Title: Arthur Kober Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1921-1975

Creator:

• Kober, Arthur, 1900-1968

Call Number: U.S. Mss 7AN; Micro 1072

Quantity: 9.6 c.f (2 archives boxes, 9 cartons) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Contact Information

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a playwright and film, television, and short story writer, most popular during the 1930's and 1940's. These are arranged in series of correspondence and related material, personal papers, and writings. Kober's correspondence dates from the 1920's through the 1970's, but is incomplete. Of greatest interest is the file of letters from Lillian Hellman, including a few undated letters apparently written before their divorce in 1930, and later letters which discuss her writing and reveal the nature of their relationship. Other files include letters from family, friends, and business people, among them Bennett Cerf, Harold and Florence Rome, Irene Lee, Irene Mayer Selznick, Herman Shumlin, and Katherine White. Personal papers include Kober's diaries, fragmentary financial records, and transcribed notes from “The Audience as Collaborator,” a course Kober taught at the New School for Social Research, New York City, in 1953. Among Kober's writings are his autobiography, published and unpublished short stories, collections of short stories in book form, plays, screenplays, produced and unproduced teleplays, notes, and story and play ideas. Kober's major works include Having Wonderful Time, Let George Do It!, A Mighty Man Is He, My Dear Bella, Oooh, What You Said!, Thunder Over the Bronx, and Wish You Were Here, all of which are represented by correspondence, royalty statements, and scripts, with incomplete files of box office statements, playbills, song lyrics, and other material. On microfilm are scrapbooks of reviews of Kober's plays and articles by and about him.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0007an

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Arthur Kober was born in Brody, Austria-Hungary (now Poland) in 1900, to Adolph M. Kober (1872-1929) and Tillie Kober (1878-1943). The family, including Arthur and William (b. 1902), arrived in New York from Rotterdam in July 1903, aboard the S.S. Rendom. They settled in the Bronx, where his sisters, Kate (b. 1904) and Mildred (b. 1910) and brother, Morris (b. 1907) were born. At the age of fifteen Arthur left high school and began working at a series of jobs in a real estate office, a corset company, and as a secretary to Grenville Kleiser, an author of books on public speaking. During the summer of 1922 Kober worked as a bellboy on the ship S.S. Colombia. He came in contact with the theater as a reviewer of vaudeville shows for Theater World magazine. In 1925 he produced the Henry Meyer play, Me, which was a failure. He then became a press agent publicizing such Broadway productions as Artists and Models, Strike Up the Band, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Green Pastures (1930), by Marc Connelly. Kober shared an office with Herman Shumlin when the two worked as press agents for Jed Harris, a noted theatrical producer.

On December 31, 1925, Kober married Lillian Hellman, like himself a writer. During their marriage Kober began his career as a motion picture script writer in Hollywood. He wrote comedies and detective stories for Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland, Carole Lombard, Victor McLaglan, Stuart Erwin, ZaZu Pitts, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Martha Raye. At the same time, Hellman was trying to establish her own career. Although the couple's long separations and career conflicts eventually resulted in a divorce in 1930, they remained the best of friends. Kober relied on Hellman's advice and common sense throughout his life, and Hellman became very close to Kober's second wife, her parents, and Kober's daughter.

Kober's greatest successes were as a short story writer. His accounts of Ma, Pa, and daughter Bella Gross were a New Yorker mainstay in the 1930's and 1940's. They were followed by the stories of Hollywood agent Benny Greenspan, also published in the New Yorker. These short stories were collected and published with others as Thunder Over the Bronx (1935), Pardon Me for Pointing (1939), My Dear Bella (1941), That Man Is Here Again (1945), Bella, Bella Kissed a Fella (1951), and Oooh, What You Said (1958). Many of Kober's characters were Jewish people who lived in the Bronx, as he had done for many years. Kober's characters spoke in a Bronx Yiddish-American dialect, and displayed the author's keen sympathy for and understanding of the people he wrote about, although some criticized him for stereotyping Jewish people.

In 1937, Marc Connelly produced Kober's play Having Wonderful Time. Having Wonderful Time was made into a Ginger Rogers-Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. motion picture in 1938 and in 1952 was produced as the musical comedy, Wish You Were Here, co-authored by Kober and Joshua Logan, with music and lyrics by Harold Rome.

In 1941 Kober wrote additional dialogue and scenes for the film production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, starring Bette Davis. On January 11, 1941, Kober married Margaret Frohnknecht (with Lillian Hellman as matron of honor). They had a daughter, Catherine. In 1947 Margaret Kober contracted multiple sclerosis, which caused her death on May 16, 1951. Many years later Kober married Bette Grayson.

