Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Charla DelaCuadra.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Prints and Ephemera
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© January 2020
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.


Overview of the Collection

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.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

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.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Collection of Entertainment: Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

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.

Background

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.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Scope and Content

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

Arrangement

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)

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

Genres

Advertisements.
Chromolithographs.
Ephemera.
Engravings.
Invitations.
Lithographs.
Posters.
Printed ephemera.
Prints.
Programs.
Promotional materials.
Relief prints.
Tickets.
Trade cards.

Subjects

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.


 

Series I. Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera (small size) approximately 1840-1940 (bulk 1880-1900)

Physical Description: approximately 135 items in 1 binder and 1 flat-top box

Arrangement

Items smaller than 8 x 10 inches are housed in binders. These items are grouped by celebration and then by society, organization, or business.
Items that are between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size are sleeved and arranged numerically by call number in folders in one box, and have been fully cataloged. These items are described in the following format:
  • Title of print. Date
  • Artist(s) (when known). Printer(s). Publisher(s).
Binder  1

Balls and Carnivals (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)

Physical Description: approximately 115 items
Box  1

Balls and Carnivals (between 8 x 10 inches inches and 11 x 14 inches in size)

Physical Description: 21 items

Note

Items in this box have been fully cataloged and are listed below.
 

 priJLC_ENT_003852  Official programme Baltimore Oriole Festival. ©1883

Printers: A. Hoen & Co.
 

 priJLC_ENT_003853  [Invitation with images from Shakespeare plays]. approximately 1880-1900

Printers: Appel, F.
 

 priJLC_ENT_003854  Knights of Momus dum vivimus vivamus. 1875

Printers: A. Hoen & Co.
 

 priJLC_ENT_003855  Rex 1881. 1881

 

 priJLC_ENT_003856  Grand dress fancy dress and military ball of the Continental Guards. 1881

Printers: M.F. Dunn & Bro.
 

 priJLC_ENT_003857  1882 Rex. 1882

 

 priJLC_ENT_003858  1888 : Krewe of Proteus. 1888

 

 priJLC_ENT_003859  Tuesday 14th 1888 Royal Opera House Rex 1888. 1888

 

 priJLC_ENT_003860  The Priests of Pallas invite you to be present at their grand ball at Kansas City ... 1888

Printers: Gast Lithograph & Engraving Company
 

 priJLC_ENT_003861  March 5th 1889 : Rex 1889. 1889

 

 priJLC_ENT_003862  Veiled Prophet October 8th 1889. 1889

Printers: Appel, F.
 

 priJLC_ENT_003863  Krewe of Proteus 1890. 1890

 

 priJLC_ENT_003864  Rex 1890. 1890

 

 priJLC_ENT_003865  "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men" Solon Oct. 7. 1890. 1890

 

 priJLC_ENT_003866  1891 The Atlanteans request the pleasure of your presence at their inaugural ball and tableaux ... 1891

 

 priJLC_ENT_003867  The Priests of Pallas desire the pleasure of your presence in Kansas City, October third, eighteen hundred and ninety-four. 1894

 

 priJLC_ENT_003868  Mistick Krewe of Comus. French Opera House, Shrove-Tuesday March 2nd 1897- 40th anniversary. 1897

 

 priJLC_ENT_005312  Rex 1879. 1879

 

 priJLC_ENT_005313  Rex 1884. 1884

 

 priJLC_ENT_005314  Twenty first command. 1898

 

 priJLC_ENT_005315  Official programme Oriole festival. 1882

Printers: A. Hoen & Co.
 

Series II. Balls and Carnivals Prints and Ephemera (large size) 1869-1916

Physical Description: 13 items

Arrangement

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).
priJLC_ENT_001374

Third annual prize masque carnival and mardigras : Board of Trade Clerks M.B. Association ... approximately 1892

priJLC_ENT_001690

Subject: Pinocchio, the tale of the marionette : pageant of Knights of Momus New Orleans March 2nd, 1916. 1916

Printers: Walle & Co. Publishers: Walle & Co.
priJLC_ENT_001693

Carnival edition of the Picayune March 9th 1886 : Krewe of Proteus procession subject visions of other worlds. 1886

Printers: T. Fitzwilliams & Co.
priJLC_ENT_002327

Carnival edition. Pageant of Mystick Krewe of Comus. Subject: Mahomet 1910 New Orleans, February 8th. 1910

Printers: Walle & Co. Publishers: Walle & Co.
priJLC_ENT_002372

Feb. 19th.. 1880. Madison Square Garden : Arion : masquerade ball ... 1880

Printers: Neuman & Dinglinger
priJLC_ENT_004736

La coterie carnival academy of music, Philadelphia. Monday January 11th 1869. 1869

Printers: Haehnlen, Jacob, 1824-
priJLC_ENT_004737

The famous Albert Lea route ... St. Paul ice palace King Borealis & winter carnival. ©1887 ; 1888

Printers: Pioneer Press Co. (Saint Paul, Minn.)
priJLC_ENT_004738

The carnival edition of the Times-Democrat 1886 Shrove Tuesday, March 9th 1886 subject and pageant of Rex the king of the carnival. 1886

Printers: M.F. Dunn & Bro.
priJLC_ENT_004739

Carnival edition of the Picayune New Orleans La. February 29th 1892 Proteus procession subject a dream of the vegetable kingdom. 1892

Printers: T. Fitzwilliams & Co.
priJLC_ENT_004740

Carnival edition of the Picayune 1892 procession of the mistick krewe of Comus subject Nippon the land of the rising sun. 1892

Printers: T. Fitzwilliams & Co.
priJLC_ENT_004741

Carnival edition of the Picayune March 1, 1892 Rex procession subject symbolism of colors. 1892

Printers: T. Fitzwilliams & Co.
priJLC_ENT_004742

The Picayune carnival edition February 13th New Orleans, La. procession of Proteus subject the Kalevala. 1893

Printers: T. Fitzwilliams & Co.
priJLC_ENT_004743

1893 carnival edition of the Picayune February 14th Rex New Orleans procession of Rex subject fantasies. 1893

Printers: T. Fitzwilliams & Co.