Series II. Other residents of Imperial Court Hotel (307 West 79th Street, Manhattan)
Biographical note
Samuel Kuklin, Margaret Tomlinson, and Virginia Vonne were residents of the Imperial Court Hotel (307 West 79th Street), on Manhattan's Upper West Side, during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Samuel L. Kuklin (1887–1956) was a wholesale dealer of furniture, whose many contacts in the trade are reflected in the business cards in Box 3, Folder 8.
Margaret Matilda Tomlinson (1888–1963?) was a Canadian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen who worked as a maid and nurse in New York City. A portion of her correspondence in Box 3, Folder 9 deals with her attempts to secure personal health care.
Virginia Vonne (born in Missouri about 1917) was a singer known to have performed in at least two Broadway musicals: "Hooray For What!" at the Winter Garden Theatre (December 1, 1937–May 21, 1938) and "Blossom Time" at the 46th Street Theatre (December 26, 1938–January 7, 1939).
Subseries II.A. Samuel L. Kuklin (1887–1956), 1939–1941, inclusive
Bills, correspondence, receipts, etc., 1939–1941, inclusive
Business cards, [circa 1940?], inclusive
Subseries II.B. Margaret Matilda Tomlinson (1888–1963?), 1917–1956, undated, inclusive
Correspondence, ephemera, etc., 1917–1956, undated, inclusive
Certificate of citizenship, 1939 September 21
Ration books, 1942, inclusive
Subseries II.C. Virginia Vonne (circa 1917–?), 1938–1940, inclusive
"Firefly", 1938, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Two newspapers reviews (July 12, 1938) of the Rudolph Friml operetta "Firefly," in which Vonne performed at Jones Beach, Long Island. With cover letter from a Dr. Robert M. Colbert.
"Blossom Time", 1938–1939, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Material from Vonne's involvement with this Broadway musical, which ran for 19 performances on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre, December 26, 1938-January 7, 1939. Includes her contract with the Select Operating Company; vocal scores ("Chorus" and "Three Waltzes Chorus"); dialogue part of "Greta"; printed program for previews at the Nixon Theatre, Pittsburgh, beginning October 10, 1938 (the program lists her name as both "Vonne" and "Vahn" and her character as "Rosi" instead of "Rose"); a review by Dick Fortune from The Pittsburgh Press (October 11, 1938); and a signed photographic portrait inscribed "To dainty Virginia" from Mary McCoy, who played "Mitzi" in the show.
Correspondence, ephemera, etc., 1939, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes Vonne's New York State Department of Labor Unemployment Insurance Identification Card; her contract with Operatic Festival Inc., a stock company at Louisville, Kentucky; and correspondence and brochures from the Insulite Company of Minneapolis, manufacturers of wall and ceiling materials.
Letters from Roy Cropper aboard the R.M.S. Nieuw Amsterdam, 1940 January-March, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Roy Cropper (1894–1954), a tenor, was performing in the "Seabreeze Revue" aboard the R.M.S. Nieuw Amsterdam, a cruise ship of the Holland-America Line, when he wrote to Vonne. A year prior the two appeared in the same Broadway production of "Blossom Time," at the 46th Street Theatre (December 26, 1938-January 7, 1939). Cropper played "Baron Franz Schober." Vonne played "Rose." This folder includes an invitation to a dinner and musicale in honor of Giovanni Martinelli, sponsor of the New York Light Opera Guild, January 21, 1940, at which Roy Cropper sang the role of Orlando in Florence Wickham's "Rosalind." With newspaper clippings announcing the performance as well as one giving details of the Nieuw Amsterdam's West Indies cruise.