Located in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center, the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor (SCOWAH) contains 450 years of humor: over 22,000 books, 250 periodical titles, electronic media and ephemera, in thirty-five languages and dialects, as well as the personal archive of Nat Schmulowitz. The annual SCOWAH exhibition, which opens every April Fools’ Day, is a tribute to Nat Schmulowitz’s generosity and lifelong interest in the San Francisco Public Library.
RELATED EXHIBITION & DISPLAY
April 1-May 31: S.S. Adams, the Edison of Practical Jokes. Exhibition, Government Information Center, 5th Floor
April 1-May 31: Works for Me: Diligence and Drudgery, With Some Distractions. A book cover display, General Collections & Humanities, 3rd Floor
RELATED PROGRAMS
April 3: Elect to Laugh: An Evening With Political Satirist Will Durst. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:30pm
May 28: Josh Kornbluth Presents Haiku Tunnel. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:00pm
Thursdays at Noon (Large Screen Videos)
On the Clock: Films About Jobs and Working Life. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 12 noon
April 4: High Fidelity
April 11: Trading Places
April 18: Up in the Air
April 25: The Associate
All films are shown with captions when possible to assist our deaf and hard of hearing. All programs at the Library are free.
Images:
Harold Lloyd, Master Comedian by Geoffrey Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (2002).
Nat Schmulowitz at work in the law offices of Gavin McNab, circa 1913-1925. Courtesy Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, Book Arts & Special Collections, SFPL.
.jpg "Cover image: Harold Lloyd, Master Comedian by Jeffrey Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (2002)") |
Considering how difficult it is these days to find--and get--the job of one's dreams, we think it's high time for our annual wit and humor exhibition to focus on work. It's a lot of work to find work, so why not lighten the heaviness of the job search by including unusual, playful alternatives to mainstream employment? If you've found yourself driven to the extreme of using a divining rod or a fortune teller to help you locate your vocational niche, this exhibition just might inspire you to get paid to do what you love.
On the Clock: A Playful Guide to Working Life opens April 1 and continues through May 31, in the Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor, Main Library. This exhibition showcases some silly, and some very unusual, jobs and professions of the past and present, as represented in books, ephemera, and archives from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor. It features DIY (Do-It-Yourself) creatives, inventors and contraption-makers, pro-fessional pranksters, heads of state and aspiring dignitaries, farm-to-table movement folks, odd jobbers, and library professionals. In each display case, visitors will discover a deliberately foolish field of job opportunities: just the thing to help you power up that resume. So, throw caution to the wind, and find the job of your dreams!
An unusual blend of the humorous and the rigorous may be seen in the career of Nat Schmulowitz, founder of the library’s wit & humor collection. As an attorney, he worked with dedication and skill on some of the most famous trials of early twentieth century San Francisco. His legal and scholarly writings are peppered with anecdotes and jokes that reflect his keen sense of humor, nourished by the books he acquired on his travels around the world.
On April Fools’ Day in 1947, Mr. Schmulowitz gave ninety-three jest books to the San Francisco Public Library. He faithfully continued to add toward the establishment of what is now considered to be the world’s largest public collection of wit & humor. The wisdom of Nat Schmulowitz still resonates in his motto: “Without humor we are doomed.”
Located in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center, the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor (SCOWAH) contains 450 years of humor: over 22,000 books, 250 periodical titles, electronic media and ephemera, in thirty-five languages and dialects, as well as the personal archive of Nat Schmulowitz. The annual SCOWAH exhibition, which opens every April Fools’ Day, is a tribute to Nat Schmulowitz’s generosity and lifelong interest in the San Francisco Public Library.
RELATED EXHIBITION & DISPLAY
April 1-May 31: S.S. Adams, the Edison of Practical Jokes. Exhibition, Government Information Center, 5th Floor
April 1-May 31: Works for Me: Diligence and Drudgery, With Some Distractions. A book cover display, General Collections & Humanities, 3rd Floor
RELATED PROGRAMS
April 3: Elect to Laugh: An Evening With Political Satirist Will Durst. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:30pm
May 28: Josh Kornbluth Presents Haiku Tunnel. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:00pm
Thursdays at Noon (Large Screen Videos)
On the Clock: Films About Jobs and Working Life. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 12 noon
April 4: High Fidelity
April 11: Trading Places
April 18: Up in the Air
April 25: The Associate
All films are shown with captions when possible to assist our deaf and hard of hearing. All programs at the Library are free.
Images:
Harold Lloyd, Master Comedian by Geoffrey Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (2002).
Nat Schmulowitz at work in the law offices of Gavin McNab, circa 1913-1925. Courtesy Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, Book Arts & Special Collections, SFPL.
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