LibGuides: UA&SC: Archives of Popular Culture

The Archives of Popular Culture was established in the 1970s by the American Studies faculty at CSUF. The collection includes a wide range of cultural materials, such as Marvel and DC comics, underground comics, Manga, graphic novels, original screenplays, and magazines from 1900 to the 1980s.

These materials offer a glimpse into 20th-century American life, capturing the evolution of subcultures, music scenes, film movements, and more. They provide insight into how superhero stories reflected societal values, how underground art challenged norms, and how magazines mirrored the changing interests and attitudes of different generations. The collection offers an opportunity to explore and understand various aspects of American identity over time.

Books & Periodicals
A link out to our OPAC with a list of all of the titles held in the Archives of Popular Culture.
Fred Guiol Screenplays
The Fred Guiol Screenplay Collection is composed of screenplays that Mr. Guiol wrote and co-wrote during a long career at Hal Roach Studio and RKO Studio. They range from "Laurel and Hardy" silent films to "Giant" and the 1959 film "Diary of Anne Frank".
Gus Koehler Comic Books
The Gus Koehler Collection contains a wide variety of comic books ranging from the mid-1960s until the early 2010s. The collection holds an impressive selection of Marvel Comics and assorted underground comic books, or comix.
Lyle M. Nelson collection of Big Little Books and Pulp Magazines
Acquired from the Estate of Lyle M. Nelson in 1991 as part of a donation that included approximately 856 Big Little Books and over a hundred periodical titles dating from the early to mid 20th century on adventure, fantasy, mystery, sports, and westerns.
(Processing in progress)
Motion picture memorabilia, periodicals, catalogs, and publicity
The collection was established by Bob Porferio of the American Studies Department and Ernest Toy of the Pollak Library to support the study of visual, oral, and written 20th Century American popular culture. Portions of the collection have been cataloged as separate sub-collections based on the donor (see Related Accessions in the Finding Aid). This part of the collection contains an assortment of items related to motion picture memorabilia and publicity, teenage magazines, and collector's catalogs.
Screenplay collection
The Screenplay Collection was donated to University Archives and Special Collections from the Department of American Studies. The collection consists of film, television, and teleplay scripts. Materials also include radio transcripts, plays, press kits, and production files.
Stephen Becker collection on 20th century American magazines
Part of the collection donated by the Becker family upon Pollak Library employee Stephen Becker's death. It includes popular men's titles as well as Time, LIFE, and People magazines.
See also: Pollak Library Shooting, 1976, http://archives.fullerton.edu/repositories/5/archival_objects/12466.
Stephen Becker Comic Books
Collection of comic books belonging to former Pollak Library employee Stephen Becker, donated by the Becker family after his death in 1977.
Titles included in the original donation were: Walt Disney's comics and stories, Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies, New Funnies, Our Gang with Tom & Jerry, Tom & Jerry, Walt Disney's Donald and the Wheel, Walt Disney's Donald in Mathmagic Land, Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny, Roy Rogers and Trigger, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney's Donald Duck, Bug Bunny's Halloween Parade, Bugs Bunny, and Looney Tunes.
The collection was merged with titles acquired for the Archives of Popular Culture.
See also: Pollak Library Shooting, 1976, http://archives.fullerton.edu/repositories/5/archival_objects/12466.
Viola Lawrence Film Editing Collection
The Viola Lawrence Film Editing Collection pertains to Ms. Lawrence (1894-1973), the first female film editor in Hollywood. The collection consists of trade publications, photographs, awards that Ms. Lawrence received in certificates, plaques and trophy format and a few clippings pertaining to her life and career as a film editor.

UA&SC: Archives of Popular Culture

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