Phyllis Diller’s Gag File
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1962 - 1994
name: label: manufacturer
content: Art Steel Company, Inc.
label: maker
content: Diller, Phyllis
label: maker
content: Art Steel Company, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: <p>
label: Description
content: This beige metal cabinet is Phyllis Diller’s gag file, a categorized archive of the jokes Diller used in her stand-up comedy routines throughout her half-century long career. A small three drawer expansion of the gag file is also in NMAH’s collection (Catalog Number 2003.0289.01.02). The 48 drawers of the gag file, along with the 3 drawer expansion, contain a total of 52,569 3-by-5 inch index cards, each holding a typewritten joke or gag. These index cards are organized alphabetically by subject ranging from accessories to world affairs and covering almost everything in between.
label: Description
content: </p>
label: Description
content: <p>
label: Description
content: Phyllis Diller (1917-2012) began her comedy career in the 1950s at the age of 37 and broke barriers in the comedy world to become the first solo female comic to be a household name. She developed a stage persona of an incompetent housewife and dressed in outlandish outfits with wild hair. Her material focused on self-deprecating jokes that tackled the idealized image of American mothers and homemakers. She also created many mythical personas for her stage act including her “husband” Fang, her “neighbor” Mrs. Clean, and her “mother-in-law” Moby Dick.
label: Description
content: </p>
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Humor
label: Subject
content: Comedians
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Phyllis Diller
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Phyllis Diller
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2003.0289.01.01
label: accession number
content: 2003.0289
label: catalog number
content: 2003.0289.01.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: file
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: adhesive (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 48 in x 40 in x 17 1/4 in; 121.92 cm x 101.6 cm x 43.815 cm