M'Liss, a Child of the Sierras advertising card
date: label: date made
content: ca. 1878-1880
notes: label: Description
content: Advertising card for the play M'Liss, a Child of the Sierras. The card features a scene from the play, with M'Liss, a child, clutching a doll and turning away from a man with outstretched, pleading arms. The caption, printed below, reads "I will never touch another Drop of Liquor again as long as I live!" The pair is depicted standing amongst pine trees with mountains in the background. Their faces and clothes have been tinted. The card's verso reads "'M'LISS' REDEEMING HER FATHER FROM A DRUNKARD'S LIFE / "I WILL NEVER TOUCH ANOTHER DROP OF LIQUOR AS LONG AS I LIVE!'"
label: Description
content: An adaptation of Bret Harte's short story "Luck, of Roaring Camp," M'Liss, a Child of the Sierras was a drama about the life of the eponymous girl. Set in a small mining village of Smith's Pocket, the play tells the story of the intemperate, failing miner George Smith and his daughter M'Liss. Orphaned after her father is murdered for his inheritance, the intelligent M'Liss overcomes adversity and learns to be a strong and independent woman. Although the original production, staring Kate Mayhew, opened at Niblo's Garden in New York City in 1878, a competing production of M'Liss starring Annie Pixley was better-received and became more popular. The story was adapted for film several times, including 1915, 1918, 1922, and 1936 releases, the most popular of which was the 1918 movie M'Liss, starring Mary Pickford.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Entertainment
label: Subject
content: Theater
label: Subject
content: West
label: Subject
content: Temperance
label: Subject
content: Gender
label: Subject
content: Children
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0130.01
label: accession number
content: 2017.0130
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0130.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: card
label: Object Name
content: advertising card
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: printed (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 1/2 in x 2 5/8 in; 11.43 cm x 6.6675 cm