Kober continued to write and publish during the 1950's and 1960's, although his Gross family and Benny Greenspan short stories were not as popular as they were twenty years earlier. During the 1960's he was again in Hollywood, where he wrote episodes for Harrigan and Son, Leave It to Beaver, My Three Sons, and other shows.

In the early 1960's, Kober began a book of reminiscences, to be published by Doubleday and Co. Throughout his entire career as a writer, Kober often experienced writer's block, and writing his autobiography was a struggle. As he said in a letter of August 15, 1963, to David M. Knauf, Director of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, “I wrote finger-tied on the typewriter. I wrote with difficulty, with a full and profound sense of insecurity, and I wrote hating every minute of it.” About his autobiography, Kober wrote, “I hope the book will be published. My big hope, however, is that I will be able to finish it.” The book of reminiscences was apparently unfinished at his death in June 1975.

The papers of Arthur Kober illustrate his life and career as a writer. Although superficially the collection appears complete, there is clearly much missing correspondence. In particular, correspondence concerning Kober's relationships with his friends and family is both sparse and scattered, although that which exists is quite interesting. The papers have been arranged into three large series: Correspondence and Related Material, Personal Papers, and Writings. The latter series is comprised mainly of Kober's work.

Kober's CORRESPONDENCE AND RELATED MATERIAL has been arranged alphabetically by writer's last name or organizational name. Most is incoming, and the few copies of Kober's outgoing letters have been filed with the incoming letters. The files date from the 1920's through the 1970's, but are incomplete. Of greatest interest is the file of letters from Lillian Hellman, who remained a close friend of Kober and his family even after her divorce from Kober. There are a few undated letters apparently written before their divorce in 1930, in which Hellman discusses their attempts to have a child and the possibility of their divorce. Later letters are revealing of the nature of their relationship: Hellman selected real estate and new furniture for Arthur and Maggie Kober; had their daughter, Cathy, spend summers with her at Hardscrabble Farm in Pleasantville, New York; and relayed news of Maggie's Frohnknecht relatives. Hellman also discussed her writing, occasionally mentioning Herman Shumlin, Dashiell Hammett, and other friends and acquaintances in the literary world. There are a few of Kober's replies included in Hellman's file.

Other files include letters from family, friends and businesspeople. Among the letters from friends and family are those from Harold and Florence Rome, Irene Lee, Irene Mayer Selznick, and Herman Shumlin, and to his mother, and from his two sisters, Mildred and Kate, and his brother, Will. Business contacts included Bennett Cerf of Random House, who was also considered a friend; Miriam Howell, agent for Curtis Brown, Ltd.; the staff of the New Yorker magazine, among them Wolcott Gibbs, Katherine White, Gus Lobrano, and Robert Henderson; and the staff of the Atlantic Monthly Press; and Robert Lantz and Kenneth McCormick of Doubleday and Co., all concerning publication of Kober's autobiography. All of these letters dealt with revision and publication of Kober's literary manuscripts. Correspondence with agents, with The Author's League of America, Inc. and The Dramatists Guild, Inc.; with producer Kermit Bloomgarden and his assistant, Max Allentuck; with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; with MCA Management, Ltd. and MCA Artists, Ltd.; with Nat Goldstone Agency; and with Robert Whitehead and Robert Whitehead Productions is also present.

PERSONAL PAPERS include a lengthy run of Kober's diaries, many of which were written on appointment calendars. These are of particular interest to a biographer or researcher, as they contain not only a daily record of appointments and activities, but also Kober's year-end examination of his accomplishments and progress in life. Other personal papers include fragmentary financial, earnings, and pension records; a passport; membership and identification cards; transcribed notes from “The Audience as Collaborator,” a course Kober taught at the New School for Social Research, New York City, in 1953; and other items.

The bulk of the collection consists of Kober's WRITINGS. Since Kober wrote in so many different genres, all of his writings are arranged alphabetically by title. A few of his 1930 newspaper columns, “Hollywood On and Off,” and another unidentified column, were microfilmed with the general reviews and clippings concerning his work, 1930-1969.

Included with his writings are Kober's autobiography, published and unpublished short stories, collections of short stories in book form, plays, screenplays, produced and unproduced teleplays, notes, and story and play ideas. Most of Kober's writings are heavily annotated by him, in an almost-illegible handwriting. Kober apparently wrote at the typewriter, and when he encountered an obstacle, he merely began the sentence or paragraph again. A page of a draft often contains six or eight variations of a topic sentence or paragraph. Kober evidently believed in conserving paper by using not only the front and back of each page, but typing from top to middle and bottom to middle of each. Thus, Kober's drafts often contain several attempts at writing, usually from different works, and the result is extremely confusing to the researcher. In arranging the collection, though an effort was made to collect and file together all pages of each draft, Kober's techniques made this impossible.

