The Fuller Brush Man and The Fuller Brush Girl
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Fuller Brush Company
setName: label: See more items in
content: Fuller Brush Company Records
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1947-1953, 2004 (bulk 1947-1952)
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1459, Series 13
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series contains material predominately related to two motion picture comedies created and promoted through a partnership between Columbia Pictures and the Fuller Brush Company: The Fuller Brush Man (1948), starring Red Skelton, and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950), starring Lucille Ball. The series consists mostly of promotional material, including pressbooks; advertising mats; photographs; press clippings; correspondence with public relations firms, Columbia Pictures representatives, and magazine publishers; advertisements; and ephemera (including direct mail advertisements distributed by Fuller Brush Company door-to-door salespeople). The series also features schedules, photographs, and other materials related to film release parties and promotional events, including photographs of Fullerettes. The series also includes film release contracts, agreements, and other official documentation of the relationship between the Fuller Brush Company and Columbia Pictures.

Most material in the series relates to the film The Fuller Brush Girl (1950). In addition to substantial promotional material, there are working and final scripts from the film; a shooting schedule, and press coverage and release papers specifically related to Lucille Ball. The series also includes correspondence and script excerpts related to Lucille Ball's radio program ,My Favorite Husband mostly featuring promotional tie-ins to The Fuller Brush Girl.

The series also contains items documenting the 1952 theatrical re-issues of The Fuller Brush Man and The Fuller Brush Girl. Materials document two double-feature campaigns, both occuring in 1952: one, a double-billing between The Fuller Brush Man and The Fuller Brush Girl; the other, a double-billing between The Fuller Brush Girl and Holiday in Havana, a film starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Materials related to the re-issues include pressbooks, photographs of film releases, and movie theater distribution schedules. The collection also includes a pressbook for the original release of Holiday in Havana, as well as limited material pertaining to other ventures pursued by Columbia Pictures at the time (including advertisements and a pressbook for Sunny Side of the Street).