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Title
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Earl Mossman oral history recording
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Description
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An audio recording of an oral history of Earl Mossman, an entertainer known as the 'Mayor of Broadway', about his life and the theater and vaudeville business in Portland, Oregon. Recorded in 1971, he talks about how he got involved in show business in the first place, started learning and improving his dancing, and what shows he took part in. Mossman talks about his friend Ray who got drafted into the military during World War One while Mossman was denied into the draft. Waiting for Ray to return, Mossman continued performing and producing shows, including a play called “Sunny Side of Broadway” in New York. Much of Mossman’s time was spent in Oregon, but he also spent a large amount of time traveling and performing around the country. In 1940, Mossman moved back to Portland in order to look after his ill mother, but he stayed in contact with people in show business through letters and reviews. He mentions the Oregon Centennial and who he performed with. Mossman talks about each of the theatres that were in Portland and where they were located during his time there. While in Portland, Mossman appointed himself the unofficial greeter for all of the celebrities to the city. He would meet them at the airport and make sure they were able to get around town safely. Much of his ability to do this comes from him already knowing many of the celebrities beforehand. Mossman comments on the rise of television and what that does to show business and the people involved in it. The beginning of the recording is hard to hear, but at about three minutes, the recording focuses and becomes easier to hear for the rest of the interview. There are intermittent background noises of airplanes overhead and cars passing by. Throughout the recording are names of actors, dancers, and other famous people that Mossman know. There is a full transcript of the recording. Many of the names and companies could be misspelled in the transcription.
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Contributor
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Lucia, Ellis
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Date
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1971
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Format
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Audiocassettes
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Language
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English
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Identifier
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PUA_OH_47
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Rights
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In Copyright
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
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Extent
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2 sound cassettes (1 hr., 49 min.)
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Type
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Sound
https://exhibits.lib.pacificu.edu/files/original/0b2b2f895a6f5c5b978989911ad814a3.mp3