At the time of Kober's death, his autobiography (which he often called his “book of reminiscences”) was unpublished, although he had worked on it for many years. Apparently it was to be entitled “Having Terrible Time.” The collection includes numerous drafts of this work, including a version that probably was nearly final. This work clearly reveals Kober's struggles to write. Sections and chapters of the autobiography are worked and reworked, and each page may contain three or four attempts to begin different sections of the book. Some draft pages also appear to contain drafts of either “Teacher Trow” or “Now It Is Summer”; because of this, the arrangement of Kober's autobiography drafts appears disorderly. Also included are chapters prepared for publication as short articles, and notes.

Many of Kober's short stories were published in the New Yorker or other journals, and later collected into book length compilations. A number of these stories are present in the collection, both in draft form, filed alphabetically by title; in printed form, collected under the folder heading “Short Stories Published in the New Yorker”; and in a few cases, in book form, under the title of the book. Others have been microfilmed.

Kober's major works, Having Wonderful Time, Let George Do It!, A Mighty Man Is He, My Dear Bella, Oooh, What You Said!, Thunder Over the Bronx, and Wish You Were Here, are all represented by files of correspondence, royalty statements, and some scripts. Additional records of Having Wonderful Time include box office statements, playbills, song lyrics, and a synopsis of scenes with the author's notes on the sets. From the play Let George Do It!, adapted by Kober from the book by John Foster, records also include character sketches and a scene outline, a production contract, and a synopsis. There are box office statements, a copy of the published play by Kober and George Oppenheimer, and playbills from A Mighty Man Is He. For My Dear Bella there are also captions for the Jim Huff drawings, an outline for a television series, reviews, a copy of the paperback book, and Kober's lists of vocabulary and malapropisms as devised for the Yiddish-American Gross family. Kober's collection of short stories entitled Oooh, What You Said! is only represented by a book manuscript and royalty statements. Likewise, there are only sparse files for Thunder Over the Bronx, consisting solely of a sample book, correspondence with Simon and Schuster, Inc., a draft of Dorothy Parker's preface for the book, promotional postcards, and royalty statements. There are more complete files from Wish You Were Here, including an outline and a program from the Ice Capades skit based on the film, playbills, a scene outline and notes, and sheet music. The reviews and clippings about Having Wonderful Time and Thunder Over the Bronx have been microfilmed.

In the 1930's and 1940's, Kober wrote or edited screenplays in Hollywood; several of those which he edited or for which he wrote scenes are present in the collection. Among the titles represented are Army Wife, Broadway Bad, “City Girl,” The House of Refuge, The Infernal Machine, “It Pays to Advertise,” Make Me a Star, “My Own True Love,” “Quota Girl” (or “Winter Time”), Recipe for Murder, “Two-Faced Quilligan,” and “Will You Remember.”

In the 1950's and 1960's, Kober again went to Hollywood, where he wrote teleplays, several of which were produced. Included are scripts and drafts for episodes of The Danny Thomas Show, General Electric Theatre, Harrigan and Son, Leave It to Beaver, and My Three Sons. There are also a few documents indicating that Kober considered writing scripts for television films and other television series.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Arthur Kober, New York, N.Y., 1961, 1968; by the estate of Arthur Kober, 1975, 1977; and by the University of Oregon Library via Hilary Cummings, Salem, Oregon, 1985. Accession Number: MCHC61-050, MCHC68-049, MCHC75-137, MCHC77-007, MCHC77-019, M85-417

Processing Information

Reprocessed with additions by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, December 1985.

