Visual Materials
4th annual tour of J.C. Stewart’s Two Johns Comedy Company
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4th annual tour of J.C. Stewart's Two Johns Comedy Company
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Performing Arts Prints and Ephemera contains more than 2,600 printed items primarily advertising theatrical and musical entertainment and related performers in the United States from 1839 to the 1940s, with the majority of items dating from the 1870s to the 1890s. The collection consists of advertising and promotional materials, business records, and illustrations pertaining to a wide variety of performance genres that have been grouped broadly as music and theater (including theater, music, dance, burlesque, comedy, pantomime, and variety); minstrel (including minstrel shows, blackface entertainers, and female minstrels); and magic and miscellaneous (including magicians, motion pictures, and Wild West shows). The collection has 442 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic theatrical and minstrel posters that were intended to advertise specific shows or performers. Small-size items in the collection number approximately 2,130 and are comprised mainly of promotional ephemera and business documents such as trade cards, programs and playbills, souvenir booklets, die-cut cards, and printed billheads and letterheads with manuscript text. The collection provides a resource for studying the history of the American theater and the evolution of advertising strategies for the performing arts in the United States in the late 19th century. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creation of these prints.
priJLC_ENT_000176

Zig zag : W.W. Tillotson’s Merry Comedy Co
Visual Materials
Image of a collage of head-and-shoulder portraits of six female performers in formal dress, each wearing a different fashionable woman's hat; the poster advertises the musical comedy "Zig Zag" written by Frank Tannehill, Jr., and managed by W.W. Tillotson.
priJLC_ENT_000364

Howorth’s Hibernica Comedy Company
Visual Materials
Image of a central image of a horse-drawn cart with a driver and two male passengers on a rural country road with a hay bale and cabin in the background, surrounded by nine vignettes of full-length portraits of performers including a female performer in a formal gown singing from sheet music, a man dressed as Uncle Sam with a carpet bag, a male minstrel performer dancing in blackface, and a young boy; the vignettes are set against a background of green clover; the poster advertises Howorth's Hibernica Comedy Company.
priJLC_ENT_000310

Miss Katie Rooney with Rooney Comedy Co. in Pat’s new wardrobe : Asana Banad
Visual Materials
Image of a full-length portrait of young female actor Katie Rooney (also known as Kate Rooney) in a gingham costume waving, with a head-and-shoulders portrait of Rooney in a circular frame at upper left; ornate border decorated with clover and a palm frond; the poster advertises the comedy "Pat's New Wardrobe" (also promoted as "Pat's Wardrobe") written by Irish comedian Pat Rooney.
priJLC_ENT_000226

C.B. Bishop comedian in Twins
Visual Materials
Image of a head-and-shoulders portrait of American comedian Charles B. Bishop in formal dress; border decorated with leaves, palm fronds, and comedy and tragedy masks; with date information for performances beginning on April 6, [1885], at the Baldwin Theatre in San Francisco, California, at top; the poster advertises the English farce comedy "Twins."
priJLC_ENT_000277

Broadway Theatre corner of Broadway & Broome St. : John E. Owens as "Paul Pry"
Visual Materials
Image of a full-length portrait of English-American comedic actor John Owens dressed as the character "Paul Pry" with rumpled clothing, a top hat, umbrella, eyeglasses, and boots; the poster advertises the comedy "Paul Pry" written by Douglas William Jerrold.
priJLC_ENT_001348