Art Linkletter Collection MS-0391
Ellen E. Jarosz
Special Collections & University Archives
12/10/2007
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA 92182-8050
askscua@sdsu.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & University Archives
Title: Art Linkletter Collection
Creator:
Linkletter, Art (Arthur Gordon Linkletter)
Identifier/Call Number: MS-0391
Physical Description:
16.78 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1940-2005
Date (bulk): 1960-1979
Language of Material:
English
.
Scope and Contents
The
Linkletter Collection documents Linkletter's professional career as a radio and television personality, author, and public figure. The papers date
from approximately 1940-2005, with the bulk of documents created in the 1960s and 1970s. The collection consists of subject
files, scrapbooks, photographs, and memorabilia, and includes items in several differing media. The collection is divided
into five series:
Subject Files,
Scrapbooks,
Photographs,
Memorabilia, and
Media. The
Memorabilia series includes three sub-series:
General,
Keys to Cities, and
Plaques and Certificates. Aside from select recordings and highlight reels, the collection does not include the recordings of Linkletter's
House Party radio and television series. Inquiries regarding the recordings of these programs should be addressed to the original production
company or distributor: CBS (1952-1969), NBC (1969-1970), Screen Gems Television (1952-1970), or John Guedel Productions.
The
Subject Files are arranged alphabetically by file title, and date from 1939-2005. These files document numerous television and radio programs
that Art Linkletter was involved with, including
The Art of Positive Thinking,
House Party, and
People are Funny, as well as other projects he involved himself in throughout his career. The series contains few records from Linkletter's
very early career, or from his very late career, but is strong in documenting the middle of his career. The series includes
scripts, teleplays, all correspondence in the collection, some marketing and promotional materials, and press clippings.
The
Scrapbooks document Linkletter's advertising career, and the interaction between Linkletter, his family, and the media. One scrapbook
documents Linkletter's anti-drug work, consisting of letters written to Mr. Linkletter from elementary school children in
Appleton, Wisconsin, thanking Mr. Linkletter for speaking at their school. The scrapbooks are arranged numerically by scrapbook
number.
The
Photographs document Mr. Linkletter's varied career, including images of him shooting television specials with children, with Ronald
Reagan, or Richard Nixon, and appearing on
Great American Game Show. Most of the images are undated, and most individuals are unidentified.
The
Memorabilia are arranged in three separate sub-series:
General,
Keys to Cities, and
Plaques and Certificates. The
General Memorabilia sub-series documents Linkletter's involvement in numerous community events, including the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and
Friars Club. The
Keys to Cities sub-series includes keys Linkletter was gifted from large and small cities and towns across the United States, and the
Plaques and Certificates subseries includes numerous awards, certificates, plaques, honorary degrees, and other special recognition Linkletter received
over his long career.
The
Media series includes materials in various non-paper-based media. Several LPs, as well as books on tape and DVD's are included
which document several of Linkletter's television, radio, and film performances throughout his career, as well as his subsequent
career as a writer.
Arrangement Note
I. Subject Files, 1939-2005
II. Scrapbooks
III. Photographs
IV. Memorabilia
1. General
2. Keys to Cities
3. Plaques and Certificates
V. Media
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Source of Acquisition
Art Linkletter
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Art Linkletter Collection, Special Collections and University Archives,
San Diego State University Library.
Biographical Note
Arthur Gordon Linkletter was born July 17, 1912, in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan. He was abandoned by his parents immediately after
his birth, and adopted as an infant. He moved to Lowell, Massachusetts with his adoptive parents, and then migrated to California
at the age of three. Linkletter attended high school in San Diego, where he was a star basketball player and swimmer. He
graduated when he was 15, and subsequently spent 3 years drifting from state to state, working as a bus boy, meatpacker, and
sailor until he was 18 years old. In 1930 he returned to California to attend San Diego State College. He participated in
a wide number of extracurricular and athletic activities while at State, and graduated in 1934 with degrees in English and
Psychology.
KGB, a local radio station, offered Linkletter a job as a radio announcer during his junior year at San Diego State. During
the 1930s he participated in hundreds of radio programs, including one of the nation's first man-in-the-street programs, which
in turn led to one of the first live audience shows in radio. He was eventually promoted to Chief Announcer at KGB, and in
1942 decided to move to Hollywood and explore other opportunities in the radio and entertainment industries. While there he
met John Guedal, with whom he partnered to create two of radio's most memorable and popular productions –
House Party and
People Are Funny.
