Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Columbia Amusement Co. records
- Dates:
- 1908-1921, 1957
- Creators:
- Columbia Amusement Co.
- Abstract:
- This collection is composed of business records and clippings related to the operation of Columbia Amusement Co. Santa Rosa, CA theaters.
- Containers:
- Box: 1
- Extent:
- 0.03 Linear Feet 2 folders
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder no. or item name], Columbia Amusement Co. records, Collection no. 2545, Cinematic Arts Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection is composed of business records and clippings related to the operation of Columbia Amusement Co. Santa Rosa, CA theaters, the Nickelodeon, Theatrette, and the Columbia Theater. Records detailing monthly expenses, weekly profits, lease and rental agreements, press clippings, and business correspondence with employees at the company's San Francisco office are represented. Also included is the invoice of the sale of the collection to USC.
Originally part of the Ethel Barrymore Memorial Theatre Arts Collection at the University of Southern California Library 100 Series, and was labeled 100-30.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Columbia Amusement Co. was a show business and entertainment organization that produced "clean" burlesque and variety shows that traveled around the United States from 1902 to 1927. Their San Francisco office ran three theaters in the town of Santa Rosa in the neighboring Sonoma County: The Columbia Theater, the Nickelodeon, and Theaterette. The Columbia Theater primarily showcased live performances in their 700-seat theater featuring the Northwestern Theatre Arts Association and offered Vaudeville shows every Saturday and Sunday, while the Nickelodeon and Theaterette continuously showed licensed moving pictures with accompanying music from a phonograph. The population of the town was around 10,000 people at the time after the 1906 Santa Rosa earthquake. A few years after the town recovered people started moving away and the moving pictures no longer flourished as they once had. The Nickelodeon and Theaterette eventually closed while The Columbia Theater was sold in 1916 to the managers of another theater in town, The Rose.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased by USC in 1957 for $300 from Howard Hein.
- Processing information:
-
Collection is unprocessed.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-08-05 16:25:17 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Advance notice required for access.
- Terms of access:
-
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Cinematic Arts Library at ctlibarc@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cinematic Arts Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder no. or item name], Columbia Amusement Co. records, Collection no. 2545, Cinematic Arts Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
- Location of this collection:
-
Cinematic Arts LibraryDoheny Memorial Library, Room G4Los Angeles, CA 90089-0185, US
- Contact:
- (213) 740-8383