- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"24.3 linear feet (29 boxes + 2 oversized folders)"}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1956-003", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21615", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"George DeMott papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. <span class=\"subarea\">Billy Rose Theatre Division.</span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498</span></div>"}
- prefercite
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{"value"=>"<p>George DeMott Papers, *T-Mss 1956-003, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts</p>"}
- origination
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{"value"=>"DeMott, George, 1907-1986", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>George Wilbur DeMott was born July 21, 1907 in Pennsylvania and was raised on a farm in Millville, Pennsylvania. He began his professional career in 1925 and spent 45 years as a professional clown, magician and juggler. For about 15 years (1939-1954) he toured the school assembly circuit, mostly in the mid-west, booking through various lecture and concert booking bureaus. Mr. DeMott is noted for being a pioneer in bringing juggling into school assembly programs, crafting his act into a complete, compact program that was both \"practical and entertaining\" and highly mobile. With his wife, Fanny, as his assistant, the DeMotts often performed several short programs per day, averaging 12-14 shows per week and logging thousands of miles in a single season.</p> <p>At the age of 18, while working as a doorman at the Fox Theatre in Philadelphia, he reportedly met Harry Houdini and juggler William Hilton, an encounter that inspired the direction of his career. He began his career as a clown, touring the U.S. and Canada in various circuses including the Hagenbeck & Wallace Circus, Cole Bros. Circus, Keller's Society Circus, Wallace Bros. Circus and The Mackey Players. He also performed at various parks, fairs and department stores during the Christmas season, including a four-year stint at Gimbel's in Pittsburgh.</p> <p>During his career Mr. DeMott also sought to promote the arts of juggling and magic. In addition to writing articles in many show business journals, he wrote and illustrated a how-to book on juggling entitled <span class=\"title\">Want to Be a Juggler?</span> (Tulsa, OK: Montadon Magic, 1962). He was also an early member of the International Jugglers Association, a 25-year member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, a member of the American Federation of Musicians, International Platform Association and American Guild of Variety Artists. In addition to his performing, Mr. DeMott was interested in show business history and collected theatrical ephemera, particularly items related to the Chautauqua and Lyceum circuits. Many of those items make up the bulk of the George DeMott Papers.</p> <p>George Wilbur DeMott died on October 22, 1986 in Leesburg, Florida, at the age of 79.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The George DeMott Papers consist of correspondence, some diaries/appointment books, contracts, photographs and scrapbooks. The papers are divided into two distinct parts, with some overlap: items, such as contracts and correspondence, that relate to the career of Mr. DeMott and items, such as posters, brochures, etc. that were collected by him and placed into scrapbooks. The collection is divided into six series: Personal Papers, Correspondence, Independent Bookings, Booking Agencies and Agents, Scrapbooks and Oversized Materials. The Booking Agencies and Agents series (Series IV) is further sub-divided by 18 sub-series and contains a great deal of correspondence that detail the problems and hardships of booking a two-person act into schools in the American mid-west at the middle of the twentieth century. Some of the issues include DeMott's concern with getting enough gas for his car during World War II and the Korean War. This series also contains a number of appointment books in which DeMott wrote short, pithy summaries of the various motels and hotels that he and his wife stayed in. The scrapbooks make up the bulk of the collection and contain a variety of items including clippings, posters, brochures, correspondence, handbills, flyers, photographs and programs. The Oversized Materials include a poster and road maps. What's missing from the collection are any significant personal papers. The few diaries found in the collection give little or no personal insight and the correspondence is overwhelmingly of a business nature.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The George DeMott papers are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21615#c313906'>Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1920-1959</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'>Arranged by type <p>The personal papers consist of photographs of DeMott and his wife, a bookings diary, mileage notebook, address book, miscellaneous notes (mostly related to bookings) and various publicity items including handbills, flyers and business cards.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21615#c313914'>Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1940-1951</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 folder</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of one folder containing primarily business correspondence, not related to a particular booking agency or agent. There are, however, a few rejection letters in regard to bookings presumably sought out by Mr. DeMott on his own.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21615#c313916'>Independent Bookings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1941-1954</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>13 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains material related to bookings that DeMott sought out on his own, independent of any agency or agent. He referred to them as \"self-bookings\". The material consists mostly of correspondence and contracts, but there are also items such as appointment books or diaries, miscellaneous notes and various lists (prop list, contact list, list of Kiwanis clubs, Lions clubs, etc.)</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21615#c313927'>Booking Agencies and Agents</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1939-1954</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1.89 linear feet (5 boxes)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The items in this series consist primarily of correspondence and contracts, supplemented by items that are particular to a certain agency or agent that DeMott dealt with. These would include schedules, itineraries, \"talent instruction\" sheets, weekly reports, expense and income reports and mileage tally sheets. There are also items of a more personal nature such as date books, appointment books, mileage notebooks and miscellaneous notes. There are 18 sub-series, each representing an individual booking agency or agent. They are arranged alphabetically and then chronologically within each sub-series. Since Mr. DeMott often booked with more than one agency or agent in a particular season, there is a good deal of overlapping in the years covered.