U.S. Mss 7AN	Series: Correspondence and Related Materials
Box   1 Folder   1	General, A, 1933-1970, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   2	Agents, 1934-1950
Box   1 Folder   3	Atlantic Monthly Press re: Kober's Autobiography, 1961-1963
Box   1 Folder   4	Authors League of America, Inc. and The Dramatists Guild, Inc., including minutes of meetings of The Dramatists Guild Council, 1937-1963, 1972
Box   1 Folder   5	General, B, 1936-1975, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   6	Basso, Hamilton, with an incomplete draft of “Friends and Fellow Citizens,” and other correspondence, 1946-1948, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   7	Bloomgarden, Kermit and Max Allentuck, 1947-1960
Box   1 Folder   8	General, C, 1935-1969, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   9	Cerf, Bennett and Random House, Inc., 1937-1970, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   10	Christmas Cards, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   11	Curtis Brown, Ltd. (Agent), 1944-1946
Box   1 Folder   12	General, D, 1932-1970, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   13	Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1938-1974
Box   1 Folder   14	General, E, 1933-1974
Box   1 Folder   15	General, F, 1930-1969, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   16	General, G, 1939-1973, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   17	GAC-TV and General Artists Corporation, 1960-1962
Box   1 Folder   18	Golden, John, with contract, 1942-1945
Box   1 Folder   19	General, H, 1939-1974, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   20	Hellman, Lillian, 1920's-1969, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   21	General, I, 1941-1972, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   22	Re: Investments in Plays, with related documents, 1938-1960
Box   1 Folder   23	General, J, 1938-1978
Box   1 Folder   24	General, K, 1928-1968, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   25	Kober, Margaret Frohnknecht; Wedding Announcement, 1941; Letters to Cathy Kober, , 1945-1946, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   1	General, L, 1938-1973, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   2	Lantz, Robert and Kenneth McCormick, Doubleday and Co., Inc., re: Kober's Autobiography, 1963-1974
Box   2 Folder   3	Lee, Irene, 1940, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   4	General, M, 1934-1968, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   5	MCA Management, Ltd. and MCA Artists, Ltd., 1950-1959
Box   2 Folder   6	Letters to Kober's Mother; Sisters, Mildred and Kate; and Other Family Members, 1930-1960's, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   7	General, N, 1940-1968, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   8	Nat Goldstone Agency, 1940-1946
Box   2 Folder   9	New School for Social Research, 1953, re: Course Taught by Kober
Box   2 Folder   10-12	New Yorker Staff, 1930-1968, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   13	General, O, 1938-1973, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   14	University of Oregon, 1961-1972
Box   2 Folder   15	General, P, 1941-1974, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   16	Re: Permissions to Use Material, 1931-1959
Box   2 Folder   17	Players Club, New York, 1940
Box   2 Folder   18	PM Newspaper, 1940, 1946
Box   2 Folder   19	General, R, 1926-1960, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   20	Reinheimer, Howard E. re: Plagiarism Lawsuit (Henry Rose vs. Marc Connelly, Arthur Kober, and Mitchell Grayson), 1937-1941
Box   2 Folder   21	Rome, Harold and Florence, 1950-1972, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   22	General, S, 1934-1974, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   23	Samuel Goldwyn, Inc., 1941-1945
Box   2 Folder   24	Sarah Lawrence College re: Margaret Kober House, 1951-1957
Box   2 Folder   25	Selznick, Irene Mayer, 1952, 1957
Box   2 Folder   26	Shumlin, Herman, 1934, 1940-1945, 1970's
Box   2 Folder   27	General, T, 1937-1967, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   28	Twentieth Century-Fox Corp. and Screen Writers' Guild, Inc. re: Arbitration of Credits, 1933-1945, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   29	General, V, 1942-1971, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   30	General, W, 1941-1972, n.d.
Box   2 Folder   31	Whitehead, Robert and Robert Whitehead Productions, Inc., 1951-1965