In the early 1950s Art Linkletter adapted both
House Party and
People Are Funny to the small screen, thus embracing the new medium of television, while continuing to air the programs on the radio.
House Party ran on CBS for 25 years, and
People are Funny aired on NBC for 19 years. Throughout these years he created several hare-brained audience participation shows, including
Inside Beverly Hills (1955) and
The Art Linkletter Show (1961). He was especially adept at interviewing children, whose unrehearsed and sometimes painfully honest remarks formed
the basis of several popular shows including the television adaptations of
House Party and
People are Funny. These long-standing stints on radio and television have given Linkletter a trustworthy, easygoing, and honest image, which
has made him an ideal spokesman for a variety of consumer products including breakfast cereals, canned foods, tobacco, and
even new neighborhoods in suburbs across America.
Throughout his career, Linkletter has published books, articles, websites, and speeches on various subjects. He has written
over 26 different books, the first of which appeared in 1947 and is eponymous with his most popular show,
People Are Funny. His more recent interest in senior health and well-being prompted the book,
Old Age is Not For Sissies, which was published in 1988. He has published two autobiographies,
Confessions of a Happy Man (1960) and
I Didn't Do It Alone (1980). Linkletter's most popular book,
Kids Say the Darndest Things, has illustrations drawn by Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoons.
Art Linkletter is often referred to as "America's Grandfather" and is renowned and trusted for his work with children because
of the carefully constructed questions and lighthearted interviewing style that endeared him to many Americans during his
long career in show business. His own family began with his marriage to Lois Foerster in 1935. Linkletter always credits his
family (which now includes 8 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren) as the primary joy of his life. He and his family have
borne tragedy with the premature deaths of two of his children. His daughter's death in 1969 prompted him to begin national
and international dialog about the reasons for drug use and abuse in our everyday lives.
Linkletter sat on the boards of directors for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Western Airlines, and Kaiser Hospitals. In 1979 he served
on the President's National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse Prevention, the Presidential Commission to Improve Reading in
the US, the National Coordinating Council on Drug Abuse Education and Information, was the Ambassador of Goodwill Abroad for
the US Department of Commerce, and a member of the US National Commission for UNESCO.
Later in life, Linkletter owned and ran at least eight businesses, built and managed public storehouses, office buildings,
livestock operations, real estate development, and cattle and sheep stations in Australia. Linkletter Oil Enterprises has
operated throughout South America and the US. He sat on the YMCA's board of directors, the Boy Scouts of America's public
relations committee, chaired the John Douglas French Foundation for Alzheimer's Disease board, and served as the United Seniors
Association's National Spokesman. He passed away in 2010.
Accruals
2005-020
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audio Recordings
Personal Papers
Photographs
Video Recordings
Entertainers--United States--Biography--Sources
Radio programs--United States
Television programs--United States
Cable, John Rufus--Mental health
Linkletter, Art, 1912--Archives
San Diego State University--Alumni and alumnae--Biography--Sources
box 1, folder 2
America: Cavalcade of a Nation Folder 2
September 1940
box 1, folder 3
Art of Positive Thinking Folder 3
1978-1979
box 1, folder 4
Positive Thinking - Distributors Folder 4
box 1, folder 5
Positive Thinking 1980 Demo Copy and 1981 Fact Sheet Folder 5
1980, 1981
box 1, folder 6
Art of Positive Thinking Index/Cues Folder 6
box 1, folder 7
Art of Positive Thinking Scripts Masters Folder 7
