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 180 items.
Page 1 of 18
sound recording: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman. THE FAMOUS 1938 CARNEGIE HALL JAZZ CONCERT (disc 2) (Columbia ML 4342), from the album THE FAMOUS 1938 CARNEGIE JAZZ CONCERT (Columbia SL-160)
- 33-1/3 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1938
- 1950
- recording artist
- Goodman, Benny
- maker
- Columbia
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.737
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.737
- maker number
- SL-160
- ML 4342
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sheet Music, "A-Tisket A-Tasket"
- Description
- Over the course of her sixty-year career, Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996) became known to fans and colleagues as "The First Lady of Song." Her rise to international fame as a jazz and popular singer coincided with the rise of an American entertainment industry that brought music to millions through concerts, sound recordings, film, radio, and television. In 1938, Fitzgerald came up with the idea for a song called "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," basing her lyric on a 19th–century nursery rhyme. Her 1938 Decca recording of the song over time became a million–seller.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1938
- lyricist
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- maker
- Robbins Music Corporation
- ID Number
- 1984.1117.04
- accession number
- 1984.1117
- catalog number
- 1984.1117.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sound Recording, "When the Saints Go Marching In"
- Description (Brief)
- Born in New Orleans in 1901, jazz musician Louis Armstrong (d. 1971)was known for his distinctive trumpet-playing and vocal style. He often improvised jazz riffs using his voice rather than his instrument, “scatting” notes and melodies rather than singing actual words. Armstrong transformed traditional church songs like “When the Saints Go Marching In” into jazz melodies fit for brass bands. Nicknamed Satchmo, short for “satchel-mouth,” he helped popularize the solo performance in jazz music. His musical style influenced singers Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra
- maker
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.208
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- maker number
- 25153
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.208
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: I Can't Get Started; The Prisoner's Song
- Description (Brief)
- Bunny Berigan and his Orchestra. side 1: I CAN'T GET STARTED; side 2: THE PRISONER'S SONG (Victor 36208)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1937
- recording artist
- Bunny Berigan and his Orchestra
- maker
- Victor
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.722
- maker number
- 36208
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.722
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman. THE FAMOUS 1938 CARNEGIE HALL JAZZ CONCERT (disc 1) (Columbia ML 4341), from the album THE FAMOUS 1938 CARNEGIE JAZZ CONCERT (Columbia SL-160)
- 33-1/3 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1938
- 1950
- recording artist
- Goodman, Benny
- maker
- Columbia
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.736
- maker number
- SL-160
- ML 4341
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.736
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording; Rosalie Medley; In the Still Of the Night Medley
- Description (Brief)
- Frankie Carle. side 1: ROSALIE (track 1) WHY SHOULD I CARE? (track 2) WHO KNOWS? (track 3); side 2: IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT (track 1) I'VE A STRANGE NEW RHYTHM IN MY HEART (track 2) (Decca 15036)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1937
- recording artist
- Carle, Frankie
- maker
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.757
- maker number
- 15036
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.757
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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: Blues For Tommy; Basin Street Blues
- Description (Brief)
- side 1: Port Of Harlem Seven. BLUES FOR TOMMY; side 2: J.C. Higginbotham Quintet. BASIN STREET BLUES (Blue Note 7)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Port of Harlem Seven
- J. C. Higginbotham Quintet
- maker
- Blue Note
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.775
- maker number
- 7
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.775
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Jumpin' At the Woodside; There'll Be Some Changes Made
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: JUMPIN' AT THE WOODSIDE; side 2: THERE'LL BE SOME CHANGES (Columbia 35210)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Columbia
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.034
- maker number
- 35210
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.034
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Zaggin' With Zig; Busy As a Bee (I'm Buzz, Buzz, Buzzin')
- Description (Brief)
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: ZAGGIN' WITH ZIG; side 2: BUSY AS A BEE (I'M BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZIN') (Columbia 35356)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1939
- recording artist
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- maker
- Columbia
- ID Number
- 1981.0566.037
- maker number
- 35356
- accession number
- 1981.0566
- catalog number
- 1981.0566.037
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center