Fanchon and Marco collection of photographs and ephemera | Collections | The Huntington

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Visual Materials

Fanchon and Marco collection of photographs and ephemera

Description

The Fanchon & Marco collection contains approximately 1400 photographs depicting hundreds of Fanchon and Marco Inc. sets and performers between approximately 1925 and 1938. The collection also includes three boxes of ephemera, dated from around 1912 to 1940, that consist of newspapers clippings, scrapbooks of clippings, musical scores, miscellaneous photographs, and the supplemental press books that were included with Fanchon & Marco's promotional magazine, Now (later The Idea), dating from 1930 and 1931.

The 16 volumes (now disbound) of photographs in this collection served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco sets and performers. The images document the actors, dancers, costumes, sets, and concepts and appear to have been primarily photographed during rehearsals before the shows premiered in Los Angeles theaters such as Loew's State Theater and the Paramount Theater. The first volume contains some photographs presumably taken in San Francisco and later volumes include a few photographs by New York-based photographers.

Accompanying descriptive information is scant with few performers identified by name. A typescript inventory with Idea titles precedes volumes 1-8. The production name appears in pencil on the back of many of the pages in Volumes 1-12. Volume 13 contains stage and lighting directions in typescript on the backs of some photographs.

Photographers represented in the collection are: Archer's Art Shop of Los Angeles (Volume 6, 8, 11, 13); Hollywood photographers Irving Archer (Volume 12, 13, 14), Archer's Studios (Volume 8, 11, 13, 14); Curt Fox (Volumes 5-6); Paralta Studios (Volumes 2-4); and Harry Wenger (Volumes 1, 2-4, 6). A few photographs include the imprints of Peerless Photo of Los Angeles (Volume 13), John Sirgio (Volume 13), H.W. Steward of San Francisco (Volume 1), Talbot of New York (Volume 12), Weaver of Los Angeles (Volume 1), and White Studio of New York (Volume 9).

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Fanchon & Marco, Volume 16
Visual Materials
29 album pages, each with thirty-six or more thumbnail photographs per page, depicting sets, performers, and concepts from live variety stage shows performed before feature films. These shows, known as "Ideas," were produced by the Los Angeles-based theatrical production team of Fanchon and Marco. The photographs document stages, often with ornate set designs, rehearsals, dance and musical numbers, costumes, and group and single portraits of dancers, musicians, and actors for shows performed from the late 1920s to the 1930s. The photographs were originally housed in a custom binder and comprise volume 16 of a 16-volume set that served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco performances. The thumbnails appear primarily to duplicate images found in the other volumes, in reverse order, with the last thumbnails on page 29 corresponding to the Circus images on page 97 of photCL 487 vol 2, and earlier pages corresponding to later volumes. The volume duplicates the images found in pages 1-29 of photCL 487 vol 15.
photCL 487
Fanchon & Marco, Volume 15
Visual Materials
29 album pages, each with thirty-six or more thumbnail photographs per page, depicting sets, performers, and concepts from live variety stage shows performed before feature films. These shows, known as "Ideas," were produced by the Los Angeles-based theatrical production team of Fanchon and Marco. The photographs document stages, often with ornate set designs, rehearsals, dance and musical numbers, costumes, and group and single portraits of dancers, musicians, and actors for shows performed from the late 1920s to the 1930s. The volume also includes a laid-in 8x 10" still from the film "Millions in the Air" (page 30). The photographs were originally housed in a custom binder and comprise volume 15 of a 16-volume set that served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco performances. The thumbnails appear primarily to duplicate images found in the other volumes, in reverse order, with the last thumbnails on page 29 corresponding to the Circus images on page 97 of photCL 487 vol 2, and earlier pages corresponding to later volumes. The volume duplicates the images found in pages 1-29 of photCL 487 vol 16.
photCL 487
Fanchon & Marco, Volume 3
Visual Materials
103 album pages, each with four photographs per page, depicting sets, performers, and concepts from live variety stage shows performed before feature films. These shows, known as "Ideas," were produced by the Los Angeles-based theatrical production team of Fanchon and Marco. The photographs document stages, often with ornate set designs, rehearsals, dance and musical numbers, costumes, and group and single portraits of dancers, musicians, and actors for shows performed around 1929. There is also one 8 x 10 inch group portrait of individuals including Fanchon Wolff and Marco Wolff, photCL 487 vol 3 (103). Identified photographers include Harry Wenger and Paralta of Los Angeles. The photographs were originally housed in a custom binder and comprise volume 3 of a 16-volume set that served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco performances.
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Fanchon & Marco, Volume 1
Visual Materials
114 album pages, each with four photographs per page, depicting sets, performers, and concepts from live variety stage shows performed before feature films. These shows, known as "Ideas" were produced by the Los Angeles-based theatrical production team of Fanchon and Marco. The photographs document stages, often with ornate set designs, rehearsals, dance and musical numbers, costumes, and group and single portraits of dancers, musicians, and actors for shows performed from approximately 1924 to 1928. Identified photographers include Harry Wenger and Weaver of Los Angeles and H.W. Steward of San Francisco. The photographs were originally housed in a custom binder and comprise volume 1 of a 16-volume set that served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco performances.
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Fanchon & Marco, Volume 5
Visual Materials
58 album pages, each with four photographs per page, depicting sets, performers, and concepts from live variety stage shows performed before feature films. These shows, known as "Ideas," were produced by the Los Angeles-based theatrical production team of Fanchon and Marco. The photographs document stages, often with ornate set designs, rehearsals, dance and musical numbers, costumes, and group and single portraits of dancers, musicians, and actors for shows performed from approximately 1930 to 1931. Pages 1-39 contain four images per page; Pages 40-58 contain one image per page. Many of the photographs include the imprint of photographer Curt Fox of Hollywood, California. The photographs were originally housed in a custom binder and comprise volume 5 of a 16-volume set that served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco performances.
photCL 487
Fanchon & Marco, Volume 7
Visual Materials
76 album pages, each containing an 8 x 10-inch photograph depicting sets, performers, and concepts from live variety stage shows performed before feature films. These shows, known as "Ideas," were produced by the Los Angeles-based theatrical production team of Fanchon and Marco. The photographs document stages, often with ornate set designs, rehearsals, dance and musical numbers, costumes, and group and single portraits of dancers, musicians, and actors for shows performed from around 1931. No photographers are identified in this volume. The photographs were originally housed in a custom binder and comprise volume 7 of a 16-volume set that served as a visual inventory for hundreds of Fanchon & Marco performances.
photCL 487