box 1, folder 8
Art of Positive Thinking Scripts Masters Folder 8
box 1, folder 9
Art of Positive Thinking Program Titles Folder 9
box 1, folder 10
Art of Positive Thinking Week 1-27 Folder 10
box 1, folder 11
Art of Positive Thinking Scripts Week 1-16 Folder 11
box 1, folder 12
Art of Positive Thinking Scripts Week 17-28 Folder 12
box 1, folder 13
Art of Positive Thinking Scripts Week 29-39 Folder 13
box 1, folder 14
Art of Positive Thinking Week 40-52 Folder 14
box 2, folder 1
Australian Bicentennial Folder 1
box 2, folder 2
General Electric (GE) Theatre - Badge of Honor Folder 2
box 2, folder 3
Calendar of Art's little links Folder 3
1980
box 2, folder 4
Cavalcade of the Golden West Script Folder 4
box 2, folder 5
Closing Day Ceremonies on Treasure Island Folder 5
box 2, folder 6
Correspondence and miscellaneous documents Folder 6
January 1989 - May 1989
box 2, folder 8
Father of the Bride - Play Folder 8
box 2, folder 10
Hello, Australia Hello, New Zealand Folder 10
box 2, folder 11
Hollywood Reporter Folder 11
box 2, folder 13
General Electric House Party Folder 13
box 2, folder 14
House Party Program Promotion Folder 14
Fall 1953
box 2, folder 15
Income tax return Folder 15
box 2, folder 16
KECA (radio station) dedication Folder 16
box 2, folder 18
Kids are Funny: Chevy Special Folder 18
box 2, folder 19
Kids Say the Darndest Things! Folder 19
box 2, folder 20
Kids Say the Darndest Things! Folder 20
box 2, folder 21
Linkletter on Success, Happiness & Positive Thinking Folder 21
box 2, folder 22
"Look Who's Here" Folder 22
box 3, folder 4
Newspaper Clipping Folder 4
box 3, folder 6
People are Funny Folder 6
box 3, folder 10
Radio/Wagon Train Folder 10
box 3, folder 11
Screen Actors Guild Folder 11
box 3, folder 12
Shell Comes to the Party Folder 12
box 3, folder 13
Sierra Dawn Estates Folder 13
box 3, folder 14
TIME - 1951 Year in Review Folder 14
2001
box 3, folder 15
The Tommy Dorsey Show Folder 15
box 3, folder 16
Treasure Island Folder 16
box 3, folder 17
Turning Scars into Stars Folder 17
box 3, folder 18
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Folder 18
box 3, folder 19
Miss Western America Folder 19
box 3, folder 20
Album with Hour of Power Folder 20
box 3, folder 22
Appleton, Wisconsin Folder 22
box 4, folder 2
Scrapbook 2, loose materials Folder 2
box 4, folder 3
Copies of Scrapbook 4 Folder 3
box 5, item 1
Aborigines reacting to the sprinkler system at Anna Plains Item 1
box 5, item 2
"No damper like that at the Waldorf, mate!" Item 2
box 5, item 3
New Year's Eve party in Esperance wool shed Item 3
box 5, item 4
John Hagon's truck going to Esperance Item 4
box 5, item 5
Serious Sketch - Anna Plains Homestead Item 5
box 5, item 6
Progress on the eighty mile beach Item 6
box 5, item 7
Head shearer entering personal limousine at Esperance Item 7
box 5, item 8
"Chucks us out when the cheques cut out" - shearing crew on bender Item 8
box 5, item 9
Jeep and greyhound pursuing emu Item 9
box 5, item 10
"One kangaroo and a heap of dirt" Item 10
box 5, item 11
Night kangaroo hunt Item 11
box 5, item 12
Emus in the grain field Item 12
box 5, item 14
The rabbit hunter and her dingo Item 14
box 5, item 16
United States plutocrat blowing cigar smoke at Esperance ram Item 16
box 5, item 17
Converting the telegraph line to fence line Item 17
box 5, item 18
Aborigines studying telegraph line Item 18
box 5, item 19
Serious sketch - first school house at Esperance Item 19
box 5, item 20
Formal sketch - entrance to Linkletter's Place Item 20
box 5, item 21
Hagon's original homestead at Esperance - "Does it look like the Rockefeller Estate?" Item 21
box 5, item 22
Broken down tractor and the relaxed driver at Esperance Item 22
box 5, item 23
Two Hollywood Pioneers pursuing the plow and waiting for the seed to come up Item 23
box 5, item 24
Starting the plows at Esperance Item 24
box 5, item 25
Three Aussies and Allan Chase - "you gonna turn this town into a thrivin' metropolis?" Item 25
box 5, item 26
American experts arrive at Anna Plains Item 26
box 5, item 27
Linkletter Cometh Item 27
box 5, item 28
"We're one shy on the fencin' team" Item 28
