Newspapers and Magazines
To get a sense of the zeitgeist of a time and place, try newspapers and magazines. Also see the Newspapers page of Laurie Scrivener's guide to primary sources.
- America's Historical NewspapersNearly 2000 titles covering 1690-1922
- America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1999; Readex/Newsbank)A Metropolitan Library (OKC public) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. Similar to the database above, but contains different newspapers than ours.
- Historical U.S. Newspapers (ProQuest)Includes these U.S. papers:
-Chicago Tribune, 1849-present;
-Los Angeles Times, 1881-present;
-New York Times, 1851-present;
-Wall Street Journal, 1889-present;
-Washington Post, 1877-present.
(The UK's Guardian and Observer, 1791-2003, is also included in this search as are papers from the Historically Black Newspapers collection.) - Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers CollectionMore than 1000 pamphlets, proclamations, newsbooks and newspapers from the period.
- Times Digital Archive (London, 1785-2019)Does NOT include the Sunday edition.
What Were They Wearing?
Online
- Encyclopedia of World Costume by Doreen Yarwood (1978). Arranged alphabetically. Dated and eurocentric, but useful for brief articles and definitions. Illustrated.
- The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Costume and Fashion 1550-1920 byJack Cassin-Scott (1986). Arranged chronologically. Also eurocentric. Illustrations are full color.
- Fashion Collections from the NYPL digital catalog.
- Victoria and Albert Museum online collections. Everything from glasses to shoes.
- The Worldwide History of Dress by Patricia Rieff Anawalt (2007). GT 507 .A539 2007
- Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion (2005). 3 vols. Reference Collection GT 507 .E53 2005
- Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (2010). 10 vols. Reference Collection GT 507 .E54 2010
What Was Their Slang?
While a Google search might be appropriate to find current slang, a slang dictionary could be useful for finding lingo for particular eras or regions. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is also a great source when you need to learn more about an unfamiliar word or idiom. For example, not sure what wool-gathering means? The OED defines it as "to indulge in wandering fancies or purposeless thinking; to be in a dreamy or absent-minded state."
Please be aware that dictionaries may contain words that are vulgar, culturally insensitive, or derogative.
Here are some other resources:
- Sinks of London Laid OpenVictorian underworld slang.
Some Other Useful Resources
- Shakespeare's WordsNEW! Integrates the full text of Shakespeare's plays and poems with the entire glossary database, allowing you to search for any word or phrase in Shakespeare's works, and in particular to find all instances of all words that can pose a difficulty to the modern reader. You can see the word in context and then link to it in the play. Other features include circles showing all of the characters' relationships to one another, pronunciation, and more.
- Gale LiteratureProvides online access to Literature Criticism, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Something About the Author, and Gale Virtual Reference titles in literature. Resources can be cross-searched. Content includes includes biographies, critical essays, reviews, full-text articles, and audio files.
- Gale Virtual Reference LibraryAccess encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. This platform allows users to search multiple resources at one time. The reference library includes titles such as Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of American History, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Something About the Author, and many others. Full text is available.
- NYPL Digital CollectionsOver 900,000 digitized items from the New York Public Library's collection. Explore prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
- Digital Collections from the Library of CongressDigitzed material from the Library of Congress on various topics such as African American History, Local History and Folklore, World Cultures and History and, the Performing Arts, and more.
- Manos TeatralesManos is a collaborative project, dedicated to analysis and dissemination of information about the treasure-trove of some 3,000 surviving manuscripts of Spanish classical theater. In English and Spanish.
Other Guides
Since dramaturgy research can involve so many aspects of both major events and daily life anywhere in the world and during any time period, it would be impossible to list all of the resources available through OU libraries. Here are some other guides that might help.
What Were They Reading and Listening To?
- British Periodicals (1681-1939; Proquest)British magazines and journals.
- Garland Encyclopedia of World Music OnlineBrowse and search hundreds of articles about the music of every continent. This resource contains overviews of world regions with surveys of musical heritage, traditions, themes, and descriptions of specific musical genres, practices, and performances.
- Smithsonian Global Sound for LibrariesIncludes published recordings owned by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label and the archival audio collections of Folkways Records, Cook, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk, Monitor, Paredon and other labels.
The Media Resource Center (MRC), a service of the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts, is a working library of time-based (non-book) materials: CDs, videos, digital audio tapes (DATs) and regular cassette tapes, digital video discs (DVDs) and long-playing records (LPs). These are available to anyone who wishes to use them in the Ruby Grant Fine Arts Library, located in Catlett Hall.
- Women's Magazine Archive (dates below; Proquest)NOTE: full text PDF download is restricted to a single page or page spread for the titles indicated.
-Better Homes & Gardens (1922-2005)
-Chatelaine (1928-2005)
-Cosmopolitan (1886-2005) - One page only
-Essence (1970-2005)
-Good Housekeeping (1885-2005) - One page only
-Ladies’ Home Journal (1883-2005)
-Parents (1926-2005)
-Redbook (1903-2005) - One page only
-Seventeen (1944-2005) - One page only
-Town and Country (1846-2005) - One page only
-Woman’s Day (1937-2005) - One page only
-Women’s International Network News (1975-2003)
What Were They Doing?
Online
- London Low LifeFull-text and color digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to the 18th, 19th and early 20th century London. Of particular interest to theatre historians: tourist guides describing theatres, ticket prices, etc.
- North American Women's Letters and DiariesContains diaries, letters and biographies of women from the Colonial Period through 1950.
- Gale Primary SourcesContains full text of primary sources in the following collections: 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection, 19th Century UK Periodicals, British Library Newspapers, The Economist Historical Archive, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Indigenous Peoples: North America, The Making of the Modern World, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, American History and Culture, Sabin Americana, The Times (London) Digital Archive, and U.S. Declassified Documents Online.
- The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life (2004). 6 vols. Bizzell Memorial Library Reference Collection GT 31 .G74 2004
What Were They Buying?
- Ad*Access7,000+ US and Canadian advertisements covering 5 product categories: Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda (1911-1955)
- The Advertising ArchivesCollection of American, British, and European print advertisements, magazine covers and artwork, stills, and catalogs (mid-19th century-present)
- AdViewsThousands of television commercials created or collected by the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency, 1950s - 1980s.
- YouTubeSearch a client's name, campaign name, or specific product. Also check the client's channel for commercials.