The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Title: Programs
Dates: 1821-1959
Call No.:
Acc. No.: [various – see detailed
description]
Quantity: 1 box
Location: 34 B 2
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
This artificial and still open collection contains
programs dating from 1821-1959. Many are
illustrated or contain advertisements.
Performances include orations, operas, award ceremonies, plays,
pageants, commencements, the Pennsylvania bicentennial celebrations in
Philadelphia, and an invitation to and program for Louis C. Tiffany’s
celebrated Egyptian Fete of 1913. Dance
cards are also included.
ORGANIZATION
In accession number order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English and Latin.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Acquired from various sources; see case files for
details.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Moore, Clement Clarke,
1779-1863.
Penn, William, 1644-1718.
Tiffany, Louis
Comfort, 1848-1833.
Topics:
St. Peter’s Church (Chelsea,
New York City, N.Y.)
Academy of Music
(Philadelphia, Pa.)
Circus.
Concert programs.
Manners and
customs.
Opera programs.
Pageants -
Rites and
ceremonies.
Speeches,
addresses, etc.
Theater programs.
Dance cards.
Pennsylvania – Centennial celebrations, etc.
Programs.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 B
2
70x116.1 program for “Bastien & Bastienne,”
by Mozart, presented at the Varieties Theatre, Brookline, [Massachusetts,] May
1937; front of program is autographed by George C. Shattuck and Virginia C.
Shattuck.
(Dr. Shattuck lived 1879-1972; Mrs. Shattuck lived
1886-1982. Why they signed the program
is unknown.)
70x116.2 program for “Scenes from Platée,”
presented at the Varieties Theatre, Brookline, [Mass.,] November 1959, to
benefit the Pan American Society of New England; inside of program is
autographed by George C. and Virginia C. Shattuck; front of cover bears a
reproduction of a wash drawing by Saint Aubin of the Salle de l’Opera (no date,
but 18th century)
(Dr. and Mrs. Shattuck were members of the Board of
Governors of the Pan American Society.)
74x159.3 dance program for unknown occasion,
sponsored by unknown organization of which W. Keim was president, W. H. Righter
was secretary, and W. Lainhoff was treasurer; music was by C. Hassler; no date
but 19th century; the program lists the order of dances, and
includes blank spaces for names of partners.
One dance was in honor of “our Norristown friends,” lending this item a
Pennsylvania provenance.
74x159.4 cover for a dance program, probably the
dance above; lists Master of Ceremonies Harry [torn] and Floor Manager W. H.
Righter; also lists Assistants, and Committee of Arrangement; the printer’s
address was Callowhill Street, probably in Philadelphia, no date but 19th
century.
78x20.1 order of exercises at the
Presentation of the Wooden Spoon, Junior Class, Yale College, May 23, 1851; on
the cover is a coat of arms featuring wooden spoons, an upside down Phi Beta
Kappa key, a horn and an unbalanced scale; the program included music,
orations, and Spoon Addresses; names of speakers are given; some comments have
been are written in
78x20.2 program for [Princeton University] Senior
Orations, Nassau Hall, November 1, 1851, Fifth Division; the program was
composed chiefly of speeches, with some music; one speaker was noted as being
“very good”; printed on paper embossed with a lacy border
79x196.1 Order of Exercises for Commencement,
August 29, 1821, Harvard University; the information on the front is in Latin,
including some of the names of the graduates (Carolus Bunker, rather than
Charles; but Warren Burton); the titles of orations, dissertations, and other
speeches are in English.
[note: Ralph Waldo
Emerson was a member of this class]
79x196.2 Order of Exercises for Commencement,
August 31, 1831,
[a George Cheyne
Shattuck was a member of this class; he was probably the grandfather of the Dr.
Shattuck who signed acc. 70x116.1-.2]
79x196.3 Harvard University, Order of
Performances, Exhibition, April 28, 1835, with names of speakers and titles of
their presentations; this program belonged to Wm. Jenks; on the back, he notes
the names of some of the men present, including His Honor the L. Govr., Hon.
Jas. Richardson, Rev. Mr. Gannett, &c.
82x150 Boston Museum, Monday, May 20, 1889
and until further notice; program for the play “Little Lord Fauntleroy,”
dramatized by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Includes two illustrations, probably taken
from a printed copy of the book.
The program is
mostly ads, for clothing stores, pens, pianos and organs, carriages, food,
restaurants, an exhibit about Custer’s last fight, etc. Some ads are illustrated.
86x152.1-2 invitation from Mr. [Louis Comfort]
Tiffany to an “Egyptian Fete of the time of Cleopatra,” February 4, 1913;
costumes required; also a Synopsis of the Egyptian Fete, a pantomime performed
by Hedwig Reicher, Ruth St. Denis, Pedro de Cordoba, Paul Swan, and amateurs;
the invitation is decorated with hieroglyphics, with a wax seal attached; party
was held at Tiffany’s studio at 345 Madison Ave.
