ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Title
Edward Hastings Ford Collection
Collection Number
SC 283
OCLC Number
122364344
Creator
Edward Hastings Ford, 1899-1989
Provenance
Purchased and acquired in 1980.
Extent,Scope, and Content Note
This collection consists of TBD linear ft. of material related to Ford's career as
a vaudeville comedian and a radio personality including correspondence, transcripts,
cartoons, family photographs, and publicity photographs. The contents date from 1906
to 1951. Ford starred on the radio series "Can You Top This?" and was a resident of
Southold, Long Island, New York.
Arrangement and Processing Note
Finding aid revised and updated by Kristen J. Nyitray in June 2019.
The collection is arranged in four series.
Series 1: Photographs
Series 2: Scrapbooks
Series 3: Correspondence
Series 4: Pamphlets and Magazines
Language
English
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.
Rights and Permissions
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection
does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole
responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials
to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission
where needed prior to publication.
Citation
[Item], [Box], Edward Hastings Ford Collection, Special Collections and University
Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.
Historical Note
Edward Hastings Ford (1887-1970) was a vaudeville comedian and creator of "Can You
Top This?," a joke-telling radio show that aired on WOR-Mutual from 1940 to 1954.
Ford was permanent member of the show's panel of joke-tellers, along with Joe Laurie,
Jr., and Harry Hersfield. He added the prefix "Senator" to his name in his 20s to
enhance his status as a performer. Ford was famous for his "wit, dolleries and pronouncements
of plain Yankee common sense, all reinforced with a dour demeanor." He was a resident
of Southold, Long Island, New York. He died in 1970 in Greenport, New York of lung
and throat cancer. (Source: Thomas De Long, "Biography Radio Stars: An Illustrated
Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960,"McFarland & Company, 2006)
Subjects
Ford, Ed, -- 1887-1970.
Comedians.
Vaudeville.
Vaudeville -- United States -- History.
American wit and humor.
Radio personalities.
INVENTORY
Series 1: Photographs
Box 1
Ford family photograph album (1 of 2)
Box 2
Ford family photograph album (2 of 2)
Box 3
Photographs (9f)
Family (15f)
Ford portraits
Ford cartoons
Negatives
Celebrity photographs (5f)
Tin-types (2f)
Program, 1945
Box 4
Can You Top This? (34f)
Box 5
Autographed photographs
Photographs (3f)
Series 2: Scrapbooks
Box 6
Scrapbooks (3)
Box 7
Scrapbooks (3)
Box 8
Scrapbooks (20)
Box 9
Scrapbook
Newspaper clippings
Box 10
Cartoons (4f)
Series 3: Correspondence
Correspondence (4f)
Series 4: Pamphlets and Magazines
Magazines (4f)
Box 11
Magazines (3f)
Box 12
Pamphlets (7f)
Box 13
Pamphlets (5f)