Varied Views for a Variety of Visitors
• December 15, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, acquisitions, African American History, Art Basel, Artists, bindings, book art, children's books, Cuba, curator, dance, Disney, displays, Dr. Nicolae Harsanyi, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, French consulate, gifts, graphic designers, library donors, Michelle Oka Doner, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, Orientalism, prohibition, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff, World's fairs
Tags: 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, A. Assus, Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), Al Hirschfeld, Alex Rigorard, All the World's a Stage: The Sketchbooks and Theatrical Designs of Albert Wainwright (Wolfsonian Library installation), André Suréda, Art Basel, Atomium, celebrities, Charles Laborde (1886-1941), collecting cards, Colonies, Cuba, dancers, Daniel Morris, Donald Deskey, ephemera, Expo '58 (Brussels), Exposition coloniale internationale, FIU, FIU Professor Maria Antonieta Garcia, Folies Bergere, France, France's overseas empire, Francis Xavier Luca, French Guiana, French Orientalists, Futurama, Guyane francaise, Harlem Renaissance, Josephine Baker, La Reunion, La Tunisie, LACMA, Louis Antoni, Marco Brambilla, Maurice Bouviolle, movies stars, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey (Mexico), paper toys, Paul Colin (1892-1985), pop-up books, Progressland, Prohibition, revues, Sheet music covers, singers, Sketchbooks, the Charleston (dance), tourism, Walt Disney
From Prohibition and Flappers to New Dealers and the Lunatic Fringe: Wolfsonian Library Collection Highlights
• November 21, 2023 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, Artists, bars, Blue eagle, Cuba, donations, FDR, Federal Art Project (FAP), Federal One, FIU, FIU students, Florida International University, Florida International University students, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, graphic designers, History Department, leftist artists, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, New Deal, New Deal (1933-1939), New Deal era, NRA, postcards, programs, prohibition, promotional materials, rare books and special collections library, The Wolfsonian Library, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: African-Americans, alcoholism, Alfred E. Neuman, beer, bootleggers, Carteles (magazine), Christopher DeNoon, Communists, Conrado Walter Massaguer, Cuba, Demagogues, Eleanor Roosevelt, fans, Father Charles Coughlin (1891-1979), Federal Art Project (FAP), Federal Music Project (FMP), Federal Theatre Project (FTP), Federal Writers' Project (FWP), flappers, Francis Townsend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, gangsters, Gibson Girls, Great Depression, Huey Pierce Long (1893-1935), Jazz Age, Mad magazine mascot, National Recovery Administration, New Deal art, new woman ideal, NRA, postcards, Prohibition (1919-1933), rum runners, sheet music, Sheet music covers, Social (magazine), Socialists, speakeasies, the New Boy, Upton Sinclair, Vicki Gold Levi, Works Progress Administration (WPA), WPA
Afro-Cuban Dance Music in Hollywood and Mexican Movies
• January 28, 2023 • 1 CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, acquisitions, bars, collectors, Cuba, curator, donations, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, graphic designers, museums, posters, promotional materials, Puerto Rico, slums, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" (song), "El Manisero" [The Peanut Vendor] (song), "Patricia" (song), A Century of Progress International Exposition (Chicago: 1933-1934), Abakuá, actresses, Afro-Cuban jazz, Afro-Cuban polyrhythms, Andrea Queeley, Another Thin Man (film: 1939), ballroom dancing, big bands, cabaret dancing, Carole Lombard, cha cha cha, Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (film: 1956), Chano Pozo, Chicago World's Fair (1933/34), conga drums, conga line dancing, Cuba, Cuban exiles, Cuban expatriates, Cuban Revolution of 1933, Cuban Revolution of 1959, dancers, danzón, Desi Arnaz (1917-1986), Desiderio Alberto Arnaz II, Dizzy Gillespie, Dominicans, Don Azpiazú and his Havana Casino Orchestra, El Bar de Hilda, ephemera, Eva Silot-Bravo, film-noirs, Francis Xavier Luca, George Raft, Harlem, Havana (Cuba), Havana-Madrid (nightclub), Holiday in Havana (film : 1949), Hollywood movies, I Love Lucy (television series), Jane Powell, Justo Ángel Azpiazú (1893–1943), La Dolce Vita (film : 1960), Latin jazz, Lawrence Tibbett, Lupe Velez, Luxury Liner (film : 1948), Margo, Matanzas (Cuba), melodramas, Mexican movies, Mexico, music, New York City, Nuyoricans, Pérez Prado, Perez Prado, Puerto Ricans, race, Racial prejudice, racism, Ramona Ajón, reggaeton, René and Estela, René Rivero Guillén, rhumba, Robin Moore, Rock & Roll, Rock Around the Clock (film), rumba, Rumba (film : 1935), rumba dancers, rumberas films, rumberos, salsa, Santiago de Cuba, Sheet music covers, Silvano “Chori” Shueg, singers, slums, solares, soneros, swing, The Beat Goes On (Panel discussion), The Cuban Love Song (film: 1931), Tierra Brava (film : 1938), timbalero, timbaleros, Too Many Girls (film: 1940), Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023), Un Extraño en la Escalera [A Stranger on the Stairs] (film : 1955), Underwater! (film : 1954), Xavier Cugat (1900-1990)
Turning the Beat Around: Spotlight on Xavier Cugat
• November 19, 2022 • 1 CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, acquisitions, collectors, Cuba, curators, dance, donations, exhibitions, Florida International University, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, interns, library donors, museums, photography, rare books and special collections library, restaurants, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: A Date With Judy (1948), Abbe Lane (singer and actress), Afro-Cuban music, album covers, bandleaders, Bathing Beauty (1944), Cafe Trocadero (dinner club), caricatures, caricaturists, Carmen Castillo, Casa Cugat (dinner club), Catalonia, cha cha cha, Charlie Chaplin, Charo (singer), Chicago Syndicate (1955), chihuahuas, classical violin, Cocoanut Grove (nightclub), conga, conga drums, Conga-land (songbook), Conrado Walter Massaguer, Cuba, Cuban bandleaders, Cuban musicians, Desi Arnaz (1917-1986), El Grafico (magazine), Enrico Caruso, Entertainers, female musicians, Francis Xavier Luca, George Raft, Go West Young Man (film: 1936), Holiday in Mexico (1946), Hollywood, In Gay Madrid (film: 1930), Lorraine Allen, Los Angeles, Luxury Liner (1948), mambo, Margo (dancer), Miguelito Valdés, musicians, My Sister Eileen (film: 1942), Neptune's Daughter (1949), New York City, On an Island With You (1948), Orquesta Sinfónica del Teatro Nacional (Havana), photographs, Rosalind Russell, rumba, Rumba (film : 1935), Rumba Is My Life (autobiography), Sheet music covers, singers, Starlight Roof (Waldorf-Astoria Hotel), Ten Cents a Dance (film: 1931), The Gigalos (septet), The Heat's On (1943), The Xavier Cugat Show (1957), Tito Rodríguez, Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023), violinists, Waldorf-Astoria, Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), wives, Xavier Cugat (1900-1990), Yma Sumac, You Were Never Lovelier (film : 1942), You Were Never Lovelier (film: 1942)
Turning the Beat Around: Spotlight on Chano Pozo
• November 9, 2022 • 1 CommentPosted in 1940s, 1950s, collectors, Cuba, dance, donations, exhibitions, Florida International University, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, interns, library donors, museums, photography, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: "Bang Que Choque" (song), "Blen Blen Blen" (song), "Manteca" (song), "Nague" (song), "Sono el Clarin" (song), Abakuá, Afro-Cuban dance culture, Afro-Cuban jazz, Afro-Cuban music, afrocubanismo, album covers, Amado Trinidad Velazco, Anselmo Sacasas (Cuban pianist and arranger), Arsenio Rodríguez, “Ariñáñara" (song), “Conga de Los Dandys" (song), “Parampampin" (song), Bal Nègre (dance revue), Carnegie Hall, carnival parades, Carteles (magazine), Chano Pozo, Chano Pozo y su Orquesta, Chico y Rita (animated film : 2010), Coda Records, Colon Cemetery (Havana), comparsas, conga, conga drummers, conga drums, Conjunto Azul, Cuba, Cuban bebop, Cuban composers, Cuban musicians, Cuban singers, Cubop, descargas (jam sessions), Dizzy Gillespie, drummers, El Ataúd, El África, Entertainers, Ernesto Roca, ethnomusicology, exhibitions, Félix Chappottin Lage, Francis Xavier Luca, Harlem, Hotel Nacional Orquesta, Hotel Presidente (Havana), installations, Jack Harris' La Conga (nightclub), Jazz, Joe