03054cpcaa2200409 4500 mm 98096357 DLC 20260227111727.0 cr ||||||||||| 980804i19341948xxu eng mm 98096357 DLC DLC DLC dacs ML31 .A4 Amateur hour collection, 1934-1948. Original amateur hour collection, 1934-1948 Major Bowes' original amateur hour collection, 1934-1948 1934-1948. 9 linear ft. (20 boxes, ca. 8,500 items). The Original amateur hour was broadcast on radio from Apr. 1934 until 1945 with Major Edward Bowes as emcee and talent scout. It was revived as a television program with Ted Mack as emcee from Jan. 14, 1948 until Sept. 20, 1970. Primarily over 7000 applications from contestants who appeared on the Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour radio program between 1934 and 1948. A small percentage of the administrative papers dating from the late 1940s and 1950s, as well as materials relating to the Mexican version of the program, La hora internacional del aficionado, are also included. Filed with the contestant applications are letters of introduction, reference letters, and other documents sent by prospective contestants. Applications from conventional performers such as musicians, dancers, singers, and impersonators are the most numerous, but also included are applications from novelty acts such as a human piccolo, a group of hand-standing singers, and a group who played harmonicas with fire extinguishers. Of particular interest are applications from various performers, now well-known, including Teresa Brewer, Stubby Kaye, Robert Merrill, Beverly Sills, and Frank Sinatra. Photographs from the 1940s and 1950s provide a visual record of the show, while correspondence to and from program staff members recount some of the program's business transactions. Scripts, promotional material, and advertising and sponsor documents also are part of the collection. Recordings of radio broadcasts, 1935-1944, and television programs, 1948-1968, are located in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply. Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room. Amateur hour collection, Music Division, Library of Congress. Original amateur hour Sources. Talent shows United States. Bowes, Edward, Major, 1874-1946. Mack, Ted. Brewer, Teresa. Kaye, Stubby. Merrill, Robert, 1917-2004. Sills, Beverly. Sinatra, Frank, 1915-1998. Finding aid http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu004002 44508 44508