Could Plot Crimes,” Episode 40 “Jungle Devil,” and Episode 31 “Shot in the Dark.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1954
associated person
Neill, Noel
Larson, Jack
copyright holder
National Comics Publications, Inc.
depicted; associated person
Reeves, George
maker
National Comics Publications, Inc.
ID Number
1987.0213.027
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.027

"Love on a Tropical Isle" poster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Name
Wales, Wally
ID Number
PG.76.87.22
catalog number
76.87.22
accession number
2008.0095

"Mrs. O'Flahrety's Boarding House" Mutoscope Movie Poster

Posterboard with painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "Mrs. O'Flahrety's Boarding House." An attached photograph shows a man seated at a table repulsed by a whole pig being served to him by a smiling man in woman's clothing.
Description (Brief)
Posterboard with painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "Mrs. O'Flahrety's Boarding House." An attached photograph shows a man seated at a table repulsed by a whole pig being served to him by a smiling man in woman's clothing. In America's growing and diverse cities at the dawn of the twentieth century, people came in frequent contact with unfamiliar cultural practices and these encounters often found their way into early comic films. In this picture, the man at the table seems unaccustomed to Mrs. O'Flahrety's cooking; similar jokes were aimed at other Eastern European, Asian and Latin American cuisines which many Americans first experienced in the early 20th century.
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 1925
ID Number
PG.76.87.18
catalog number
76.87.18
accession number
2008.0095

"Tumbleweeds" Lobby Poster

Lithograph lobby poster for the 1925 motion picture Tumbleweeds, starring William S. Hart. The poster includes photographs of several scenes from the film, a silent western about the 1893 Cherokee strip land rush in Oklahoma.Gatewood W.
Description (Brief)
Lithograph lobby poster for the 1925 motion picture Tumbleweeds, starring William S. Hart. The poster includes photographs of several scenes from the film, a silent western about the 1893 Cherokee strip land rush in Oklahoma.
Description
Gatewood W. Dunston (1908-October 18, 1956) was a motion picture projectionist and later, a collector and scholar of the history of motion picture technology who bequeathed his important collection to the National Museum of American History.
Dunston worked the projection booth at the Granby and Lowe’s Theaters in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived until his death. He was a friend of the early Western star William S. Hart, and obtained a number of Hart films, posters and even a pistol used by the actor in his films. It appears that Dunston began seriously researching and collecting movie cameras, projectors and memorabilia in the early 1940s, through correspondence with film historians Merritt Crawford and Terry Ramsaye, early projectionist Francis Doublier and a number of movie personalities and machine manufacturers. He was disheartened by the deaths of many motion picture pioneers in the 1930s and 40s, and by his perception that the history of motion picture technology was fading into obscurity. Dunston collected 35mm and 16mm copies of notable silent films, old projectors and cameras, glass theater slides, a small number of mutoscope items and editing equipment as well as stereo views and optical toys. As his health deteriorated in the early 1950s, he was forced to sell off many of his films, which were on nitrate and posed a fire hazard, and he wrote a will that stipulated his collection be left to the Smithsonian National Museum’s Section of Photography, now NMAH’s Photographic History Collection.
The Dunston accession, number 212314, included 864 items, comprised primarily of 294 theater slides, 162 stereo views, 150 lantern slides, 157 films, 59 early projectors, 6 editing machines, 6 posters, over 100 photographs and a mutoscope reel. Additionally, Dunston left his correspondence relating to the collection, which offers a look at this formative period in the historiography of motion pictures. The films, many of which were on nitrate, were transferred to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, but the remainder of the material was cataloged and is found at numbers 4994-5099 in the Photographic History Collection. The Dunston collection at the National Museum of American History remains one of the most complete and important showing the evolution and history of the motion picture projector, as well as the motion picture industry and art.
This finding aid is one in a series documenting the PHC’s Early Cinema Collection [COLL.PHOTOS.000018]. The cinema-related objects cover the range of technological innovation and popular appeal that defined the motion picture industry during a period in which it became the premier form of mass communication in American life, roughly 1885-1930. See also finding aids for Early Sound Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000040], Early Color Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000039], Early Cinema Film and Ephemera [COLL.PHOTOS.000038] and Early Cinema Equipment [COLL.PHOTOS.000037].
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
depicted
Hart, William S.
ID Number
PG.004987.1
catalog number
4987.1
accession number
212314

