Playbill Collection
Dec 13
2016, 11:52:58 PM
My late father was a film and theater historian who wrote many books on the subjects.
https://www.amazon.com/Ted-Sennett/e/B001HPXZK4
My father passed away ten years ago and now it is finally time to clean out his office. One thing of interest was his extensive collection of Playbills dating back to the mid-1940’s. Most of them are in good condition. The newer ones are obviously in better condition. I would estimate that there could be 1,000 or more Playbills in the collection. I’m in the very early stages of cataloguing them, only beginning with the "C"s.
On just about every Playbill, on the cover my father wrote the exact date that he saw the performance. On the page that lists the cast, he usually wrote a one paragraph review of the play. So there is 70 years of Broadway history in this collection. So far the oldest one is Carousel dated July 26, 1945.
I'm not familiar with Playbills myself. I know baseball cards lose value with any markings on them. Obviously condition will affect the price but will the date on the front page and review on the cast page have a significant negative effect on value of a Playbill? Once I can completely catalogue all the Playbills by title and date, I will consider selling. We may also consider donating the entire collection to a worthy organization. Does anyone know of a reputable price guide.
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