Box   3 Folder   1	Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, 1961-1968
Box   3 Folder   2	General, Y, 1941-1970
Box   3 Folder   3	General, Z, 1944-1973
Box   3 Folder   4	No Last Name, 1937-1972, n.d.
	Series: Personal Papers	⇧
Box   3 Folder   5	Address Books (6)
	Appointment Calendars and Diaries
Box   3 Folder   6	Diary, 1921
Box   3 Folder   7	Diary, Aboard S.S. Columbia, July 22-August 1, 1922
Box   3 Folder   8	1934, 1941, 1945
Box   3 Folder   9	1935, 1936
Box   3 Folder   10	Diary, September 24, 1936-August 31, 1938
Box   3 Folder   11	1937, 1938
Box   3 Folder   12	1940, 1942
Box   3 Folder   13	1951, 1952, 1953
Box   3 Folder   14	1954, 1955, 1956
Box   3 Folder   15	1957, 1958, 1959
Box   3 Folder   16	1960, 1961, 1962
Box   3 Folder   17	1964, 1965
Box   4 Folder   1	1966, 1967, 1968
Box   4 Folder   2	1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Box   4 Folder   3	Book Covers
Box   4 Folder   4	Earnings and Royalty Statements, 1939-1948
Box   4 Folder   5	Personal Financial Records (Bank Books, Insurance, Investments, European Trip, Tax Return), 1930-1937
Box   4 Folder   6	Lawsuit - Screen Writers' Guild, et al. vs. Motion Picture Association of America, et al. - Complaint
Box   4 Folder   7	“Life With Kober,” by George Oppenheimer - Sketch, n.d.
Box   4 Folder   8	Membership and Identification Cards
Box   4 Folder   9	Miscellany
Box   4 Folder   10	Transcribed Notes From “The Audience as Collaborator” and School Catalogs, New School for Social Research, 1953
Box   4 Folder   11	Passport, 1928
Box   4 Folder   12	Pension Records, including Earnings Statements, 1936-1973
Box   4 Folder   13	Sketches of and by Kober
Box   4 Folder   14	Summer Camp Reference Materials
	Series: Writings	⇧
	“Having Terrible Time” (Kober's Book of Reminiscences)
Box   4 Folder   15	Manuscript Autobiography, edited, Chapters I-XIV, pp. 1-264
Box   4 Folder   16	Manuscript Autobiography, revised and annotated, Chapters I-XIV, pp. 1-264
Box   4 Folder   17-19	Manuscript Autobiography, drafts, revised and annotated, pp. 169-315
Box   4 Folder   20-22	Draft Autobiography, pages in the 200's
Box   5 Folder   1-3	Draft Autobiography, pages in the 200's
Box   5 Folder   4	“Away From Home Is the Sailor,” manuscript chapter from autobiography, submitted to Holiday, 1967
Box   5 Folder   5-6	Miscellaneous Pages
Box   5 Folder   7	Pages of Chapter XIV
Box   5 Folder   8	Notes for Autobiography, 1966
Box   5 Folder   9	Autobiographical Sketches, 1951; Notes
	“A.K. Loves T.S.”
Box   5 Folder   10	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“All of a Sudden I Get a Certain Tuition Things Don't Look So Chippy ”
Box   5 Folder   11	Short Story, by Kober, April 2, 1960
	“All On a Summer's Day” (3-act play)
Box   5 Folder   12	Correspondence, Notes, Fragments of Script, 1946
Box   5 Folder   13	Script, by Kober, n.d.
	“Alluva Sudden We Got a Sticker Fa Grammar In Our Mist! Ium Not Gonna Cotwail To That Bubble-head Bastidd, if it's the Last Thing I Do!” (possibly alternative titles)
Box   5 Folder   14	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Always Clownin' ”
Box   5 Folder   15	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Any Hammers Today?”
Box   5 Folder   16	Synopsis for Film, by Kober, n.d.
	Army Wife
Box   5 Folder   17	Revised Final Film Script, no author, August 30, 1943
	“Art Lover in the Bronx”
Box   5 Folder   18	Short Story, by Kober, December 20, 1952
	The Bedroom Companion (Anthology)
Box   5 Folder   19	Royalty Statements, 1935-1944
	Bella, Bella Kissed a Fella
Box   5 Folder   20	Book Manuscript, edited and with instructions to the printer, n.d.
	“Bitterness In the Bronx”
Box   5 Folder   21	Short Story (2 versions), by Kober, November 14, 1947
	Broadway Bad
Box   5 Folder   22	Film Script by W.R. Lipman and A.W. Pezet; Continuity and Dialogue by Kober and Maude Fulton, December 3, 1932
	“But I Call It Love”
Box   5 Folder   23	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Calm Yourself”
Box   5 Folder   24	Film Script, by Kober(?), n.d.
	“Champeens”
Box   5 Folder   25	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Checkmate”
Box   5 Folder   26	Television Series Outline and Character Descriptions, revised, September 16, 1960
Box   5 Folder   27	Treatment, ca. 1960-1962, and Outline, , September 6, 1960 for “Man in a Million” or “My Life is in Your Hands,” by Kober
	“City Girl”
Box   5 Folder   28	Memos and Suggested Changes in Treatment for Motion Picture, 1949
