Photographs and sheet music make up the bulk of the Florenz Ziegfeld Collection, 1893-1979 (bulk 1910-1930), which documents Ziegfeld's career as a producer and, to a lesser extent, the contributions of some of the theater professionals associated with him. Also present is a very small amount of material concerning posthumous Ziegfeld revivals, spinoffs, and movies. The collection is organized into three series: I. Productions, 1907-1946, II. Individuals, 1893-1979, and III. Sheet Music, 1905-1957. Within each series, material is arranged alphabetically by title of work or chronologically where appropriate.
The full range of Ziegfeld's producing work is represented in the Productions series, which is divided into four subseries: A. Variety Shows, 1907 (1 folder), B. Revues, 1907-1931 (3.5 boxes), C. Fully Staged Productions, 1920-1946 (1 box), and D. Unidentified Productions, nd (2 folders). Ziegfeld's variety work for the Syndicate is represented by a Jardin de Paris program from June 1907. The Revues subseries holds photographs, programs, clippings, and other materials for the Ziegfeld Follies, Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic, Ziegfeld Nine O'Clock Revue, and an unidentified revue, arranged alphabetically by title of production and then chronologically. Many of these shows were photographed by the Hall and White Studios of New York. Notable items include two actors' sides from the 1916 Follies and casts lists for the 1920 edition; clippings documenting the 1957 Follies are located here. In the Revues subseries, dates are given only if they differ from the year the production opened. The Fully Staged Productions subseries contains photographs, programs, and ephemera for eleven "book" shows. Most of this material documents each show's original Ziegfeld production, but later stagings by other producers are also represented. Supplied dates in the folder list represent the date of the show's Broadway opening. Photographs of unidentified productions complete the Productions series.
The Individuals series (12 boxes) contains personal and production photographs for nearly 150 performers associated with Ziegfeld, as well as materials concerning Ziegfeld himself. The series also includes a small number of clippings and other materials such as Ziegfeld's letters, telegrams, and legal documents. An index of correspondents is included in this finding aid. Most of the performers are represented by very few different photographic poses but Myrna Darby, the Dolly Sisters, Gladys Glad, Paulette Goddard, Justine Johnstone, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Allyn King, Raquel Meller, Barbara Newberry, Olga Steck, and Lilyan Tashman are represented by at least seven poses. Over half of the photographs were made by White Studio of New York, N.Y.; other well-represented photographers are De Barron, Hall, Alfred Cheney Johnston, Edward Thayer Monroe, and Ira D. Schwarz. Supplied dates in the folder list represent the date of the Broadway opening of the show in which the performer appeared.
The Sheet Music series (7.5 boxes) contains music for over 600 songs published between 1905 and 1957. Music dating from 1915 to 1924 predominates. While most of the numbers were intended for Ziegfeld's revues, some were popularized by Follies performers but not used by Ziegfeld, and a very small number appear to have no direct Ziegfeld connection. Because the series is arranged by copyright date, not title of production, music from a particular show is often found in two adjacent years; occasionally related songs will be found farther apart when an older song was revived for a new production. A good number of the songs were vehicles for Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, Fanny Brice, Jose Collins, and Bert Williams. The series also includes songs from several of the posthumous New York Follies revivals, a 1955 Las Vegas show, and the films The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Ziegfeld Girl (1941), and Ziegfeld Follies (1946). Composers and lyricists who are most heavily represented are Irving Berlin, Lew Brown, Gus Edwards, Rudolf Friml, Seymour Furth, James F. Hanley, Victor Herbert, J. Leubrie Hill, Louis A. Hirsch, George V. Hobart, Raymond Hubbell, Jerome Kern, Maurice Levi, Jean Schwartz, Harry Bache Smith, Dave Stamper, and Albert Von Tilzer. A complete index of composers, lyricists, arrangers, performers, and song titles concludes this finding aid.
Elsewhere in the Performing Arts Collection are costume designs by James Reynolds for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921, located in the W. H. Crain Costume and Scenic Design Collection. The Florenz Ziegfeld Photograph Collection holds a large number of photographs relating to Ziegfeld personalities and productions. Other Ziegfeld papers are held at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
| Florenz Ziegfeld Collection Finding Aid | |||||
| Title Page | Biographical Sketch |
Scope and Contents |
Folder List | Index of Correspondents |
Index of Sheet Music |
(Last modified: 27 January 2005)
Reference queries to: performingarts@hrc.utexas.edu