FLORENZ ZIEGFELD, JR.
Ziegfeld - and only Ziegfeld - signed this 1930 resolution among theatre managers to cap ticket prices at 75 cents and prevent ticket brokers from buying blocks of tickets.
Document signed "Ziegfeld" on page 2. Also with "ZIEGFELD" on page 1 in unknown hand. 3 pages, 8¼x10¾. Jan. 2, 1930. This is a resolution, which only Ziegfeld signed, to stop "the evils of theatre-ticket speculation". It proposed preventing ticket brokers buying large batches of tickets while at the same time keeping a large number of tickets on hand in a theatre's box office, capping ticket prices at 75 cents and creating a Manager's Bureau to enforce this resolution. This was signed near the end of the 23-year run of the Ziegfeld Follies, which closed during the Great Depression, and which may indicate financial troubles for Ziegfeld. Further research into this document is definitely warranted. During the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Ziegfeld (1867-1932) managed Sandow, the strong man. In 1896, he turned to theatrical management. His promotion of a French beauty, Anna Held, using press releases about her milk baths, brought her fame and set a pattern of star-making through publicity. Held and Ziegfeld were married from 1897 until they divorced in 1913. In 1907, Ziegfeld produced his first revue, The Follies of 1907, modeled on the Folies-Bergère of Paris but less risqué. The New York revue's combination of semi-nudity, pageantry and comedy was repeated successfully for 23 more years in the Ziegfeld Follies, until the Great Depression ended the annual spectacles. Lightly toned and creased. Signature has bled slightly but is legible. Staple in page 2 with corresponding tear in upper left corner of other pages. Small tear in right edge of page 3. Folded once and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.