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The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vshome.html

Provider: Library of Congress


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The American Variety Stage is a multimedia anthology selected from various Library of Congress holdings. This collection illustrates the vibrant and diverse forms of popular entertainment, especially vaudeville, that thrived from 1870-1920. Included are 334 English-and Yiddish-language playscripts, 146 theater playbills andprograms, 61 motion pictures, 10 sound recordings and 143 photographs and 29 memorabilia items documenting the life and career of Harry Houdini. Groups of theater posters and additional sound recordings will be added to this anthology in the future.

The collection relates to a wide range of themes in the history of the United States. The playscripts, sound recordings, motion pictures, and theater playbills reflect the growth of European immigrant populations in America and recount their assimilation experiences. The playscripts take up issues of labor, mass production, and mass consumption in the late 19th century. The collection touches on issues including women’s rights and women’s roles, urban culture, and, of course, popular entertainment.