box 5, item 29
"'ands up all those that want soup!" Item 29
box 5, item 30
Ladie's Dart Night - Junction race Meeting Item 30
box 5, item 31
"People are bloody funny" - Arrival of Hollywood Pioneers at Darwin Item 31
box 5, item 32
Barmaid - "make up your bloody mind!" Item 32
box 5, item 33
Serious sketch of a Northwest Hotel Item 33
box 5, item 34
Chase on Condingup - "There you are Art! That's all yours!" Item 34
box 5, item 35
Esperance Beach - a sketch Item 35
box 5, item 36
Rugby on the Air Field Item 36
box 5, item 38
Art and the DC-3 - "in that" Item 38
box 5, item 40
Low tide at Broome Item 40
box 5, item 42
Mustering '67 (puncher and dog on Italian skooter) Item 42
box 5, item 43
Man under the "bottle" tree Item 43
box 5, item 45
Rice (Machine Gunner - "Go on, just one more grain!" Item 45
box 5, item 46
Rice (Dive Bombing Geese) Item 46
box 5, item 47
Rice (Planter with Buffalo, Croc, and Goose) Item 47
box 5, item 48
Nor-West Waterhole (a serious sketch) Item 48
box 5, item 49
Native animals looking over the fence at the lush fields of Linkletter's Place Item 49
box 6, item 1
Scrapbook: 60 Years of Advertising Item 1
box 7, item 1
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 1
box 7, item 2
Linkletter on phone Item 2
box 7, item 3
Linkletter sitting at a desk Item 3
box 7, item 4
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 4
box 7, item 5
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 5
box 7, item 6
Lois Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 6
box 7, item 7
Linkletter blindfolded with showgirls Item 7
box 7, item 8
Linkletter with Pat Nixon Item 8
box 7, item 9
Linkletter at 1973 Inauguration Item 9
box 7, item 10
Linkletter diving into swimming pool Item 10
box 7, item 11
Linkletter on phone Item 11
box 7, item 12
Linkletter in his older days Item 12
box 7, item 13
Linkletter sitting and posing Item 13
box 7, item 14
Linkletter sitting and posing Item 14
box 7, item 15
Caricature of Linkletter with drama mask Item 15
box 7, item 16
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 16
box 7, item 17
Linkletter with Thomas H. Moorer, Chief of Naval Operations Item 17
box 7, item 18
Linkletter at a meeting Item 18
box 7, item 19
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 19
box 7, item 20
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 20
box 7, item 21
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 21
box 7, item 22
Linkletter with Richard Nixon Item 22
box 8, item 1
Photo of Linkletter and companions at a ski retreat Item 1
box 9, item 1
Grand Marshall Ribbon for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Item 1
Janaury 1, 2003
box 9, item 2
First Place Medal for 55-PLUS Competition Item 2
box 9, item 3
"Linkletter" brand plastic closure bottles (4) Item 3
box 9, item 4
Card for Eaton International Corporation Item 4
box 9, item 5
Pin from Pineville, Louisiana Item 5
box 9, item 6
Badge for Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association Item 6
box 9, item 7
Pin for Grand Marshall of Rose Parade Item 7
2003
box 9, item 8
Membership card for Friar's Club Item 8
box 9, item 9
Art Linkletter Hollywood cards (2 copies) Item 9
box 9, item 10
Presidential Sports Award for Swimming Item 10
box 9, item 11
Mardi Gras tokens (4) Item 11
box 10, item 1
A collection of keys awarded to Linkletter from various cities. Item 1
box 11, item 1
A collection of keys awarded to Linkletter from various cities. Item 1
Plaques and Certificates 3
box 12, item 1
Young Men's Christian Association of Hollywood Certificates of Recognition as a Member of the Handball Team (2) Item 1
June 1947, June 1948
box 12, item 2
"House Party" - 22nd Anniversary of Gateway Arch Item 2
box 12, item 3
Scripps Memorial Hospital - The Mcdonald Center Item 3
January 11, 1984
box 12, item 4
11th Annual Achievement Award for Humanitarian Efforts on Behalf of Alternative Living for the Aging Item 4
June 11, 1992
box 13, item 1
Honorary Citizen Certificate for Dallas, Texas Item 1
May 19, 1988
box 13, item 2
Overseas Flight Certificate Item 2
July 31, 1949
box 13, item 3