Loco Quintet, Jovenes del Cayo septet, jukeboxes, Leonardo Timor, Leonardo Timor (band leader), Los Dandy de Belén (comparsa), Los Melodicos (band), Luciano (“Chano”) Pozo González, Machito, Machito and His Afro-Cubans, Mario Bauza, Miguelito Valdés, musicians, Musicraft (record company), New York City, orisha, Orquesta Casino de la Playa, Pan-Art (record label), percussionists, photographs, religious Afro-Cuban music, RHC Cadena Azul radio, Roxy Theatre, royalty disputes, rumba, rumba dancers, rumbero, Santería, Santo Ramírez (Cuban percussionist), secular Afro-Cuban music, segregation, singers, slums, solares, tenements, Tito Rodríguez, Tropicana (Nightclub), Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023), Vicki Gold Levi, Victor (record company), vocalists, Xavier Cugat (1900-1990), Yoruba religion
Turning the Beat Around: Spotlight on Merceditas Valdés
• September 28, 2022 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1940s, 1950s, collectors, Cuba, dance, donations, exhibitions, Florida International University, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, interns, library donors, museums, photography, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: "La Pequeña Aché de Cuba", Adolfo Guzmán, Afro-Cuban dance culture, Afro-Cuban jazz, Afro-Cuban music, afrocubanismo, Alberto Zayas, album covers, Ángel Valdés, Babalú Ayé, Cándido Camero, Chano Pozo, Cine de rumberas, CMQ radio, CMQ television, conga drums, Coro Yoruba y Tambores Batá, Cuba, Cuban musicians, Cuban revolution 1959, Cuban singers, descargas (jam sessions), Dr. Fernando Ortiz, Entertainers, ethnomusicology, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, Gilberto Valdés, Grupo Coral Folklórico de Cuba, Guillermo Barreto, Hermanas Oblatas de la Providencia, Ignacio Piñeiro, installations, Isúpo Irágüo (musical group), Israel ("Cachao") López Valdés (1918–2008), Jesús Pérez, Joe Loco Quintet, Los Bucaneros, Los Roncos (rumba ensemble), Machito, mambo, Mambo Rumba Festival (Carnegie Hall : February 20 1954), Margarita Lecuona, Mario Bauza, Mercedes Valdés, Merceditas Valdés, Miguelito Valdés, Mongo Santamaría, musicians, Myrta Silva, Ninón Sevilla, Obdulio Morales, Olga Guillot, orisha, Panart (record label), Phillips-Fort Dance Troupe, photographs, Pupi Campo Orchestra, Rafael Somavilla, religious Afro-Cuban music, Santería, secular Afro-Cuban music, singers, timbalero, Tito Puente, Tropicana (Nightclub), Turn the Beat Around (Wolfsonian exhibition : Oct. 2022-April 2023), Universidad de Habana, vocalists, Yambaó (Cry of the Bewitched), Yoruba religion, Zun Zun Danbaé show at the Cabaret Sans Souci
Turning the Beat Around: Spotlight on Miguelito Valdés
• September 22, 2022 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1940s, 1950s, collectors, Cuba, dance, donations, exhibitions, Florida International University, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, interns, library donors, museums, photography, posters, rare books and special collections library, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: Afro-Cuban music, album covers, Babalú-Ayé, bolero, Chano Pozo, conga drums, Cuba, Cuban musicians, Cuban singers, Entertainers, Francis Xavier Luca, guaracha, Hotel Tequendama (Bogotá), La Conga (nightclubs), La Siboney (nightclub), Leonard Finger, Los Hermanos Castro, Machito, Machito and His Afro-Cubans, Margarita Lecuona, Mario Bauzá, Miguelito Valdés, musicians, Orchesta Casino de la Playa, orisha, Pan-Americana (film : 1945), Panama, photographs, rumba, Señor Babalú, singers, son, Starlight Roof (Waldorf-Astoria, Vera Eskilssen Tejada, vocalists, Xavier Cugat (1900-1990), Yoruba religion, You Were Never Lovelier (film : 1942)
The Tropicana Nightclub and How Cuban Women Fared Before, During, and After Fidel
• November 30, 2021 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, acquisitions, Communists, Cuba, dance, donations, Francis Xavier Luca, gender, gifts, graphic arts, library donors, memorabilia, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., models, museums, photography, postcards, posters, programs, promotional materials, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff, women