"Quarrel Between Husband and Wife" Mutoscope Movie Poster

Blue posterboard with painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "Quarrel Between Husband and Wife." The poster includes two small attached photographs showing scenes from the movie, in which a seated man and woman move their chairs away from each other across a room.
Description (Brief)
Blue posterboard with painted advertisement for the mutoscope motion picture "Quarrel Between Husband and Wife." The poster includes two small attached photographs showing scenes from the movie, in which a seated man and woman move their chairs away from each other across a room. While early motion pictures often promised escapism, they could also make light of familiar and everyday situations.
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
PG.76.87.06
catalog number
76.87.6
accession number
2008.0095

A Chorus Line

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1990.0580.30
catalog number
1990.0580.30
accession number
1990.0580

Amorcito Corazon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
ID Number
2016.0032.068
accession number
2016.0032
catalog number
2016.0032.068

20th Anniversary of the New York Salsa Festival

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
ID Number
2016.0032.076
accession number
2016.0032
catalog number
2016.0032.076

Tumbleweeds Poster

Lithograph poster for the United Artists motion picture "Tumbleweeds" bearing the image of actor William Surrey Hart. Hart is wearing a ten gallon hat in a bust-level portrait, and is surrounded by images of people on horses and in Conestoga wagons.
Description (Brief)
Lithograph poster for the United Artists motion picture "Tumbleweeds" bearing the image of actor William Surrey Hart. Hart is wearing a ten gallon hat in a bust-level portrait, and is surrounded by images of people on horses and in Conestoga wagons. The text beneath the image reads "William S. Hart / in / 'Tumbleweeds' / Story by Hal G. Evarts Adapted for the Screen by C. Gardner Sullivan / Directed by King Baggot a William S. Hart Production / a United Artists Picture."
Description
Gatewood W. Dunston (1908-October 18, 1956) was a motion picture projectionist and later, a collector and scholar of the history of motion picture technology who bequeathed his important collection to the National Museum of American History.
Dunston worked the projection booth at the Granby and Lowe’s Theaters in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived until his death. He was a friend of the early Western star William S. Hart, and obtained a number of Hart films, posters and even a pistol used by the actor in his films. It appears that Dunston began seriously researching and collecting movie cameras, projectors and memorabilia in the early 1940s, through correspondence with film historians Merritt Crawford and Terry Ramsaye, early projectionist Francis Doublier and a number of movie personalities and machine manufacturers. He was disheartened by the deaths of many motion picture pioneers in the 1930s and 40s, and by his perception that the history of motion picture technology was fading into obscurity. Dunston collected 35mm and 16mm copies of notable silent films, old projectors and cameras, glass theater slides, a small number of mutoscope items and editing equipment as well as stereo views and optical toys. As his health deteriorated in the early 1950s, he was forced to sell off many of his films, which were on nitrate and posed a fire hazard, and he wrote a will that stipulated his collection be left to the Smithsonian National Museum’s Section of Photography, now NMAH’s Photographic History Collection.
The Dunston accession, number 212314, included 864 items, comprised primarily of 294 theater slides, 162 stereo views, 150 lantern slides, 157 films, 59 early projectors, 6 editing machines, 6 posters, over 100 photographs and a mutoscope reel. Additionally, Dunston left his correspondence relating to the collection, which offers a look at this formative period in the historiography of motion pictures. The films, many of which were on nitrate, were transferred to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, but the remainder of the material was cataloged and is found at numbers 4994-5099 in the Photographic History Collection. The Dunston collection at the National Museum of American History remains one of the most complete and important showing the evolution and history of the motion picture projector, as well as the motion picture industry and art.
This finding aid is one in a series documenting the PHC’s Early Cinema Collection [COLL.PHOTOS.000018]. The cinema-related objects cover the range of technological innovation and popular appeal that defined the motion picture industry during a period in which it became the premier form of mass communication in American life, roughly 1885-1930. See also finding aids for Early Sound Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000040], Early Color Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000039], Early Cinema Film and Ephemera [COLL.PHOTOS.000038] and Early Cinema Equipment [COLL.PHOTOS.000037].
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
depicted
Hart, William S.
referenced
United Artists
maker
Berkshire Poster Co.
ID Number
PG.005092.A
catalog number
5092.A
5092-A
accession number
212314