	“Cleesh Crick Whiz on Show Biz Quiz”
Box   5 Folder   29	Short Piece, by Kober, n.d.
Micro 1072 Reel   1	General Clippings, 1930-1969
U.S. Mss 7AN	“Clubman”
Box   5 Folder   30	Short Story (2 versions), by Kober, n.d.
	“The Confession of Thomas Evans” (or “The Casebook of `Killer' Evans”)
Box   5 Folder   31	Short Story and Drafts (several versions), by Kober, 1948
	“Crazy World! Crazy People!”
Box   5 Folder   32	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	The Danny Thomas Show
Box   5 Folder   33	“The Laughing-Stock,” Script by Kober, July 11, 1960, rewritten , July 15, 1960
	“Dear John”
Box   5 Folder   34	Synopsis, by Kober, n.d.
	“Don't Let No Cracked-Pot Lay His Fish-Hooks on Your Chronium” (alternative title: “Without a Specialist, the Averitch Doctor's a Plain Drug on the Market”)
Box   5 Folder   35	Short Story (2 versions), December 1, 1949
	“Even the Averitch Incomepoop's Got a Little Egg Nest Put Away”
Box   5 Folder   36	Short Story, by Kober, February 3, 1949
	“Excitement in the Bronx”
Box   5 Folder   37	Short Story (2 versions), by Kober, July 19, 1948
	“Friends and Fellow Citizens” (3-act play)
Box   5 Folder   38	Outlines, by Hamilton Basso and Kober, June 19, 1945, and Correspondence
Box   5 Folder   39	Script, by Basso and Kober, n.d.
Box   5 Folder   40	Script, by Basso and Kober, n.d.
	“G as in Glamorous”
Box   5 Folder   41	Short Story, annotated, by Kober, n.d.
	General Electric Theatre
	“The Camel's Foot”
Box   5 Folder   42	Outline and Related Correspondence, 1960
Box   5 Folder   43	Script, by Kober, August 5, 1960
Box   6 Folder   1	Revised Script, by Kober, August 15, 1960
Box   6 Folder   2	Teleplay, #13159, by Kober, August 19, 1960, with later revisions
Box   6 Folder   3	Revised Teleplay, #13159, by Kober and Russell Beggs, September 14, 1960
	“Go Be Insulted When a Fella Hands You a Compliment!”
Box   6 Folder   4	Short Story, by Kober, November 3 or 11, 1956
	“Go Fight a Broken Down Gypsy”
Box   6 Folder   5	Radio Script (Audition), Broadcast on CBS, August 18, 1944(?)
	“The Great God Innis” (play)
Box   6 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1950
	Harrigan and Son
	“Pipes Are Pipes”
Box   6 Folder   7	Notes
Box   6 Folder   8	Revised Script, by Kober, June 18, 23, 1960
Box   6 Folder   9	Final Draft Teleplay, #6119, by Kober, July 1, 1960
	“What's In a Name?”
Box   6 Folder   10	Revised Script, by Kober, August 11, 1960
Box   6 Folder   11	Final Draft Teleplay, by Kober, August 12, 1960
	Having Wonderful Time
Box   6 Folder   12-14	Box Office Statements, February 1937-January 1938
Box   6 Folder   15	Correspondence, 1935-1965
Box   6 Folder   16	Playbills
Micro 1072 Reel   1	Reviews and Clippings, October 1936-December 1937
U.S. Mss 7AN Box   6 Folder   17	Royalty Statements (Book Sales and Performances), June 1937-March 1973
	Scripts and Published Book
Box   6 Folder   18	First Version, by Kober (worked on by Marc Connelly?), annotated, 1936(?)
Box   6 Folder   19	Photocopy of Script, by Kober, February 28, 1941
Box   6 Folder   20	Acts I and II, September and October 1950
Box   6 Folder   21	Script, by Kober, annotated, March 1951
Box   6 Folder   22	Rehearsal Script, by Kober, n.d.
Box   6 Folder   23	Script (“Not Final Copy”), by Kober, n.d.
Box   6 Folder   24	Script Fragments, n.d.
Box   6 Folder   25	Acting Version of Play
Box   6 Folder   26	Published Book (New York, Random House, 1937)
Box   6 Folder   27	Song Lyrics, by Harold Rome, n.d.
Box   6 Folder   28	Synopsis of Scenes, Author's Note on Sets, n.d.
	“Heck, If I'da Wanted to be a Moss-Gathra, I'da Stayed Put. Absolutely!”
Box   6 Folder   29	Short Story (2 versions), by Kober, n.d.
	“Here's Where I Came In”
Box   6 Folder   30	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“He's the Type Execative Who's Much Too Big Fa His Own Head”
Box   6 Folder   31	Short Story (2 versions), by Kober, March 7, 1949
	“A Highly Remockable Chimpaneze With a Head Chock-Fulla Grain Matter”
Box   6 Folder   32	Short Story, by Kober, March 31, 1949
	“Hollywood”
Box   6 Folder   33	Treatment(?), by Kober, n.d.
	“Honey, Don't You Mix. Honey, You Butt Out”
Box   6 Folder   34	Short Story, by Kober, March 24, 1956
	The House of Refuge, by Grace Southcote Leake
Box   6 Folder   35	Final Shooting Script for Film, Adaptation and Dialogue by Kober, January 27, 1933
	“I Love My Doctor”
Box   6 Folder   36	Contract for Television Film, 1958
	“I Need a Lot of Loving”
Box   6 Folder   37	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“I Remember Trauma”
