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Call number
JPB 00-13
Physical description
0.42 linear feet (2 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Song Slides Illustrating Early 20th Century Popular Songs, JPB 00-13. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
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Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

The Song Slides Illustrating Early 20th Century Popular Songs collection dates approximately from 1900 through 1914. The ten glass slides were created as promotional materials for music companies and provide illustrations and lyrics for seven popular songs.

Biographical/historical information

Glass lantern slides were commercially created positive transparencies on glass that were viewed through a magic lantern, an early type of image projector.

Slides were a popular medium for promotional materials from the late 1800s through the 1920s. They were commonly used to advertise new music releases, and typically screened at movie theaters before or between films. The images on these slides illustrated the songs' themes through hand-tinted photographs or transcriptions of the lyrics. Many illustrations depicted men and women enacting romantic scenes described in the music.

The Kansas City Slide Company was established in 1910, and produced many glass slide advertisements for local businesses. Due to the rapidly evolving film and advertising landscape, the company changed its name to the Kansas City Film Ad Service. It stopped creating still image slides to focus on the popularity of moving-image advertising.

Several other companies, including the New York-based A.L. Simpson Incorporated and Saint Louis Calcium and Light company, also produced slide advertisements.

Waterson, Berlin and Snyder, Incorporated was one of the largest music publishers of its time, and also created slides to promote their new releases. The firm published many artists associated with Tin Pan Alley, and was one of the first to support Black composers.

DeWitt C. Wheeler was a photographer based in New York, active from the late 1800s through his death in 1928. Companies used his landscape work in many commercial glass lantern slides.

Scope and arrangement

This collection is comprised of ten glass slides illustrating seven popular songs from the early 20th century. This collection is arranged by song title, in alphabetical order.

The songs in this collection include "Beautiful Dixie Rose," "Blaze of Glory," "Honey You Were Made for Me," "I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark," "Love Me," "You Will Have to Sing an Irish Song (Where The Little Shamrock Grows)," and "You're The Fairest Little Daisy That Grows in the Garden."

Many of the slides have labels as well as information within the illustration. This can include the song's title, composer, lyricist, publishing company, and/or manufacturer. This information is noted in the container list when known. Credited composers include L. Wolfe Gilbert, Abe Holzmann, and Kerry Mills. Some slides also attributed to a Publishing company or firm. Among the named companies are Saint Louis Calcium Light Company; A.L. Simpson, Incorporated; and Waterson, Berlin and Snyder Company. In addition to the illustrated title, there are slides containing the songs' lyrics and often the chorus.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Source of acquisition is unknown.

Processing information

Processed by Emily P. Dunne in 2022.

Using the collection

Location

Music Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor