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Columbia Amusement Co. records
2545
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library
Title: Columbia Amusement Co. records
Creator:
Columbia Amusement Co.
Identifier/Call Number: 2545
Physical Description:
0.03 Linear Feet
2 folders
Date (inclusive): 1908-1921
Date: 1957
Abstract: This collection is composed of business records and clippings related to the operation of Columbia Amusement Co. Santa Rosa,
CA theaters.
Language of Material:
English.
Container: 1
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.
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.
Advance notice required for access.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased by USC in 1957 for $300 from Howard Hein.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Columbia Amusement Co. records, Collection no. 2545, Cinematic Arts Library, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Collection is unprocessed.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Administrative records
Business correspondence
Business records
California -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Clippings
Columbia Amusement Co. -- Archive