MsC 356

  Manuscript Register

KEITH/ALBEE COLLECTION

Collection Dates: 1890 -- 1952
52 linear ft.

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu

Posted to Internet: April 1999

Acquisition/Provenance Note: The history of this collection is not entirely recorded. It seems to have been discovered in the basement of The Keith-Albee Theatre, Westminster Street, Providence, Rhode Island when, in the 1960s, this theatre was being demolished. Richard Rand, a fire underwriter, found the records, took an interest in them, acquired title to them either from the theatre owners or the company tearing down the building, and moved them to a nearby warehouse. Some years later, Robert C. Allen, then a graduate student in the University of Iowa Speech and Dramatic Arts Department researching his dissertation on the relationship between vaudeville and film between 1896 and 1915, learned of the records from a friend, sought out Rand while visiting Boston, and saw and discussed the records with him. Allen recalls that Rand planned to offer them piecemeal at auction but agreed to consider an offer from a library. On his return to Iowa City, Allen brought the collection to the attention of Frank Hanlin, then head of collection development in the Libraries. Hanlin, in turn, arranged to acquire the records in 1976. Acquisition records for purchased materials are generally destroyed after ten years, and that seems to have been the case here; we are not presently able to locate documentation for the purchase. Researchers, however, certainly owe Rand a generous round of thanks for preserving the records and Allen and Hanlin a similar round for bringing them into the Libraries. We in turn thank Fred McLennan and Robert Allen for the information in this note.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

Copyright:  Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials"

Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

Table of Contents

Organizational History

Scope and Contents

I. Series One -- Subject files

Boxes 1 -- 6

II. Series Two -- Signs

Box 7

III. Series Three -- Books (Boxed)

Boxes 8 -- 11

IV. Series Four -- Oversized Record Books

Organizational History

Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee became partners in the late 1880s to promote "polite" vaudeville. They lavishly remodeled several theaters on the east coast and began producing a brand of "high class" vaudeville. Crude remarks and risqué costumes were censored from performances and they even attempted to prohibit rude behavior by audiences. Keith was the financial head of the circuit, while Albee was the general manager and owner of several theaters. In 1906, Keith and Albee established the United Booking Office. Every act that sought employment at any of the member theaters had to work through this central office, which in turn charged a five percent commission per act. Thus Keith and Albee expanded their power base. In the 1920s the Keith/Albee circuit merged with a western chain of vaudeville theaters to form the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Circuit. In 1928, $4,500,000 worth of stock was sold to Joseph P. Kennedy's Radio Corporation of America (RCA) establishing the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO). After this merger, motion pictures became the primary form of entertainment, while vaudeville survived only as an accompaniment to the feature film.

Scope and Contents

The Keith/Albee collection focuses primarily on vaudeville in Rhode Island between 1894 and 1935, but it also includes resources for studying vaudeville throughout the east coast and Ohio. The circuit, as represented in these records, involves theaters in Providence, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket, Rhode Island; Boston and Webster, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Cleveland, Ohio. Theaters in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and New York City also appear with some regularity. The records of Keith/Albee chronicle the expansion of their circuit, changes in its leadership, and the eventual decline of vaudeville. Dating from 1890 to 1952, the Keith/Albee collection consists of six linear feet of subject files housed in eleven boxes and map cases. These files contain topics as diverse as usher's manuals to building permits, air raid precautions to price schedules, and cash books to correspondence.

However, the majority of the collection is made up of 150 oversized notebooks. There are twenty-four volumes of manager's report books dating from 1902 to 1923. These contain reviews of acts (including which items were censored), suggestions as to where acts should be placed on the bill, and even whether the act was in one or required the full use of the stage. The headline acts usually received less attention in the manager's reports than did others. The set of 108 clipping books date from 1894 to 1935. These include all of the publicity for Keith's vaudeville and Edward F. Albee's Stock Company in Providence, Rhode Island. The books trace vaudeville from the opening of Keith's Opera House in Providence, to its eventual decline in the face of the feature film. A caricature book, 1908 -- 1911, is another source of publicity for vaudeville. Two more volumes contain cast lists and report sheets, while there are five volumes of clippings primarily taken from Variety and The New York Clipper. Five cash books (1918 -- 1921) contain treasurer's statements and other financial records. Miscellaneous materials such as architectural drawings, playbills, and posters round out the collection.