Box   6 Folder   38	Script for Video Recording(?), by Kober, n.d.
Box   6 Folder   39	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“I Wouldn't Be Your Partner If Your Came Beggin' Me On Your Two Bent Knees!”
Box   6 Folder   40	Short Story, by Kober, May 30, 1956
	“I'da Never Found Out About It, Essept Came the Accident”
Box   6 Folder   41	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“If You Know What I Mean”
Box   7 Folder   1	Short Story, by Kober, August 28, 1946
	The Infernal Machine
Box   7 Folder   2	Final Shooting Script, Continuity and Dialogue, by Kober, November 18, 1932
	“Is Gung to be Everything Fine, Believe Me”
Box   7 Folder   3	Short Story, by Kober, March 26, 1965
	“It Pays to Advertise”
Box   7 Folder   4	Film Treatment, by Kober, November 14, 1930; Partial Dialogue and Continuity, by Kober
	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Box   7 Folder   29	Articles or Publicity written by Kober for the film, ca. 1963
	“It's a Sure Headache I'd Appreciate Somebody to Take Offa My Hands”
Box   7 Folder   5	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	It's Great to be Alive
Box   7 Folder   6	Final Shooting Script, by Kober, March 21, 1933
	“Just a Slugnutty Extra”
Box   7 Folder   7	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Just For Laughs
Box   7 Folder   8	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	Leave It to Beaver
	“Beaver's Big Contest
Box   7 Folder   9	Script and Partial Outline, by Kober, August 18, 1960; Suggested Outline, , July 7, 1960
	“Beaver's House Guest”
Box   7 Folder   10	Script (“Beaver's Lucky House-Guest”), by Kober, May 27 and June 9, 1960
Box   7 Folder   11	Early Draft Script (Partial), May 27, 1960; Script, by Kober, , July 15, 1960
Box   7 Folder   12	Teleplay, #13251, by Kober, July 15, 1960, revised, , July 27, 1960
Box   7 Folder   13	Teleplay, #13251, by Kober, revised August 1, 1960
	“Wally's Test”
Box   7 Folder   14	Teleplay, #13222, by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, revised November 20, 1959
	“You, Too, Can Win a Prize”
Box   7 Folder   15	Story Outline, by Kober; Correspondence, July 11, 1960
Box   7 Folder   16	Synopses of Episodes, 1960
	Let George Do It!
Box   7 Folder   17	Character Sketches and Scene Outline
Box   7 Folder   18	Correspondence and Agreement, 1958-1959
Box   7 Folder   19	Outline of Act I, by Arthur Kober, play adapted from the book by John Foster, n.d.
Box   7 Folder   20	Production Contract, 1959
Box   7 Folder   21	Script, by Kober, n.d.
Box   7 Folder   22	Script, annotated, by Kober, with Scene Layout, n.d.
Box   7 Folder   23	Script (Not Final Draft), by Kober, n.d.
Box   7 Folder   24	Script, by Kober, n.d.
Box   7 Folder   25	Synopsis
	“Life With Poppa”
Box   7 Folder   26	Autobiographical Short Story (“Life With Father”), by Kober, 1965
Box   7 Folder   27	Autobiographical Short Story, published in American Judaism, Vol. XVI, No. 1, Fall 1966
	The Lloyd Bridges Show
Box   7 Folder   28	Fact Sheet, n.d.
	“Mama Loves Papa”
Box   7 Folder   30	First Script - Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and Kober, May 4, 1933
	“The Man About Town”
Box   7 Folder   31	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“The Man With a Merry Mind”
Box   7 Folder   32	Idea for a Comedy (2 versions), by Kober, n.d.
	“Martyr in the Bronx”
Box   7 Folder   33	Short Story, by Kober, October 7, 1947
Micro 1072	Me (play produced but not written by Kober)
Reel   1	Reviews and Clippings, October-November 1925
U.S. Mss 7AN	“Merton of the Talkies” (later, Make Me a Star)
Box   7 Folder   34	Script, April 28, 1932
	A Mighty Man Is He
Box   7 Folder   35	Box Office Statements, September 1959-January 1960
Box   7 Folder   36	Correspondence and Agreements, 1954-1961
Box   7 Folder   37	Congratulatory Telegrams, 1955, 1960
Box   7 Folder   38	Published Play, by Kober and George Oppenheimer, 1960
Box   7 Folder   39	Playbills
Box   7 Folder   40	Royalty Statements, 1955-1964, 1969
	Scripts
Box   7 Folder   41	Acts I and II, by Kober and Oppenheimer, n.d.
Box   7 Folder   42	Revised Script, annotated, by Kober and Oppenheimer, November 4, December 14, 1959
Box   7 Folder   43	Revised and Annotated Script, by Kober and Oppenheime, n.d.
	“Milton, the Poet”
Box   7 Folder   44	Short Story, by Kober, April 6, 1965(?)
	“The Mind Developer,”
Box   7 Folder   45	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Mr. Noodle”
Box   7 Folder   46	Script, Dialogue and Continuity, by Kober, n.d.