[note: use care in handling so the wax seal does not become detached]
92x162.81 Madison Square Theatre, Monday, March 11,
1889, for the play “Captain Swift,” by R. Haddon Chambers; the program also
includes advertisements (many illustrated) for various stores, clothing, pianos,
etc., and a diagram of the theater showing fire exits; on the front cover is a
colored view of the interior and embroidered curtain of the theater.
The cast included Maurice Barrymore, the patriarch of the
Barrymore family of actors.
The program
was printed by F.V. Strauss, Walker St.
06x123 Gaiety Theatre (London), program for
George Edwardes’ production of “Our Miss Gibbs,” not dated but 1909 or later;
program includes ads; front is decorated with colored picture of classical
woman playing a lyre.
Program
printed by G. Harmsworth & Co., Drury Lane.
08x160 McCaull’s Opera House, Philadelphia,
(late Haverly’s Theatre), program dated October 5, 1885, until further notice,
for Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Mikado”; the program includes vignettes of
characters in the operetta and ads; the front of the program includes an
exterior view of the theater.
The program
lists the companies responsible for improvements in the theater, including the
interior decorator, the architect, the painter, and the providers of carpets,
furniture, gas and electric fixtures.
The program
was printed by T. Sinclair & Son, Philadelphia.
12x157 Programme of the Bi-centennial
Celebration, Oct. 24-27, 1882, presented by Germania Theatre, 3d & Green
Sts., Philadelphia.
Inside:
General form of celebration adopted by the Bi-Centennial Association of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for observance in the City of Philadelphia. Every day, there was to be a different event,
with the opening event an operetta at the Germania Theatre. Other events were a reenactment of the
landing of William Penn, fireworks in Fairmount Park, processions of firemen
and trades, singing (especially by Welsh and Germans), historical tableaux,
regatta on the Schuylkill, bicycle review, military display.
On back of
program: advertisement for performance by Josephine Gallmeyer, the celebrated
Viennese comedienne
[see also
2019x77.5 for a different program for other activities during this
celebration.]
12x174.11 script: “Going Home to Father,” by Marie
Irish, from Catchy Loose-leaf Play Series, published by Willis N. Bugbee Co.,
Syracuse, N.Y., copyright 1930 in “Catchy Plays and Recitations No. 2”
15x47 Music Hall, New Haven,
[Connecticut,] Grand Sacred Musical Festival, Thursday, May 28, 1868, featuring
Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation.”
The program
lists the soloists; the chorus was composed of the Beethoven Society of
Hartford and the Mendelssohn Society of New Haven. The orchestra was composed of members of the
New York Philharmonic Society and Theodore Thomas’ Symphonic Orchestral
Society.
Includes notice
about railroad schedule.
Program printed by Hutchings
of Hartford.
Program is now in two
pieces.
2018x25.1 The Original Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus
programme, with clowns, horses, flying trapeze artists, etc.; the program ended
with “God Save the King”; no dated but probably 1920s or 1930s
2018x25.2 Saint Peter’s Church-Chelsea, in the city
of New York: The Clement Moore Memorial Service, December 20, 1936, including
dedication of The Chelsea Stone; on front cover, someone wrote “This is my
sweet old church.”
2018x9.1 Pianoforte Concerts by Josef Hofmann,
Academy of Music, Philadelphia, December 19, [1887].
Josef Hofmann
was ten years old]
2018x9.2 Academy of Music, [Philadelphia],
season 1913-1914: Ignace Jan Paderewski, Nov. 19, 1913.
2018x9.3 The Symphony Orchestra of New York,
[at] Academy of Music, Philadelphia, November 30, 1891. [Walter Damrosch was the conductor.]
2018x77.4 Prospect Park Concerts: Grand Concert,
August 27, 1892.
The front
cover is decorated with landscape drawings;
The back cover bears a photograph of a carriage in Prospect Park,
Brooklyn.
2018x77.5 Programme of the Keystone State’s Bi-centennial
Celebration of the Landing of William Penn, Philadelphia, Oct. 24-27, [1882].
This lists
the different events of the celebration: Oct. 24: representation of the landing
of William Penn; Oct. 25: a trades display; Oct. 26: Knights Templar Day; Oct.
27: military display.
The inside has
illustrations of Penn’s landing, Penn’s meeting with the Native Americans,
people in 18th century dress having a celebration, and crew teams on
the Schuylkill River. On the back is
found an advertisement for excursion tickets available from the Pennsylvania
Railroad.
The program is in the shape
of a keystone. Mended in several places
[see acc.
12x157 for another program for different events for this celebration.]