For more information regarding the Keith/Albee Collection at the University of Iowa Libraries see M. Allison Kibler "The Keith/Albee Collection: The Vaudeville Industry, 1894-1935." Books at Iowa, no. 56 (April 1992) pp. 7 -- 24 and her 1994 Ph.D. Thesis from Iowa, Female varieties: gender and cultural hierarchy on the Keith vaudeville circuit, 1890-1925 (UI MAIN Library Thesis T1994 .K415), and its published version, Rank ladies: gender and cultural hierarchy in American vaudeville. Chapel Hill; London: University of North Carolina Press, c1999 (UI  MAIN Library PN1968.U5 K53 1999).

Please note that the "oversize record books" in Series IV, while immensely useful, are extremely difficult, physically, to use. These are very large scrapbooks -- about 12 by 20 inches and three to five inches thick -- into which a great assortment of materials have been pasted: clippings (often in several parts, sometimes layered one over another); whole pages of newsprint folded several times to fit the page size; notes; typescripts; clipped advertising from newspapers and magazines; programs; etc. The order of the material is roughly by theater and then chronological -- but the scrapbooks are not indexed. If you have precise information on theater and date of performance, it is sometimes possible to find further information quickly; but in most cases, only a thorough page-by-page review will locate information on a particular circuit performer.

We generally do not have staff time to search the record books for readers. If you are unable to come to Iowa City to examine them yourself, we recommend that you consider hiring a research assistant to do this for you. Students in the School of Library and Information Science are often available to conduct research projects under your direction. Contact Becky Thoms, Sch 3088, Main Library, Iowa City, IA 52240-1420, phone 319-335-5709, email <becky-thoms@uiowa.edu>

Series I. Subject Files

Box 1

Accident reports -- patrons, 1940 -- 1941

Ads -- RKO Albee, Providence, Rhode Island. October 1937 -- May 1938 (2 folders)

Ads -- "Redheads and Blonds." 1936

Advertising

Advertising Accessories, Inc., 1941 -- 1942

Advertising -- correspondence, 1941 -- l943

Advertising schedule, 1948 -- 1949

Air raid instructions, 1942 -- 1943

"Air Raid Precautions", Providence Fire Department, 1942

Albee Theatre reopening, 1941

Allen, Richard D., school census, 1941

Alperson, E. L., 1942

American Red Cross, 1940 -- 1942

Ancess, Lou, 1941

Auction sale bill, Albee Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island

Barkers and Walkmen. RKO Theatres Service Manual

Bijou Theatre, New York, 1891, 1902

Billing -- procedures and correspondence, 1941 -- 1943

Bondy, Al O., 1942

Booking sheets, 1942 -- 1943

Bookings, 1940 -- 1941

Boston Museum, 1894(?)

Boyar, Ben A., 1941

Brink's armored truck, 1942

Broadway Theatre, 1901 -- 1902

Bryant College, 1941 -- 1942

Budget -- real estate maintenance, 1941 -- 1943

Buell, W. H., 1942 -- 1943

Building permits, 1934, 1949

Calvin, A. S., 1940 -- 1942

Canavan, David P., 1943

Cashiers. RKO Theatres Service Manual

Chamber of Commerce, 1943

Christmas Seals, 1943

Civilian Defense, 1942

Claxton, Allen E., 1941

Coal and coal burning boiler, 1942

Congratulations, 1941

Contests, 1942

Criterion Theatre

Cropper, R.C., 1941 -- l942

Cummins, David, 1941

Dolan, James, 1941

Domingo, Ben, 1941, 1948

Doormen -- Ticket Takers. RKO Theatres Service Manual

Downing, John, 1941 -- 1942

A. Dubois and Son, Inc., 1942 -- 1943

Box 2

Edward F. Albee Stock Co., 1902 -- 1904

Employees, 1941 -- 1943

England, W. B., 1941 -- 1943

Farnum, Royal B., 1941

Fay, Edward, 1942 -- 1943

Fellerman, Max, 1941 -- 1943

Film Exchange Transfer Co., John Foley, 1941 -- 1942

Film Exchange Transfer Co., December 1940 -- January 1945 (4 folders)

