SAM DeVINCENT COLLECTION OF ILLUSTRATED AMERICAN SHEET MUSIC, ca. 1790 - 1987
 #300

SERIES 9: DOMESTIC & COMMUNITY LIFE, 1827-1986; n.d.  
(23 cubic feet: 69 flat boxes)

Series Description: 

The Domestic and Community Life series documents family, love, marriage, and community life such as home and social organizations. Health and Business items are found in separate series. This series contains approximately 1,740 pieces of sheet music and song folios. Most of the sheet music is either commercial music or the illustrated editions sold for the home piano. The ephemera items are arranged by subseries, the same as the sheet music, and are described on the page following the sheet music Container List. The Domestic and Community Life Ephemera file constitutes three document boxes. Most of the items are DeVincent’s references to other parts of the Collection.

The material dates from the early 1800s to the 1980s. Most pre-1840 imprints are not dated and it is possible that a few sheets date from the 1700s. Estimates have been made for the dates of many early imprints by checking publisher and address of the publisher in the “Index of Publishers, Engravers and Printers” in volume III of Richard Wolfe’s Secular Music in America 1801-1825: A Bibliography and in Oscar Sonneck’s A Bibliography of Early Secular American Music. Several sheets that appear to be very old could not be dated by this method.

This series includes ten subseries: 

Subseries 9.1, Adult Family Members, includes songs and instrumental compositions about Mother and Motherhood, Mother’s Day, Mother-in-law, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, and Great grandfather, and Aunts, Uncles, Sisters, Brothers, and Cousins. Close to 65% of all music in this subseries is about Mother. 

Subseries 9.2, Children, includes songs and instrumental compositions about Babies and Children, including kidnapped, lost, homeless, orphan, and poor children. This subseries also includes Lullabies and “Sandman” music. Researchers looking for mother/child relationship music will want to look at both of these first two subseries.

Subseries 9.3, Dolls, Stories, and Toys, includes music about Cinderella, Jack and Jill, Little Red Riding Hood, Rip Van Winkle, Robinson Crusoe and other storybook characters, and Dolls, Teddy Bears, Puppets, Marionettes, and Manikins.

Subseries 9.4, Songs about and Images of Men and Women, focuses more on the cover image than the content of the music. Note especially the Christy and Manning covers in Folder H. There are a great many more sheets about women than about men, with women getting 90% of the attention. Songs and instrumental compositions include Girl/Gal and Lady and Women titles, and Bloomer Girl, Gibson Girl and Gibson Man, Flapper and Vamp, and women’s and men’s names.

Subseries 9.5, Home, Neighborhood, and Immigrants/Refugees, includes music about Bungalows, Cabins, Castles, Chateaux, Cottages, Home, House, Huts, Mansions, and Shacks; City, Neighborhood, and Town; Alley, Avenue, Highway, and Street; and Immigrants and Refugees. Titles naming specific cities and towns are in Series 8: Geography, under their respective states or countries. More music about emigration is also in Series 8: Geography, especially in the Germany, Ireland, and Scotland subseries.

Subseries 9.6, Love and Marriage, is the largest section of this series, containing 27% of the whole. The Love Themes include titles with the words Cupid, Darling, Dream, Flirting, Jealousy, Kiss, Loveland, Sweetie/Sweetheart, and Valentine. Also included are songs about Bachelors and Spinsters, Courting, Weddings, Wedding Rings, Bride and Groom, Honeymoon, Married Life, Anniversaries, Widows, Alimony, and Divorce.

Subseries 9.7, Friendship and Social Organizations, includes songs and instrumental compositions about Friends, Buddies, Companions, Comrades, Mates, Pals, and Playmates. The Social Organization includes music about the Boy, Girl, and Cub Scouts, and Campfire Girls, as well as the YMCA, the American Legion, and numerous Fraternal Organizations such as the Eagles, Elks, Kiwanis, Lions, Masons, Odd Fellows, and Shriners.

Subseries 9.8, Age, Death, and Dying, includes music about growing old, being old, and dying. Some references to “old mother” may be found in Subseries 9.1 in the Mother Folders.

Subseries 9.9, Domestic Arts and Clothing, includes songs and instrumentals about home activities such as Knitting, Sewing, Spinning, and Washing; and about clothing, such as Bonnets, Hats, and Footwear.

Subseries 9.10, Albums and Lockets, contains the least number of items in this Series. The Songs in these two folders refer to family members or love interests. Music about photography is in a separate series.

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