William S. Hart Poster

Lithograph poster bearing the image of silent-era motion picture actor William Surrey Hart.
Description (Brief)
Lithograph poster bearing the image of silent-era motion picture actor William Surrey Hart. Hart appears in typical Western costume, with a ten gallon hat and a handkerchief around his neck, against a background showing a line of Conestoga wagons and two horsemen in the American West beneath a yellow sky. "Wm. S. Hart" appears beneath the bust image of Hart, who is depicted staring off to his right. The poster has a space intentionally left blank in which a theater would post the title and information of the latest Hart film. The word "Saturday" is written in pencil in the upper left corner of the poster, but has been struck through.
Hart's acting career lasted from 1914 to 1925, and he became one of America's most recognizable movie stars playing lawmen and cowboys in the old West. This poster advertises Hart, the star, rather than any particular feature film in which he appeared, a testament to his prolific film output and the fact that his personal stardom was often enough to sell an audience on a film.
Description
Gatewood W. Dunston (1908-October 18, 1956) was a motion picture projectionist and later, a collector and scholar of the history of motion picture technology who bequeathed his important collection to the National Museum of American History.
Dunston worked the projection booth at the Granby and Lowe’s Theaters in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived until his death. He was a friend of the early Western star William S. Hart, and obtained a number of Hart films, posters and even a pistol used by the actor in his films. It appears that Dunston began seriously researching and collecting movie cameras, projectors and memorabilia in the early 1940s, through correspondence with film historians Merritt Crawford and Terry Ramsaye, early projectionist Francis Doublier and a number of movie personalities and machine manufacturers. He was disheartened by the deaths of many motion picture pioneers in the 1930s and 40s, and by his perception that the history of motion picture technology was fading into obscurity. Dunston collected 35mm and 16mm copies of notable silent films, old projectors and cameras, glass theater slides, a small number of mutoscope items and editing equipment as well as stereo views and optical toys. As his health deteriorated in the early 1950s, he was forced to sell off many of his films, which were on nitrate and posed a fire hazard, and he wrote a will that stipulated his collection be left to the Smithsonian National Museum’s Section of Photography, now NMAH’s Photographic History Collection.
The Dunston accession, number 212314, included 864 items, comprised primarily of 294 theater slides, 162 stereo views, 150 lantern slides, 157 films, 59 early projectors, 6 editing machines, 6 posters, over 100 photographs and a mutoscope reel. Additionally, Dunston left his correspondence relating to the collection, which offers a look at this formative period in the historiography of motion pictures. The films, many of which were on nitrate, were transferred to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, but the remainder of the material was cataloged and is found at numbers 4994-5099 in the Photographic History Collection. The Dunston collection at the National Museum of American History remains one of the most complete and important showing the evolution and history of the motion picture projector, as well as the motion picture industry and art.
This finding aid is one in a series documenting the PHC’s Early Cinema Collection [COLL.PHOTOS.000018]. The cinema-related objects cover the range of technological innovation and popular appeal that defined the motion picture industry during a period in which it became the premier form of mass communication in American life, roughly 1885-1930. See also finding aids for Early Sound Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000040], Early Color Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000039], Early Cinema Film and Ephemera [COLL.PHOTOS.000038] and Early Cinema Equipment [COLL.PHOTOS.000037].
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914-1938
depicted
Hart, William S.
ID Number
PG.005089
accession number
212314
catalog number
5089

The Primal Lure Poster

Lithograph poster for the Triangle-Ince motion picture "The Primal Lure" bearing the image of actor William Surrey Hart. Hart is wearing a fur cap, and is looking off to his right in front of a background of autumn leaves and an abstract sunset..
Description (Brief)
Lithograph poster for the Triangle-Ince motion picture "The Primal Lure" bearing the image of actor William Surrey Hart. Hart is wearing a fur cap, and is looking off to his right in front of a background of autumn leaves and an abstract sunset.. The image is captioned "His scornful eyes kept them at Bay." The text beneath the image reads "William S. Hart in The Primal Lure Thomas H. Ince Production."
Description
Gatewood W. Dunston (1908-October 18, 1956) was a motion picture projectionist and later, a collector and scholar of the history of motion picture technology who bequeathed his important collection to the National Museum of American History.
Dunston worked the projection booth at the Granby and Lowe’s Theaters in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived until his death. He was a friend of the early Western star William S. Hart, and obtained a number of Hart films, posters and even a pistol used by the actor in his films. It appears that Dunston began seriously researching and collecting movie cameras, projectors and memorabilia in the early 1940s, through correspondence with film historians Merritt Crawford and Terry Ramsaye, early projectionist Francis Doublier and a number of movie personalities and machine manufacturers. He was disheartened by the deaths of many motion picture pioneers in the 1930s and 40s, and by his perception that the history of motion picture technology was fading into obscurity. Dunston collected 35mm and 16mm copies of notable silent films, old projectors and cameras, glass theater slides, a small number of mutoscope items and editing equipment as well as stereo views and optical toys. As his health deteriorated in the early 1950s, he was forced to sell off many of his films, which were on nitrate and posed a fire hazard, and he wrote a will that stipulated his collection be left to the Smithsonian National Museum’s Section of Photography, now NMAH’s Photographic History Collection.
The Dunston accession, number 212314, included 864 items, comprised primarily of 294 theater slides, 162 stereo views, 150 lantern slides, 157 films, 59 early projectors, 6 editing machines, 6 posters, over 100 photographs and a mutoscope reel. Additionally, Dunston left his correspondence relating to the collection, which offers a look at this formative period in the historiography of motion pictures. The films, many of which were on nitrate, were transferred to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, but the remainder of the material was cataloged and is found at numbers 4994-5099 in the Photographic History Collection. The Dunston collection at the National Museum of American History remains one of the most complete and important showing the evolution and history of the motion picture projector, as well as the motion picture industry and art.
This finding aid is one in a series documenting the PHC’s Early Cinema Collection [COLL.PHOTOS.000018]. The cinema-related objects cover the range of technological innovation and popular appeal that defined the motion picture industry during a period in which it became the premier form of mass communication in American life, roughly 1885-1930. See also finding aids for Early Sound Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000040], Early Color Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000039], Early Cinema Film and Ephemera [COLL.PHOTOS.000038] and Early Cinema Equipment [COLL.PHOTOS.000037].
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1916
depicted
Hart, William S.
ID Number
PG.005092
accession number
212314
catalog number
5092