Fogarty, John E., member of Congress, 1943

Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising, 1943

French, George Emerson, 1941 -- 1943

Frentz, C. S., 1941 -- 1942

Gookin, Frank M., 1942

Graham, W. A., 1941 -- 1943

Greek mailing list

Greek War Effort Drive, 1941

Hastings, W. T., 1941

Henry, A. S., 1941 -- 1943

Hinkes, H. W., 1941 -- 1942

Horstman, Charles F., sound and projection, 1940 -- 1943

Horton, H. N., 1941

Hub Film Exchange, Jack Meyers, 1942

Imperial Theatre, ca. 1904

Box 3

Information returns to government, calendar year 1926

Invitations, 1941

Jewish Community Center, 1941

Johnson, Howard F., Welfare Fund, 1943

Junior League, 1941

Keith's Theatre, 1902 -- 1911

Kingsberg, Malcolm, 1943

Kirwain, A. J., 1941 -- 1943

Knight, J. H., 1942

Knights of Columbus

Koerner, C. W., 1941 -- 1942

Lakeman, F. H., 1941 -- 1942

Lamont, Jack, 1943

Leasing of the building, 1942

Legitimate stage productions, 1941

Levy, Charles, 1941

Levy, William, 1942

Liberman, 1948

Liberman Flag and Valance Co., 1941

"Life with Father," 1941

Livingston, Blanche F., 1943

Lloyds Film Storage Corp., 1941

Lord & Thomas Advertising, 1941

Louis H. Bellin, Edward F. Albee Stock Co., 1902

Lowenthal, Ruth, 1943

McGerigle, C. A., 1940 -- 1942

McMahon, O. R., 1942

Maier, Milton L., 1941 -- 1943

Maintenance and construction, 1941 -- 1943

Managers Monthly Inspection Report, 1940 -- 1941

Mandel, Harry, advertising and publicity, 1940 -- 1948 (3 folders)

March of Time, 1942

Master Motion Picture Co., 1942

Memo

Meyers, Fred, 1941

Mirisch, Harold J., bookings, 1942 -- 1943

Box 4

Miscellaneous materials including draft information, 1941 -- 1943

Morgan, Donald, 1941 -- 1942

Morton, Bill, 1942 -- 1948

Motion Picture Herald, 1941

Motion picture lists, 1943 -- 1944

Mowry, Russell L., mortgages, 1946 -- 1947

Narragansett Electric Co., 1941 -- 1943

Nash, Otto J., 1941

National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, 1943

National Screen Service Corp., 1941 -- 1943

National Theatre Supply Co., 1941 -- 1942

Newspaper radio budget, 1946

Northeastern Film Co., 1941

O'Connor, J. J., 1941

Other RKO theatres and their people, 1941 -- 1942

Otis Elevator Corp., 1934 -- 1941

Outside use of the theatre, 1941 -- 1942

Paramount Film Distributing Corp., 1942

Passes and pass lists, 1940 -- 1943

Patrons -- comments, 1940 -- 1942

Patrons -- injuries and complaints, 1941 -- 1942

Patrons -- lost items, 1941 -- 1942

People, miscellaneous, 1941 -- 1943

Photographs

Playbills and programs, 1890 -- 1923

Playwrights Co., 1941

Plunkett Chemical Co., 1943

Polish mailing list

Polon, Matthew, Booking, RKO Film Booking Corp., 1941

Price schedule, 1941

Program time schedule, 1941 -- 1942

Providence Opera House, 1890 -- 1913

Providence Public Library, 1943

Providence Theatre Co., tenant accounts, October 1921 -- September 1926

Providence theatre floor plans, Providence, Rhode Island

Box 5

Providence Victory Corp., 1919

Purchasing, 1941

RCA, 1941 -- 1943

RKO Albee Daily Booth Report, February 1941 -- January 1942 (4 folders)

