| Dates: | 1906-1953 |
| Size: | .25 linear feet in 1 box |
| Repository: | Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, 400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL 60605 |
| Collection Number: | spe.ctc-mmp |
| Immediate source of acquisition: | Materials found in collection; no documentation concerning the provenance of these materials exists. |
| Conditions governing use: | Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection |
| Conditions governing access: | Materials are open without restrictions |
| Preferred citation: | When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Max Maier Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections, Chicago Public Library |
| Finding aid author: | Original author unknown. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Sarah Zimmerman, 2021. |
Abstract
In 1947 Max Maier exhibited his collection of Chicago playbills, programs and scrapbooks at the Chicago Public Library. A Chicago native, Maier was a contributor to the Chicago Tribune “Line O’ Type” column and an avid theater-goer. This collection documents the exhibit through photographs and clippings, as well as contains several examples of Maier’s correspondence.
Biographical/Historical
In 1947 Max Maier (1872-1958) exhibited his collection of Chicago playbills, programs and scrapbooks at the Chicago Public Library. A Chicago native and avid theatre-goer, Maier was a contributor to the Chicago Tribune “Line O’ Type” column, writing under the name Max of the Second Gallery. In the last 10 years of his life he was registrar of the Greer School of Automotive Engineering.
Scope and Content
The collection documents Maier’s 1947 exhibit at CPL through photographs and clippings, as well as contains several examples of Maier’s correspondence, including a letter from Trixie Friganza. There is one folder of material from Frances Braasch of 5164 W. Montrose Avenue. These items relate to Minna Bobene (or Minna Kraftthefer) at 205 Evanston Avenue and include a postcard from Countess Olga Von Hatzfeldt, stationery from Ned Wayburn’s Jockey Club and a receipt from Chicago Musical College signed by Florenz Ziegfeld, Sr. The letter from Frances Braasch indicates her father’s ‘people’ were with the Stock Company at the Bismark Gardens.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by topic. Materials from France Braasch are at the end of the collection in folder 14.
Related Collections
- Chicago Theater Collection-Historical Scrapbooks
- Chicago Theater Collection-Historical Programs
- Scrapbook of a Matinee Girl
Subject Headings
- Maier, Max – Archives
- Maier, Max – Correspondence
- Friganza, Trixie, 1870-1955 – Correspondence
- Braasch, Frances – Archives
- Theater – Illinois – Chicago – 20th century – Sources
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Theater programs
- Personal correspondence
Collection Inventory
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | Clippings from Maier’s collection, 1902, 1950, undated |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | Clippings from ‘A Line O’ Type’, circa 1940s, undated |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | Clippings from ‘The Theatre of Forty Years Ago’ exhibit at Chicago Public Library, 1947 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | Correspondence, 1915, 1950, 1953, undated |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | Index to a scrapbook (whereabouts unknown), circa 1895-1947 |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 | Program from At the World’s Mercy at the Criterion, 1906 |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 | Program from Orpheum - Vaudeville, 1907 |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 | Program from Julius Caesar at the Erlanger, 1938 March 7 |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 | Program from You Can’t Take it With You at the Harris, 1937 January 2 |
| Box 1 | Folder 10 | Program from You Never Know at the Grand Opera House, 1938 June 21 |
| Box 1 | Folder 11 | Program from The Sea Gull at the Erlanger, 1939 January 9 |
| Box 1 | Folder 12 | Programs - not Chicago, 1901, 1906 |
| Box 1 | Folder 13 | Photographs of Maier’s theater collection (6), undated |
| Box 1 | Folder 14 | Theater-related ephemera from Frances Braasch (10 items), 1869-1911 |