Tags: "new woman", 1933, afrocubanismo, Ala Izquierda Estudiantil, American imperialism, Anacaona (band), Anacaona (Haitian cacica), Arcos de Cristal, Auténtico Party, barbudos, bobbed hair, burlesque, Cabarets, Carnival, Carteles (magazine), Casinos, Charles Gibson, choreographers, Cold War, Concepción (“Cuchito”) Castro Zaldarriaga, Conrado Walter Massaguer, corruption, counterrevolutionaries, Cuba, Cuban Caricature and Culture: The Art of Massaguer (Wolfsonian installation), Cuban musicians, Cuban presidents, Cuban Rebel Girls (film : 1959), Cuban Republic, Cuban Research Institute, Cuban-American filmmakers, dancers, Department of Social Ills, dictators, documentaries, Eden Concert, Errol Flynn, ethnicity, fans, Federación de Mujeres Cubanas, Federación Democrática de Mujeres Cubanas, female musicians, feminists, Fidel Castro, flappers, Folies Bergere, Frente Cívico de Mujeres Martianas (FCMM), gambling, gangsters, gender, Gerardo Machado (1871-1939), Gibson Girls, girl bands, Havana, Havana (Cuba), Hermandad de Madres de Marta Abreu, I Am Cuba (film), impresarios, JFK Library (Hialeah), jineteras, Life (magazine), Manuel Urrutia, Marianao (Cuba), Martin Fox, Massa-Girls, Miguelito Valdés, models, Mujeres Oposicionistas Unidas (M.O.U.), mulattas, musicians, Nightclubs, Ortodoxo party, performers, Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure--American Seduction (Wolfsonian exhibition), Prostitutes, prostitution, race, Ramón Grau, reeducation, rehabilitation, revolution, revolutionaries, Rita Montaner, Roderico Neyra, Rompiendo las Cadenas (film), rumba, singers, Social (magazine), Soy Cuba (film), striptease, Tetro Shanghai, tourists, Tropicana, Tropicana (Nightclub), vedettes, Vicki Gold Levi Collection, Victor de Correa, vintage photographs, We Were Strangers (film), women
Conrado Massaguer Exhibition on Google Arts and Culture
• December 22, 2020 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, acquisitions, Adolf Hitler caricatures, Anti-Nazi propaganda, archives, Artists, collectors, Cuba, curator, donations, exhibitions, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, graphic arts, graphic designers, Great Depression, library donors, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, persuasive arts, political art, postcards, promotional materials, propaganda, propaganda arts, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, war propaganda, Wolfsonian staff, World War (1939-1945), World War II, WWII
Tags: "new woman", Alcohol ads, Allies, American tourists in U.S.S.R, Archivo Nacional de Cuba, Art directors, Axis, bobbed hair, caricature, caricatures, caricaturists, Carteles (magazine), celebrities, Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944), Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), Chiang Kai Shek (1887–1975), Coca-cola, Collier's (magazine), Conrado Walter Massaguer, Cuba, Cuban exiles, Cuban Republic, Cubans, Delphic Studio (New York City), Dr. Eugenio Molinet Amoros, Erol Flynn, Fidel Castro, flappers, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), Gerardo Machado, Gibson Girls, Google Arts and Culture, Grafico (magazine), Havana, John Nance Garner, Joseph Stalin (1879-1953), Lili Damita, Magazine covers, Mahatma Gandhi, Massa-Girls, Massaguer family, Maurice Chevalier, Merida (Mexico), Modern art, movie stars, New York World's Fair (1939-1940), photographs, politicians, publishers, Santa Claus, Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), Social (magazine), Three Wise Men, tourism, tourist trade, virtual exhibitions, William Powell, world leaders
Love to Hear Percussion
• May 8, 2020 • Leave a CommentPosted in 1940s, 1950s, African American History, Cuba, dance, Francis Xavier Luca, gifts, library donors, Mitchell Wolfson Jr., museums, postcards, rare books and special collections library, The Wolfsonian Library, Vicki Gold Levi, Wolfsonian staff
Tags: Africa, African drumming, Afro-Cuban jazz, Alexandra O'Neale, Bo Didley, bongos, Buddy Rich, Chano Pozo, Charlie Parker, clave, covid 19, Cuba, Dizzy Gillespie, drumming, drums, Entertainment, Haiti, Haitian Revolt, Havana (Cuba), isolation, Jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, Louisiana, Machito, mambo, Mario Bauza, New Orleans (Louisiana), New York City, Palladium, percussion, record jackets, Saint-Domingue, slave trade, slavery, social distancing, Sound recordings, sugar cane plantations, The Beatles, trumpet players
Wolfsonian-FIU Library 