RKO Albee Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, seating plan, 1940, 1952

RKO Keith's Memorial Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, 1944 -- 1946 (2 folders)

RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., mainly bookings by C. F. McGergle, 1942 -- 1943

Religion, churches, 1941 -- 1943

Roach, Alex E., 1943

Rhode Island Association for the Blind, 1941

Rhode Island State Council of Defense, Fuel Commission, 1941

Rhode Island Unemployment Compensation Board, 1941

Salaries, 1941

Salary, 1930

Salary sheet, Bijou Theatre, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 1921

Salary sheet, Pawtucket, 1920 -- 1921

Salary sheet, vaudeville, Bijou Theatre, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 1922

Schwartz, Sol A., 1942 -- 1943

Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1941

Box 6

Social Security Board, 1939 -- 1941

Spiwak, A., 1941 -- 1942

State Board of Examiners of Electricians, 1944

State Council of Defense, E. Gardner Jacobs, 1942 -- 1943

Stewart, John L., 1942

Supplies, 1940 -- 1943

Telephone numbers

Thompson (J. Walter) Co., 1942

Thompson, Major L. E., 1941

Transportation Advertising Co., 1942 -- 1943

Treasurer's office correspondence, 1929 -- 1931

Turner, Terry, 1942

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 1942

USO

United Artists Corp., 1942

United Jewish Appeal Campaign, 1943

U. S. Sanitary Specialties Corp., 1941

United War Fund of 1942

Universal Film Exchange, Inc., 1941 -- 1943

Universal Pictures, 1941

Ushers. RKO Theatres Service Manual

Vitagraph, Inc., 1941

Walters, J. Henry, 1943

War Activities Committee. Motion Picture Industry. New England Theatres Division, 1942 -- 1943

War bonds and stamps, 1942 -- 1943

War efforts, 1943

War industry coordination, William E. Spragg, 1942 -- 1943

War priority regulations and applications, 1942

War Production Board, 1943

Warning sign

Waxberg, E., 1941

Weekly receipts, disbursements, profit and loss. E. F. Albee; Victory; Empire; Woonsocket, C. Lovenberg, 1923 -- 1926

What Cheer Printing Co., 1942

Winner, Howard, 1941

Yerasian, J. S., 1941

Series II. Signs

Box 7

Price signs: Eight plastic signs with adult prices ranging from 44 cents to 85 cents and children's prices ranging from 25 cents to 35 cents

Series III. Books (Boxed)

Box 8

Bookings, 1900 -- 1910: Books listing the acts, specialties, salary, number of shows and sometimes more for vaudeville acts booked at Keith's Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, arranged chronologically. 1900 -- 1910. 8 volumes

"Cuts," ca. 1900 -- ca. 1925. Advertising information. 1 volume

Box 9

Lamp stocks used and on hand, 1940 -- 1943. 1 volume

Checkbooks, 1925 -- 1926. Books include check stubs and blank checks, arranged chronologically. 1925 -- 1926. 2 volumes

Cash books, 1919 -- 1929

Books list weekly receipts and expenditures with totals
E. F. Albee Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, October 25, 1919 -- May 14, 1921. 1 volume

Providence Victory Corp., March 12, 1927 -- December 6, 1929. 1 volume.

