TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents
Restrictions
Index Terms
Related Material
Administrative Information
Description of Series
Business files
Personal files
Oversize material
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A Guide to the Robert and Helen Oswald Papers,
1917-1930
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Creator: |
Oswald, Robert and Helen
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Title: |
Robert and Helen Oswald
Papers |
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Dates: |
1917-1930 |
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Abstract: |
Business and personal
files document the lives of Robert and Helen Oswald, partners in a comedy
troupe that performed in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. |
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Accession No.: |
2001-199, 2002-134 |
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Extent: |
9 in. |
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Laguage: |
Materials are
written in English. |
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Repository: |
Center for American History,The
University of Texas at Austin |
Robert Oswald (1892-1948) and his wife
Helen Oswald partnered with Jess and Irene Myers to form the Myers' and
Oswald's Comedy Players. The comedy players performed in theatres and tent
theatres in small towns and small farming and ranching communities throughout
the south including Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma in the 1920's. The
duo worked for the J. Doug Morgan Tent Show. Typically, shows featured a
three-act comedy interspersed with vaudeville. The Myers and Oswald's Comedy
Player's frequently featured The Peek-A-Boo Girls, a vaudeville style show
featuring Helen Oswald and Irene Myers.
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Photo albums, business records, comedy
material, financial records, advertisements, programs, correspondence, legal
files, photographs, and a postcard document the lives of Robert and Helen
Oswald. The collection is divided into business and personal files. In the
business files the couples' schedule is recorded in a date book and a schedule
of appearances. Financial records include receipts and an expense book of the
comedy troupe. The papers include advertisements of the Myers' and Oswald's
Comedy Players, including a postcard of the Peek-A-Boo Girls. Newspaper
clippings provide show reviews and an obituary of a fellow comedian. The
original material includes songs, poems, monologues, plays, jokes, and sketches
used in their routine. Dance steps are recorded that were used in the shows.
The couples' personal files include photographs, automobile purchases, and
legal files including birth, baptism, and death certificates.
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Use Restrictions
Unrestricted access.
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Meyers, Irene |
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Meyers, Jess |
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Oswald, Helen |
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Oswald, Robert |
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Vaudeville Theatre |
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Vaudeville United States
Twentieth Century |
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Theater--Kansas--History |
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Theater--Missouri--History |
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Theater--Oklahoma--History |
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Theater--Texas--History |
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Robert and Helen Oswald Papers,
1917-1930, the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
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Business files
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| box |
| 3H128 |
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Business correspondence,
1923-1935 |
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Letterhead,
undated |
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Scheduling
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Date book,
1924-1925 |
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Schedule of appearances,
1912-1930 |
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Financial records
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Business receipts,
1924-1930 |
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Expense books,
1924 and undated |
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Advertising
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Advertisements,
undated |
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Newspaper advertisements,
undated |
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Newspaper clippings,
undated |
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Postcard of the Peek-A-Boo Girls,
undated |
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Theatre tickets and programs
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Myers and Oswald's Comedy Players Tickets,
undated |
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Liberty Theatre Programs,
undated |
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Myers and Oswald's Peek-A-Boo Girls American Theatre
programs,
undated |
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Comedy material
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Published material
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Comic strip,
undated |
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Hillbilly Courtship by
Austin Goetz,
1936 |
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Humorous Incidents, undated |
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Original material
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Jokes
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Minstrel gag,
undated |
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Quartette gag titles,
undated |
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Letters
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Humorous letter,
undated |
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"Family Troubles," undated |
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Plays
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"My Jim," undated |
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Poems
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It Might Have Been
Worse, undated |
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Cuddle Up, undated |
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Monologues
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"The 11:69, " undated |
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"Blackface
Monologue," undated |
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"Darling Nellie
Gray," undated |
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"The German
Senator," undated |
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"Queek on De Draw
Goldberg," 1929 |
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"You Can't Do It,"
incomplete,
undated |
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Songs
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Song titles,
undated |
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"Minstrel Song," undated |
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"Old Uncle Ned," undated |
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"White-Light Cafe," undated |
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Dance steps,
undated |
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Sketches,
undated |
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Personal files
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Legal files
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Petition to place on record a birth not previously
recorded for Robert Oswald, photocopy,
1892 |
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Mary Helen Lavell's certificate of Baptism, photocopy,
1942 |
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Death certificates of Robert and Helen Oswald,
photocopy,
1948, 1981 |
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Automobile
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Application for automobile license,
1929 |
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Chattle Mortgage, automobile loan and payment receipts,
1925-1928 |
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Memorandum of insurance coverage,
August 15, 1924 |
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Personal receipts,
1917-1929 |
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Photograph album, photocopies,
undated |
| box |
| 3H136 |
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Photograph album, photocopies, with some identification,
undated |
| box |
| 3S249.3 |
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Photograph album,
undated |
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Photographs, Irene and Jess Meyers and unidentified
photos,
undated |
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Oversize material
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| box |
| 3S129a |
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"War on Fun," Deandi
Theatre Flyer,
undated |
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