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Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera: Finding
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Title: Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1840-1940
Bulk dates: 1875-1900
Collection Number: priJLC_ENT_Balls
Collector:
Last, Jay T.
Extent:
approximately 150 items
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Prints and Ephemera
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The Jay T. Last Collection of
Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 150 printed items related to social and celebratory
events primarily in the United States from the 1840s to 1940, with the majority of items dating from 1875 to 1900.
The collection consists mainly of color lithographed
invitations, programs, and tickets for various festive occasions including costumed dances and parties, such as Mardi Gras.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on January 22, 2020.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the
researcher.
[Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Graphic Arts and Social History, which was
donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress. The bulk of the balls and carnivals prints and ephemera were transferred to the Library between 2010 and 2014.
The Jay T. Last Collection is an unparalleled archive of printed paper artifacts that documents American lithographic, social,
and business history. The collection began in the early 1970s when
physicist and Silicon Valley pioneer Jay Last moved to Southern California and started collecting citrus box labels he found
at local flea markets and rummage sales. As his collection grew,
Last realized that these labels conveyed important information about commercial printing, graphic design, and social history,
and he expanded his collection to include other forms
of American visual culture. Today this collection contains more than 200,000 lithographic prints, posters, and ephemera of
mostly nineteenth- and early twentieth- century American
origin and represents works by more than five hundred lithographic companies.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Jay T. Last Collection of
Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 150 printed items related to social and celebratory
events primarily in the United States from the 1840s to 1940, with the majority of items dating from 1875 to 1900.
The collection consists mainly of color lithographed
invitations, programs, and tickets for various festive occasions including costumed dances and parties, such as Mardi Gras.
Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more than 11 x 14 inches).
Items smaller than 8 x 10 inches in size are described broadly at the binder level; items larger than 8 x 10
inches in size are fully inventoried and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection includes
over a dozen large-size items comprised mainly of lithographed advertising posters for balls and pageants. Small-size items
number over 100 and contain a variety of materials, including announcements, dance cards, invitations, posters, programs,
and tickets; some items have manuscript text. Many of the invitations are ornately decorated die-cuts with
features like ribbons or elaborate fold-out elements.
Mardi Gras-related items comprise a significant part of the collection, including material from secret Mardi Gras societies
Krewe of Proteus, Knights of Momus, Mystick Krewe of Comus, and Rex. Other social societies like the Priests
of Pallas and the Veiled Prophets are also represented in the collection. While the majority of the material is American,
the collection contains one winter carnival program from Montreal, Canada.
The collection provides a resource for studying the history and evolution of American entertainment in the form of celebrations
and pageantry through much of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
As graphic materials, the prints offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, engravers,
lithographers, printers,
and publishers involved in the creative process.
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Visit the
Huntington Digital Library: Jay T. Last Collection
to view digitized items from this collection.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Circus Prints and Ephemera
- Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Performing Arts Prints and Ephemera
- Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Theatrical Broadsides and Playbills
The collection is arranged in the following 2 series:
- Series I. Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera (small size)
- Series II. Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera (large size)
Items are arranged numerically by call number and described in the following format:
- Title of print. Date
- Artist(s) (when known). Printer(s). Publisher(s)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Advertisements.
Chromolithographs.
Ephemera.
Engravings.
Invitations.
Lithographs.
Posters.
Printed ephemera.
Prints.
Programs.
Promotional materials.
Relief prints.
Tickets.
Trade cards.
Balls (Parties)
Carnival -- Louisiana -- New Orleans.
Carnival -- Pictorial works.
Dancers -- Pictorial works.
Mardi Gras.
Masquerades.
Music -- Societies, etc.
Parades -- Pictorial works.
Parties.
Printer, Publisher, Artist Index
The following is a complete list of printers, publishers, and artists represented in the fully-cataloged items in this collection.
A. Hoen & Co.
Appel, F.
Gast Lithograph & Engraving Company.
Haehnlen, Jacob, 1824-
M.F. Dunn & Bro.
Neuman & Dinglinger.
T. Fitzwilliams & Co.
Walle & Co.