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21615#c314036'>Scrapbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1890-1959</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>23 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The scrapbooks make up the bulk of the collection and contain items that reflect Mr. DeMott's interest in the history of show business, particularly the Chautauqua and Lyceum circuits and the art of magic shows and magicians. The items include posters, handbills, flyers, business cards, clippings, photographs, brochures, correspondence and programs. There is no particular arrangement to the scrapbooks, Mr. DeMott appears to have glued items into the same scrapbook without regard to year or subject matter. Some of the scrapbooks contain publicity material of Mr. DeMott's own shows. A number of the scrapbooks have inscriptions written by Mr. DeMott and some items are autographed by the subject. Most of the scrapbooks are in very fragile condition with covers missing, pages loose and the backing paper very brittle. They should be handled carefully.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21615#c314061'>Oversized Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1948-1950</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 folder</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains four oversized items: a poster, and three road or highway maps. The maps are annotated by Mr. DeMott, indicating towns that he had bookings in as well as mileage notes. All items are shelved separately from the rest of the collection, in the Rose Building map cases. Please consult a librarian for access; advance notice will be required.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection is organized into six series and eighteen sub-series. They are:</p> <p> <ul> <li>Series I : Personal Papers</li> <li>Series II: Correspondence</li> <li>Series III: Independent Bookings</li> <li>Series IV: Booking Agencies and Agents <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Antrim Bureau</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Brown Lyceum Bureau</li> <li>Sub-series 3- Charles A. Dietrich</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Graham Music and Lyceum Bureau</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - Harry Cooke Theatrical Agency</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - Kemerer Lyceum Bureau</li> <li>Sub-series 7 - Mel Sober, Agency</li> <li>Sub-series 8 - Mickey Kleman Entertainment Bureau</li> <li>Sub-series 9 - Midwest Assemblies</li> <li>Sub-series 10 - National School Assemblies</li> <li>Sub-series 11 - North Dakota Agricultural College</li> <li>Sub-series 12 - Pitt F. Parker/Royal Attractions</li> <li>Sub-series 13 - Southeast School Assemblies</li> <li>Sub-series 14 - Southern School Assemblies</li> <li>Sub-series 15 - University of Kansas. University Extension Division</li> <li>Sub-series 16 - University of Minnesota. University Extension Service</li> <li>Sub-series 17 - University of Wisconsin. University Extension Division</li> <li>Sub-series 18 - Miscellaneous Booking Agencies and Agents</li></ul></li> <li>Series V: Scrapbooks</li> <li>Series VI: Oversized Materials</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The George DeMott Papers were purchased in 1956 from George DeMott.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited.</p>"}
- userestrict
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{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
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{"value"=>"<p>* 1) In addition to George DeMott's Papers, the Billy Rose Theatre Division also has a copy of his book, <span class=\"title\">Want to be a Juggler?</span>(Tulsa, Oklahoma: Montadon Magic, 1962). The call number is MZC(DeMott, George, Want to be a juggler).</p> <p>* 2) The Library of Congress also holds a scrapbook of George DeMott material in its McManus-Young Collection (Library of Congress) under the title [Magic miscellanea, 1845-1955]. The DeMott scrapbook is located in Series V, Sub-series B. DeMott scrapbooks. A finding aid is available in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division; folder level control. The call number is GV1542.M32 1845 McManus-Young Coll. More information can also be obtained at http://catalog.loc.gov.</p> <p>* 3) Information on George DeMott and juggling can be found online at the Juggling Information Service's (JIS) website: www.juggling.org. The JIS maintains online versions of Juggler's World, the journal of the International Juggler's Association. Various issues of Juggler's World contain a number of references to Mr. DeMott, including an obituary.</p> <p>* 4) The Billy Rose Theatre Division contains a number of items concerning magic and magicians, including books and non-book materials. One of the largest collections of non-book materials can be found in the Ellison Collection, a series of scrapbooks containing clippings, programs and brochures from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.</p> <p>* 5) Material on Chautauquas and Lyceums can be found in both the Billy Rose Theatre Division and the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, both book and non-book items. Please consult the online catalog, CATNYP, as well as the Non-Book Card Catalog (the \"white cards\") in the Theatre Collection for further information.</p>"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"circa 1890-1954", "type"=>"inclusive", "certainty"=>"approximate", "normal"=>"1890/1954"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1890
- date_inclusive_end
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1954
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The George DeMott papers consist of correspondence, some diaries/appointment books, contracts, photographs, and scrapbooks. This material is almost all business related, and there are no significant personal papers. The papers are divided into two distinct parts, with some overlap: items such as contracts and correspondence that relate to the career of Mr. DeMott, and items such as posters, brochures, etc., that he collected, and placed into scrapbooks. The section of the DeMott papers devoted to Booking Agencies and Agents (Series IV) is divided into 18 sub-series, and contains a great deal of correspondence detailing the difficulties George DeMott and his wife Fanny faced booking their act into schools. The scrapbooks comprise the bulk of the collection and contain a variety of items, including clippings, posters, brochures, correspondence, handbills, fliers, photographs, and programs. The oversized material includes a poster and a road map."}
- keydate
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1890
- processinfo
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{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Mark Maniak.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1890
- date_end
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1954