O'Malley of the Mounted Poster

Lithograph poster for the Sandbe Film Co. motion picture "O'Malley of the Mounted" bearing the image of actor William Surrey Hart. Hart is dressed as an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ("Mounties"), and stands facing the viewer before a neutral dark background.
Description (Brief)
Lithograph poster for the Sandbe Film Co. motion picture "O'Malley of the Mounted" bearing the image of actor William Surrey Hart. Hart is dressed as an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ("Mounties"), and stands facing the viewer before a neutral dark background. The text beneath the image reads "Sandbe Film Co. presents William S. Hart in 'O'Malley of the Mounted' a William S. Hart Production Hollywood, Cal."
Description
Gatewood W. Dunston (1908-October 18, 1956) was a motion picture projectionist and later, a collector and scholar of the history of motion picture technology who bequeathed his important collection to the National Museum of American History.
Dunston worked the projection booth at the Granby and Lowe’s Theaters in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived until his death. He was a friend of the early Western star William S. Hart, and obtained a number of Hart films, posters and even a pistol used by the actor in his films. It appears that Dunston began seriously researching and collecting movie cameras, projectors and memorabilia in the early 1940s, through correspondence with film historians Merritt Crawford and Terry Ramsaye, early projectionist Francis Doublier and a number of movie personalities and machine manufacturers. He was disheartened by the deaths of many motion picture pioneers in the 1930s and 40s, and by his perception that the history of motion picture technology was fading into obscurity. Dunston collected 35mm and 16mm copies of notable silent films, old projectors and cameras, glass theater slides, a small number of mutoscope items and editing equipment as well as stereo views and optical toys. As his health deteriorated in the early 1950s, he was forced to sell off many of his films, which were on nitrate and posed a fire hazard, and he wrote a will that stipulated his collection be left to the Smithsonian National Museum’s Section of Photography, now NMAH’s Photographic History Collection.
The Dunston accession, number 212314, included 864 items, comprised primarily of 294 theater slides, 162 stereo views, 150 lantern slides, 157 films, 59 early projectors, 6 editing machines, 6 posters, over 100 photographs and a mutoscope reel. Additionally, Dunston left his correspondence relating to the collection, which offers a look at this formative period in the historiography of motion pictures. The films, many of which were on nitrate, were transferred to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, but the remainder of the material was cataloged and is found at numbers 4994-5099 in the Photographic History Collection. The Dunston collection at the National Museum of American History remains one of the most complete and important showing the evolution and history of the motion picture projector, as well as the motion picture industry and art.
This finding aid is one in a series documenting the PHC’s Early Cinema Collection [COLL.PHOTOS.000018]. The cinema-related objects cover the range of technological innovation and popular appeal that defined the motion picture industry during a period in which it became the premier form of mass communication in American life, roughly 1885-1930. See also finding aids for Early Sound Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000040], Early Color Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000039], Early Cinema Film and Ephemera [COLL.PHOTOS.000038] and Early Cinema Equipment [COLL.PHOTOS.000037].
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1921
depicted
Hart, William S.
ID Number
PG.005090
accession number
212314
catalog number
5090

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