Scrapbooks & Theatricals in Philadelphia

Overview

The Theatricals in Philadelphia vol. 1 is a collection of clippings from theatricals in Philadelphia, as well as several from New York City and Boston. The scrapbook is Series I out of 15 scrapbooks. The clippings included in the scrapbook span between 1838-1887. The creator of the scrapbook is unknown; however, it is said that the scrapbook was made “over a lifetime.” The clippings are all from American publications, yet some of the clippings are written in French. The clippings showcase the places and people who were featured in the theatre/entertainment/shows of the latter half of the 19th century. The book includes over 300 pages of clippings from newspapers, theatre pamphlets, photographs, and advertisements.

The book itself is not copyrighted; however, the clippings within the books were copyrighted. With that being said, all of them are out of copyright now since the copyright only lasts for 95 years. The clippings themselves are grouped by author/publisher of the works, as well as grouped by actresses/actors that are included in the book. This shows that the manuscript was well-planned prior to the creation of the scrapbook.

History of scrapbooks

Scrapbooks have a long history in the United States. They became popular with the invention of the printing press which allowed for cheap printed text to be glued into books. Newspapers began to profit not solely from revenue but also profited from advertising sales. Newspaper clippings allowed readers to save, manage, and reprocess information. By the 19th century, tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands, of Americans made scrapbooks. People from all different classes and backgrounds, as well as people with diverse education order to express themselves. Authors would clip records of their works and make scrapbooks to reference and keep account of publications, physicians documented their own medical careers through scrapbooking, and actors, who were, particularly avid scrapbookers, pieced together reviews and playbills.

Theatre is a profession in which performers get applauded for their work and discussed in public forums; however, the work itself is ephemeral. Ellen Garvey, a scrapbooking historian, points out that scrapbooks were so popular in the entertainment industry, as it was more permanent. Moreover, McGillivray, another historian, calls such artifacts "placeholders in history, tokens that mark that a particular performance occurred at all.” Scrapbooks can also teach us about the key areas in theatre studies, such as national, gendered, and racial performance. They offer us an abundance of information about regional cultural differences, the economy, politics, and sociology.

How it got to UPenn

The scrapbook joined the special collection of UPenn in May 1920 and was purchased from Philadelphia auctioneer Stanislaus Vincent Henkels. The funding for the book came from Morris Lewis Clothier, a large donor, who funded the purchasing of all volumes of the scrapbooks. The original owner/collector remains unknown and only theories on who the creator was based on pencil etchings of names on other volumes of scrapbooks are known. For example, in Volume 7, there is a letter from a theatre addressed to “Mr. Siegel.” With that being said, there is no concrete evidence regarding who created the scrapbook or who the original owner was. The auction house that sold it to UPenn did not have any information regarding the scrapbook’s owner either.

Theatricals in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has witnessed a vibrant theatre scene throughout the city. A large number of African-American performers emerged from Philadelphia, many of whom performed at the Standard Theatre in Philadelphia. The Walnut Street Theatre, which stands out as the most famous theatre in Philadelphia hosted hundreds of thousands of attendants. The theatre was founded in 1808 and is located on the corner of S. 9th Streat in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia. The theatre is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. Philadelphia was a pioneer for the theatre industry in the United States and thus, attracted some of the most famous performers.

Professor Arthur Hobson Quinn & Other Volumes

Professor Arthur Hobson Quinn (1875-1960), joined the University of Pennsylvania as a student in 1894 where he received his B.S. and Ph.D. He was appointed an instructor at Penn in mathematics and eventually became an English instructor in 1895. He was then appointed Assistant Professor of English in 1904 and ultimately held the title Welsh Professor of History and English, a very prestigious title. Quinn was appointed as Dean of the College in 1912 and would serve the university as dean until 1922.

The set of books, as aforementioned, was part of the Clothier Collection of American Drama. Under the supervision of Quinn, the collection was expanded significantly. Quinn also oversaw the compilation of the title index, which was completed in 1936 by an unknown employee of the Works Progress Administration. It is believed that numbered pages were penciled in during this time.

Material

The volumes have two different sets of bindings, one which has a title and the other which does not. The book is handmade and everything is original. There is a title index as well that is meant to give an index to all 15 volumes of the albums. The scrapbook is made from acidic paper from wood pulp, as well as pasteboard/cardboard. The cover is made from red canvas. All of the clippings are black and white except on page 238 which has some blue and red ink.

There are some clippings and writing that only include the name of the person above the photograph clipping above it. We know the time period because on the second page, it is written “From 1850 to October 23. 1887.” On the flyleaf, there is a clipping which believes to have been added by the auctioneer reading: “Theatricals in Philadelphia. A very unusual collection of theatre programmes, portraits of leading actors, newspaper notices, &c., Relating to the Theatre in Philadelphia in the latter of the last century, neatly mounted in 15 scrap books. Somebody has devoted almost a lifetime in making this collection. To those interested in Philadelphia theatrical affairs the collection is invaluable.”On some of the photographs or cutouts of women, underneath it is penciled in who they are (this is only present when there is no newspaper clipping with the name on it). Many pages either have “ University of Pennsylvania” pressed into the book or written in pencil.