NBC Network Certificate for Appointed Honorary Professor at the College of Musical Knowledge Item 3
August 21, 1946
box 13, item 4
Grand Marshal Plaque for the Long Beach Veterans Day Parade Item 4
November 11, 2000
box 13, item 5
Armand Arabian Leaders in Public Servce award Item 5
box 13, item 6
Hearts Across the Valley pioneer award Item 6
February 6, 2004
box 14, item 1
Salvation Army Humanitarian Award Item 1
box 14, item 2
Certificate of Appreciation from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Item 2
August 2001
box 14, item 3
Grand Marshal of the Pacific Palisades Americanism Parade Item 3
July 4, 2002
box 14, item 4
Los Angeles County Award of Honor Item 4
June 1971
box 14, item 5
Special Presenter at the 50th Annual Lulu Awards Show Item 5
April 25, 1996
box 15, item 1
World War II Veterans Committee California Donor Certificate Item 1
2004
box 15, item 2
University of Redlands Citation Item 2
box 15, item 3
Appreciation plaque from SDSU Item 3
item 1
The Disney Legends Award Item 1
2005
box 18, item 1
The Art of Positive Thinking, Service Reel #22 Item 1
box 18, item 2
The Art of Positive Thinking, Service Reel #28 Item 2
box 18, item 3
The Art of Positive Thinking, Service Reel #29 Item 3
box 18, item 4
Art Linkletter, Jack Linkletter, Merv Griffin, 3 Inch Reel Item 4
July 22, 1971
box 18, item 5
Gene Autry's "Merry Texas Christmas, You All!", 10 inch Record Item 5
box 18, item 6
Art Linkletter in "How Jerry Jalopy got his Horn", 10 inch record Item 6
box 18, item 7
Art Linkletter in "Pets are Funny", 10 inch record Item 7
box 18, item 8
Principles for Successful Living, 12 cassette tapes Item 8
box 18, item 9
Interview with Bob Hope - "The Women in My Life"; Interview with Art Linkletter - "The Secret World of Kids", double-sided
12 inch record
Item 9
box 18, item 10
How to Bend a Twig, 12 inch record Item 10
box 18, item 11
Art Linkletter narrates The Bible, 12 inch record Item 11
box 18, item 12
Art Linkletter narrates the story of Where Did You Come From?, 12 inch record Item 12
box 18, item 13
Let's Play Games with Art Linkletter, 12 inch record (2 copies) Item 13
box 18, item 14
Christmas with Art Linkletter, 12 inch record Item 14
box 18, item 15
Request Performance to Art Linkletter, 12 inch record Item 15
box 18, item 16
Linkletter audio recordings on CD Item 16
Scope and Contents
Files:
81yearsold.mov
81yearsold.wav
aging-3ages.mov
aging-3ages.wav
book-kids say.mov
book-kids say.wav
Business.mov
Business.wav
funniest1.mov
funniest1.wav
funniest2.mov
funniest2.wav
SDSU Aging.mov
SDSU Aging.wav
spend_timewithyour_child.mov
spend_timewithyour_child.wav
split1.mov
split1.wav
split2.mov
split2.wav
split3.mov
split3.wav
split4.mov
split4.wav
split5.mov
split5.wav
split6.mov
split6.wav
box 19, item 1
CBS at 75, DVD Item 1
November 2, 2003
box 19, item 2
Kids Say the Darndest Things, Funniest Moments Series Item 2
box 19, item 3
Kids Say the Darndest Things! starring Art Linkletter Item 3
box 19, item 4
Art Linkletter's House Party, 4 Promotion reels and 2 slides Item 4
Fall 1953
box 20, item 1
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 1 Item 1
box 20, item 2
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 2 Item 2
box 20, item 3
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 3 Item 3
box 20, item 4
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 4 Item 4
box 20, item 5
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 5 Item 5
box 20, item 6
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 6 Item 6
box 20, item 7
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 7 Item 7
box 20, item 8
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 8 Item 8
box 20, item 9
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 9 Item 9
box 20, item 10
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 11 Item 10
box 20, item 11
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 13 Item 11
box 20, item 12
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 17 Item 12
box 20, item 13
The Art of Positive Thinking, Reel 18 (2 copies) Item 13
box 21, item 1
The Art of Positive Thinking, Film reel Item 1
Published Works (magazines, books, miscellaneous) VI
