[A captivating group of commercial studio photographs of the performers, performances, and costumes at the Hollywood College of Music Dancing and Fine Arts in Portland, Oregon as the Jazz Age descended into the Great Depression. The performers of the “Baby Vanities” and “Kiddie Revue” range in age from 6 & 7 to teenage years, including both girls and boys].

[Portland, OR: Hollywood College of Music, Dancing & Fine Arts, Baker Studio, Granada Studio, La Vere Photo Shoppe, Photo Craft Studios, ca. 1930-1933]. Oblong 4to. 24 original photographs, all preserved in archival mylar sleeves, sized 6.25 x 7 in. up to 8 x 10 in., some w/ photographer’s imprint w/in negative, others w/ manuscript captions added, a few w/ annotations and/or photographer’s instructions on versos, all with bright strong contrast (a few w/ offsetting from previous mounting on versos, and one w/ very small pinholes at corners from prior mounting). Recent cloth binder, stamping front cover, excellent grouping. These photographs vividly document the dance and music studio, operated by Annabelle Knowles reflecting the fast evolving costumes and aesthetics of the twilight of the Roaring 20’s as the U.S. descended into the Great Depression. These photos also clearly reflect the influence of Gus Edwards (1879-1945) vaudeville’s premier producer of kiddie acts, and who had produced and released the shorts “Kiddie Revue” in 1930 and 1931. His influence was not only driven by his songs “By the Light of the Silvery Moon & “School Days,” but also discovering such stars as Groucho Marx, Eddie Cantor, Mae Murray, Sally Rand, and many others. The images depict girls in two-piece outfits in front of Art Deco staging for “Body and Soul”; bare-backed girls in Flapper Era inspired costumes for chorus line “Kiddie Revue”; song and dance routines featuring Ronald Chetwood in top hat, with Marcile Shillito, Virginia Collins, and chorus line in Jazz Age era costumes and canes; and several show Barbara Jane Wicks, Shirley Jay Mulkey, and Sunny Dentler in Spanish inspired costumes for “Baby Vanities.” Another shows adolescent boy and girl dance team in an “Apache” dance inspired costume number. The Hollywood College of Music, Dance & Fine Arts offered classes and instruction in all ages, with the last few photos showing teenage girls in chorus line with short hair, coquettish expressions, and teamwork, or chorus line numbers. Annabelle Knowles (1900-1989) was a musician and dancer who founded the Hollywood College of Music, Dancing & FIne Arts at 4112 NE Sandy Blvd. some time in the late 1920’s. Most of the street directory references focus on 1929-1932, and her British-America theatre-director husband at the time, Vincent Knowles (1883-1944) worked at the studio as well. Baker (1882-1972) was a longtime commercial studio photographer in Portland, OR, who had initially begun as a photographer with noted tourist travel guide, Howard Eaton, photographing tours through National Pakrs. Beem (1892-1984), was founder and photographer at Granada Studio, located in the 1930’s at 515 Swetland Building in Portland. Centlivere (1878-1964) owned and operated La Vere Photo Shoppe, and Photo Craft Studios on Sandy Blvd. in Portland for nearly all of his career. We could find no similar collections or photographs, or even references to Annabelle Knowles, and very few examples of any of these three photography studios in institutional holdings.