Barry Buchanan Collection

Collection

Identifier: 0000-0026

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

Buchanan's papers include Circus and amusement park ephemera, a collection of catalogs of movie equipment (1920s-1950s), and personal papers pertaining to his work as a consultant for United Artists Corp. in the 1940s and 1950s. The collection is particularly significant for the extensive notes taken by Buchanan for his Encylopedia of Show Business. Many of the definitions that Buchanan planned to use for this encyclopedia are available in the collection on index cards.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1934-1945
Creation: 1919-1970

Restrictions

None.

Biography or History

Barry Buchanan was a CMU alumnus who worked in the movie industry, including various positions for United Artists Corp. in the 1940s and 1950s. He also worked extensively on the creation of an encyclopedia of the slang used in theater, movies, and elsewhere in the entertainment world, tentatively titled (according to his resume) Encyclopedia of Show Business, which was never published. He described this as "The first encyclopedia-dictionary of the equipment, technical terminology, language, patois and slang of all phases of the entertainment business from the Greek and Roman Theatre through Television."

Extent

6.0 Linear feet (6 boxes)

Language

English

Additional Description

Overview

Buchanan was a CMU alumni who worked in the movie industry. His papers include Circus and amusement park ephemera, a collection of catalogs of movie equipment (1920s-1950s), and personal papers pertaining to his work as a consultant for United Artists Corp.