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 40 items.
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sound recording: A Jam Session At Commodore
- Description (Brief)
- Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven. side 1: CARNEGIE JUMP; side 2: CARNEGIE DRAG (Commodore 1500)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1938
- recording artist
- Hackett, Bobby
- Russell, Pee Wee
- Freeman, Bud
- Brunies, George
- Stacey, Jess
- Condon, Eddie
- Wettling, George
- Shapiro, Artie
- Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.758
- maker number
- 1500
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.758
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Memphis Blues; Sweet Sue, Just You
- Description (Brief)
- Muggsy Spanier and his Ragtimers. side 1: MEMPHIS BLUES; side 2: SWEET SUE, JUST YOU (Commodore 1519)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1944
- recording artist
- Muggsy Spanier and his Ragtimers
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.760
- maker number
- 1519
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.760
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Peg 'O My Heart; St. Louis Blues
- Description (Brief)
- Miff Mole and his Nicksieland Band. side 1: PEG 'O MY HEART; side 2: ST. LOUIS BLUES (Columbia 1518)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1944
- recording artist
- Miff Mole and his Nicksieland Band
- maker
- Columbia
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.762
- maker number
- 1518
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.762
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sound Recording, "Strange Fruit"
- Description (Brief)
- Billie Holiday (1915–1959,) an African American jazz singer nicknamed Lady Day, emerged on the jazz scene after a difficult and impoverished upbringing. Known for her light, rhythmic singing, Holiday performed with some of the most famous American jazz musicians throughout the 1930s and 1940s. She first performed “Strange Fruit,” a song written by a Jewish poet about the lynching of African Americans, at the Café Society club in 1939. Her performances of the song were filled with emotion, and the recording reached number 16 on the charts. Holiday went on to release a number of other hits, but “Strange Fruit” remained the best-selling record of her career.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- artist
- Billie Holiday and her Orchestra
- composer
- Allan, Lewis
- manufacturer
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1996.3034.11383
- nonaccession number
- 1996.3034
- catalog number
- 1996.3034.11383
- label number
- 526
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Blowing Up a Breeze; Monday At Minton's
- Description (Brief)
- Chu Berry and his Jazz Ensemble. side 1: BLOWING UP A BREEZE; side 2: MONDAY AT MINTON'S (Commodore 541)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- recording artist
- Chu Berry and his Jazz Ensemble
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.158
- maker number
- 541
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Forty Six West Fifty Two; Sitting In
- Description (Brief)
- Chu Berry and his "Little Jazz" Ensemble. side 1: FORTY SIX WEST FIFTY TWO; side 2: SITTING IN (Commodore 516)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1938
- recording artist
- Chu Berry and his Little Jazz Ensemble
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.159
- maker number
- 516
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Pagin' the Devil; Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
- Description (Brief)
- The Kansas City Six. side 1: PAGIN' THE DEVIL; side 2: WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS (Commodore 512)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1938
- recording artist
- Kansas City Six
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.160
- maker number
- 512
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Beale Street Blues; I Must Have That Man
- Description (Brief)
- side 1: Miff Mole and his Nicksieland Band. BEALE STREET BLUES; side 2: Bobby Hackett with Miff Mole and his Nicksieland Band. I MUST HAVE THAT MAN (Commodore 620)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- recording artist
- Hackett, Bobby
- Miff Mole and his Nicksieland Band
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.161
- maker number
- 620
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: New Orleans; Skeleton Jangle
- Description (Brief)
- Bobby Hackett and his Orchestra. side 1: NEW ORLEANS; side 2: SKELETON JANGLE (Commodore 622)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- recording artist
- Bobby Hackett and his Orchestra
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.163
- maker number
- 622
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland; Diane
- Description (Brief)
- side 1: Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven. MEET ME TONIGHT IN DREAMLAND; side 2: Jack Teagarden. Diane (Commodore 505)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1938
- recording artist
- Teagarden, Jack
- Eddie Condon and his Windy City Seven
- maker
- Commodore
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.165
- maker number
- 505
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center