Sheet Music Collection
Prior to the 1880s, popular music publishing was a secondary market for music stores that mainly served students and performers of classical music. By 1900, popular music dominated sales largely due to music publishers and songwriters located in Tin Pan Alley – an area on 28th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway in New York City close to the burgeoning entertainment district. The first decade of the 20th century produced more popular music than had ever been written before – an estimated 25,000 songs annually according to Wikipedia. Sheet music was the driving force of American popular music until the advent of the radio and phonograph. Tin Pan Alley publishers and songwriters are well represented in this collection. Much of the sheet music artwork is exquisite and is worthy of study in its own right. Condition of the music sheets and instruction manuals range from excellent to fragile. Many bear the signature and notations of Zenobia Lacy. The sheet music and manuals are arranged in alphabetical order. See container list.
