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Title
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SC58 Mrs. Sam Ray Postcard Collection Finding Aid
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Description
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Mildred Kittell Ray was born in Halstead, Kansas, on September 22, 1895. An avid collector of postcards (buttons, too), Mrs. Ray, at the age of 72, initiated a column in the Kansas City Times and Kansas City Star entitled "A Postcard from Old Kansas City." The columns ran for 23 years. They proved to be extremely popular with the reading public, and two selected sets of articles were collected and published in book form; the first volume won a national design award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. The collection consists of over 16,000 postcards and materials associated with Mrs. Ray's writing career. Subjects in the postcards include Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas, the other states of the US, a large number of foreign countries, an assortment of different topics (humor, holidays, etc.), and card format (wood, leather, copper, etc.). Items related to Mrs. Ray's career as a writer include: correspondence; research materials such as newspaper clippings and handwritten notes; draft, manuscript, and published versions of early "pre-postcard" historical articles; postcard articles that were rejected by the publisher; and the texts of lectures and presentations given by Mrs. Ray. Graphic materials make up another part of the collection, with items like advertising envelopes, ephemera from Emery, Bird, Thayer, and a number of photographs. An audiotape of a speech given by Dick Ray (Mrs. Ray's son), on February 13, 1998, at the official debut of the Library's online version of the newspaper column is included in the collection.
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Date
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1890/1998
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Object Type
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Finding Aid
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Title
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SC193 Richards and Conover Hardware Company Collection Finding Aid
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Description
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The Richards and Conover Hardware Company was started in 1857 by John Francisco Richards and continued to operate as a family-owned business until it closed in 1999. This collection, donated by a former president of the company and descendant of John F. Richards, consists of the business records created and maintained by the company’s owners and employees.
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Date
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1854/1999
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Object Type
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Finding Aid
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Title
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SC223 Folly Theater Collection Finding Aid
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Description
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Open since 1900, the Folly Theater has assumed several names and identities over the decades, from a vaudeville, burlesque, and Shakespearean playhouse to an X-rated movie theater. Today, it serves as Kansas City’s oldest performing arts venue. The Folly Theater Collection contains photographs, scrapbooks, posters, administrative and financial records, building blueprints, and various artifacts that document the theater’s diverse history.
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Date
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1877/2014
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Object Type
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Finding Aid
