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Creator
Dougall, Bernard, 1908-1972
Call number
*T-Mss 2001-077
Physical description
2.1 linear feet (5 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Bernard Dougall scripts, *T-Mss 2001-077. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
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Bernard Dougall (1908-1972) was a radio scriptwriter. The Bernard Dougall scripts date from 1932 to 1966, and predominantly document his work on the 1930s popular radio program Maxwell House Show Boat.

Biographical/historical information

Bernard Dougall (1908-1972) was a radio scriptwriter. During the 1930s, at the height of scripted programming on radio in the United States, Dougall wrote for one of the most popular shows, Maxwell House Show Boat (1931). Show Boat was a one-hour, weekly entertainment program sponsored by Maxwell House Coffee. Dougall also wrote for the Hearst Corporation’s Front Page Drama (1942) and The Adventures of Jungle Jim (1945), two promotional programs for The American Weekly and The Comic Weekly respectively.

Scope and arrangement

The Bernard Dougall scripts date from 1932 to 1966 (bulk dates 1930s) and document his work as a radio scriptwriter.

The bulk of the scripts are from the Maxwell House Show Boat (1931) program. The cover sheets to these scripts carry the letterhead of Benton and Bowles, Inc. and include the client’s name (General Foods Corporation), the program name (Maxwell House Show Boat), and the name of the product (Maxell House Coffee). There are a few scripts for episodes between 1932 and 1934, but a more comprehensive run of the weekly series dates from 1935 to July 1936. There is also a Universal Productions, Inc. Show Boat script. Dougall is not credited within that script, so he may have merely used it for reference.

The collection also includes scripts, and a of couple letters from other programs, such as Front Page Drama (1942), The Adventures of Jungle Jim (1945), Mary Small’s Junior Review (1937), and Palmolive Beauty Box Theatre (1935).

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by file title.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Linda Seifert, 2013

Processing information

Compiled by Joyce Joseph, 2015

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre 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

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Theatre Division at theatre@nypl.org.