Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1917 - 2019 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Textual Materials - 0.4 linear meters
Graphic Materials
• Flyer: 5.5 x 7.5 inches - 5
• Flyer: 8 x 10 inches - 5
• Scrapbook 14 x 17 inches – 20
• Scrapbook 10 x 12 inches – 1
• Scrapbook 10 x 16 inches - 1
• Poster: 18 x 22 inches - 13
• Poster: 11 x 14 inches - 7
• Poster: 11 x 17 inches - 1
• Poster: 14 x 20 inches - 1
• Poster: 22 x 28 inches - 1
• Poster: 21 x 25 inches -1
• Poster: 16 x 22 inches - 1
• Poster: 11 x 16 inches - 14
• Poster: 12 x 16 inches - 1
• Poster: 10.5 x 16 inches - 1
Photographs
• Colour Print: 8 x 10 inches - 56
• Colour Print: 11 x 14 inches - 2
• B&W Print: 8.5 x 8 inches - 1
• B&W Print: 6.5 x 7.5 inches - 2
• B&W Print: 8 x 10 inches - 1089
• Colour Print: 3 x 12 inches - 1
• B&W Print: 8 x 8 inches - 1
• B&W Print: 7 x 8.5 inches - 1
• B&W Print: 6.5 x 8.5 inches - 2
• B&W Print: 5 x 7 inches - 12
• B&W Print: 7 x 9 inches - 34
• B&W Print: 2.5 x 3 inches - 1
• Colour Print: 4 x 5 inches - 1
• Colour Print: 3 x 3 inches - 1
• B&W Print: 6 x 9 inches - 3
• B&W Print: 6 x 8 inches - 7
• B&W Neg: 8 x10 inches - 29
• B&W Neg: 35 mm - 2
• Colour Neg: 35 mm - 20
Objects
• Cut out: 13x11 in - 1
• Cut out: 5x10 in - 1
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jim Szakacs is a Canadian who had an avid interest in advertising and Hollywood entertainment. Szakacs graduated Regina Central Collegiate and after his years of education he was the Negotiating Supervisor for the Media Department at D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). DMB&B was an advertising agency in the United States that expanded to Canada.
He collected vintage magazines that mainly pertained to Hollywood and entertainment. In his collections includes vintage magazines, portraits of various stars and musicians, books on Hollywood throughout the silver and golden screen. Lastly, Szakacs was an avid scrapbooker, who would dedicate his scrapbooks to various stars and films. Jim Szakacs’ hand-made collection of celebrity obituary scrapbooks, all oversized scrapbooks that are choc-full of clippings, collages, stills, articles, and obituaries that he sourced and compiled over decades. Szakacs dedicates entire pages to chronicling the careers of prominent film stars, musicians, and public figures. He collected clippings from vintage magazines from 1917 to the modern-day articles and posters from 2019.
Jim Szakacs passed away on July 2, 2023.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The Jim Szakacs collection is separated under these series:
Series 1 – 5
Series 1: Books
Series 2: Vintage Magazines
Series 3: Press Clippings
Series 4: Stills
Series 5: Scrapbook
Series 1: Books
Jim Szakacs collected an incredible number of books on Hollywood celebrities and movie production from the golden and silver age of Hollywood. Book series with the collection includes “The films of…” a collection of books that detail the film history of the actor or actress. Also, in the first series includes the book collection “What ever became of…” the stories of what happened after a celebrity loses their fame or retires from show business.
Series 2: Vintage Magazines
The second series contains the collections of vintage magazines that retells the stories and news of the Hollywood celebrity stars on their roles in Hollywood and their lives. Szakacs collected publications mainly from the United States that focused on the Hollywood stars from the late 1940s to the 1980s. Publications includes “Motion Picture Herald” started off as the “Exhibitors Herald”; “Who’s Who’s in Hollywood”; “Modern Screen”; “Screen Stories”; “Hollywood studio Magazine”; “Hollywood then & now”; “American Classic Screen”; and “Photoplay”. There is also an international magazine from Swedish magazine “Fiskejournalen”. Most of the vintage magazines are in good condition, however, there are a few that will have images of the celebrities cut out. As the magazines that were collected by Szakacs was also as materials to be placed in his collection of scrapbooks.
Series 3: Press Clippings
The third series is a collection of press clippings that Jim Szakacs collected over the many decades. Articles from American publishers and international publishers. Press clippings come from vintage news articles from the 1930s to as recent as of 2019. The various clippings chosen by Szakacs from magazines covers, newspapers, articles, and marketing advertisements from various Hollywood stars. A few of the clippings he collected for the scrapbook do contain nudity.
Series 4: Stills
The fourth series contains Szakacs collection of celebrity portraits. Many of the photographs in the collection are reprints and reproduction of the original. Hollywood stars included in the collection are George Segal, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Connery, Valerie Harper, James Hill, Virginia McKenna, Roland Winters, Rick Vallin, and other Hollywood celebrities.
Series 5: Scrapbooks
The fifth series is a collection of Jim Szakacs’s Scrapbooks. Szakacs was an avid scrapbooker, who would dedicate his scrapbooks to various stars and films. Jim Szakacs’ hand-made collection of celebrity obituary scrapbooks, all oversized ring binding scrapbooks that hold a collection of clippings, collages, stills, articles, and obituaries that he sourced and compiled over decades. Szakacs dedicates entire pages to chronicling the careers of prominent film stars, musicians, and public figures. Figures he collected include Dame Vera Lynn; Ian Holm; Joel Schumacher; Linda Cristal; Carl Reiner; Hugh Downs; and others. He dedicated obituary scrapbooks on Rock Hudson, Clark Gable, and Marilyn Monroe. The clippings he sourced were from vintage magazines from 1917 to the modern-day articles and posters from 2015.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Preservation concerns may limit access, consult archivist rights.
Conditions governing reproduction
Media Commons does not own copyright of collection materials. Consult rights holder for reproduction(s).
Language of material
- English
- French
- Swedish
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Contact archivist for further finding aid information.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created January 26, 2024 by Khadija Alexander
Language(s)
- English
- French
- Swedish
Script(s)
Sources
Encyclopedia. “D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, Inc.” https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/darcy-masius-benton-bowles-inc
Media Digital History Library. “Motion Picture Herald.” https://mediahistoryproject.org/features/publications-volumes.php?id=Motion+Picture+Herald