Providence Theatre Co., August 20, 1927 -- January 13, 1929. 1 volume

Box 10

Cash books, 1911 -- 1943

Providence Theatre Co., January 20, 1929 -- December 13, 1929. 1 volume

Keith's Theatre, 1932 -- 1933. 1 volume

Bijou Theatre, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, June 5, 1920 -- March 25, 1912. 1 volume

Star Theatre, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, December 9, 1911 -- October 18, 1913. 1 volume

Columbus Theatre, Inc., November 7, 1926 -- December 18, 1926. 1 volume

Albee/Victory, 1931 -- 1937. 1 volume

Miscellaneous cash books, 1940 -- 1942. 1 volume

RKO Albee, 1933 -- 1943. 1 volume

Box 11

Cash books, 1926 -- 1941

Daily, 1935 -- 1941. 1 volume

Providence Theatre Co., salary book, 1927 -- 1930. 1 volume

Information returns to government, calendar years 1925 and 1926. 1 volume

Series IV. Oversize Record Books

 

Report books, 1902 -- 1923. These volumes contain weekly reports on the bills playing at the theatres on the Keith/Albee circuit, arranged chronologically, September 1902 -- April 1923. 24 volumes. Scrapbooks 1 -- 24

Clipping books 1894 -- 1941. These volumes contain newspaper clippings. The clippings contain advertising, articles, and programs. Most pieces include the date and newspaper name. Vaudeville, stock company and motion pictures are represented, arranged chronologically by location and theatre.

Providence, Rhode Island. The theatre in Providence underwent several name changes

B.F. Keith's Opera House, July 1894 -- August 1900. 3 volumes. Scrapbooks 25 -- 27

Keith's New Theatre, Keith's, and Keith's Theatre, (name varies among these three)

August 1900 -- December 1918. 28 volumes. Scrapbooks 28 -- 55

Victory Theatre (motion pictures), August 1919 -- January 1932. 15 volumes. Scrapbooks 56 -- 70

Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Bijou Theatre, August 1913 -- August 1928. 6 volumes. Scrapbooks 71 -- 76

Providence, Rhode Island

E.F. Albee Theatre, July 1919 -- August 1929. 19 volumes. Scrapbooks 77 -- 95

RKO Albee, September 1929 -- December 1941. 14 volumes. Scrapbooks 96 -- 109

Empire Theatre, August 1911 -- May 1929. 8 volumes. Scrapbooks 110 -- 117

Nickel Theatre and Bijou Theatre (motion pictures), April 1906 -- December 1916. 4 volumes. Scrapbooks 118 -- 121

Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Keith's Theatre and Scenic Music Hall, October 1903 -- May 1924. 5 volumes. Scrapbooks 122 -- 126

Keith's Pawtucket Theatre, August 1906 -- March 1909. 1 volume. Scrapbook 127

Bijou Theatre and Star Theatre, March 1909 -- June 1923. 3 volumes. Scrapbooks 128 -- 130

Clipping books, 1908 -- 1923. (These books represent clippings similar to the previous books but are not theatre specific)

Local plays. Newspaper clippings from the plays given at local theatres, 1911 -- 1923. 3 volumes. Scrapbooks 131 -- 133

Acts put together by Charles Lovenberg

Tuscany Troubadours, 1908 -- 1909. 1 volume. Scrapbook 134

La Petite Revue, 1908 -- 1910. 1 volume. Scrapbook 135

Operatic Festival, 1909 -- 1911. 1 volume. Scrapbook 136

College Life, 1910 -- 1911. 1 volume. Scrapbook 137

Miscellaneous books, 1903 -- 1922

Cast lists and report sheets, 1903 -- 1922. 2 volumes. Scrapbooks 138 -- 139

Caricatures, ca. 1908 -- 1911. 1 volume. Scrapbook 140

New acts, pages mainly from Variety and The New York Clipper, undated to approximately 1922. 5 volumes. Scrapbooks 141 -- 145

Cash books, 1918 -- 1921

Treasurer's statement book, Edward F. Albee Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, 1919 -- 1920. 1 volume. Scrapbook 146

General cashbook, 1918. 1 volume. Scrapbook 147

Abda Corp., Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1920 -- 1921. 3 volumes. Scrapbooks 148 -- 150

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