	My Dear Bella
Box   8 Folder   1	Captions for Drawings
Box   8 Folder   2	Correspondence and Agreement, 1940
Box   8 Folder   3	Outline for Television Series, n.d.; Radio Script from Living Literature, , July 30, 1941 (NBC)
Box   8 Folder   4	Reviews, 1941
Box   8 Folder   4A	Royalty Statements, 1942-1962
Box   8 Folder   5	Published Book (New York, Bantam Books, 1946)
	Scripts
Box   8 Folder   6	Rough Draft of Act II, by January 1945
Box   8 Folder   7	Script, Act II, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   8	Script, by Kober, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   9	Script, annotated, by Kober, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   10	Script Pages
Box   8 Folder   11	Vocabulary Lists and Malapropisms for Bella Stories
	“My Life's So Miserable, the Way They Constinny Keep Fightin”'
Box   8 Folder   12	Short Story, by Kober, February 19, 1957
	“My Marriage — and Divorce”
Box   8 Folder   13	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“My Own True Love”
Box   8 Folder   14	Revised Film Script, by Kober, June 28, 1947
	My Three Sons
Box   8 Folder   15	Background Material, Characters, Story Lines
	“Greedy Fingers”
Box   8 Folder   16	Script, by Kober, May 20, 1960
	“A Horseless Gift-Horse”
Box   8 Folder   17	Script (2 versions, annotated), by Kober, May 14, 1960
	“The Horseless Saddle”
Box   8 Folder   18	Teleplay, #6272-30, by Kober, Peter Tewksbury, and James Leighton; Story by Kober, July 13, 1960
	“The King of Swat”
Box   8 Folder   19	Two Synopses, by Kober
	“That Old Black Magic”
Box   8 Folder   20	Synopsis, by Kober, n.d.
	“New Business In the Bronx”
Box   8 Folder   21	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“A New York Childhood”
Box   8 Folder   22	Autobiographical Short Story, by Kober, n.d.; with Newspaper Article, , 1930
Box   8 Folder   23	Short Stories Published in the New Yorker
Micro 1072 Reel   1	New Yorker Stories and Other Articles, 1929-1930
U.S. Mss 7AN	“A Nice Set of Dishes”
Box   8 Folder   24	Typescript Play (2 versions), by Kober, n.d.
	“Nocturne”
Box   8 Folder   25	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Now It Is Summer” (formerly “Teacher Trow”)
Box   8 Folder   26	Correspondence, 1957-1967
Box   8 Folder   27	Notes on Script
Box   8 Folder   28	Production Contract, 1958
Box   8 Folder   29	Research Material, 1957
	Scripts
Box   8 Folder   30	Script Fragments, Revisions and Rewrites (“Teacher Trow”), April-November 1953
Box   8 Folder   31	Early Draft Pages (“Teacher Trow”), n.d.
Box   8 Folder   32-33	Partial Scripts, Fragments (“Teacher Trow”), n.d.
Box   8 Folder   34-35	Typescripts of Act I (“Teacher Trow”), by Kober, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   36	Typescript of Act II (“Teacher Trow”), by Kober, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   37	Script for Radio (“Now It Is Summer”) for Columbia Workshop Festival, September 21, 1939
Box   8 Folder   38	Script (“Now It Is Summer”), by Kober, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   39	Script (“Now It Is Summer”), by Kober, with revised pages, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   40-42	Scripts (“Now It Is Summer”), by Kober, n.d.
	“Oft In the Stilly Night”
Box   8 Folder   43	Short Story, by Kober, April 6, 1956
	“The Old-Timer” (alternative titles: “The Lady Who Came To Dinner” and “The Camel's Foot”)
Box   8 Folder   44	Incomplete Story, by Kober, 1932; Outline, , n.d.; and Outline for Film
	“An Ole Persin You Don't Keep Movin' Aroun' Like If She's a Piece Luggitch”
Box   8 Folder   45	Short Story, by Kober, August 8, 1958
	Oooh, What You Said!
Box   8 Folder   46	Book Manuscript, by Kober, 1958
Box   8 Folder   47	Royalty Statements, 1959-1961
	“Paid In Full”
Box   9 Folder   1	Synopsis, by Kober, September 20, 1930; Treatment, by Kober, , October 24, 1930
	Pardon Me for Pointing
Box   9 Folder   2	Royalty Statements, 1939, 1958
	“Park Here”
Box   9 Folder   3	Newsletter, 1962-1963, including articles written by Kober
	“Philosopher in the Bronx”
Box   9 Folder   4	Short Story (2 versions), by Kober, November 7, 1948
	“Picture Premiere”
Box   9 Folder   5	Short Story, n.d.
Box   9 Folder   6	Poems and Verse by Kober, 1948-1967
	“Poor Goldie, She's Cryin' Her Heart Out Like a Liddle Baby”
Box   9 Folder   7	Short Story, by Kober, January 13, 1956
	“Portrayer of Roles and Savior of Souls”
Box   9 Folder   8	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Pour le Sport”
Box   9 Folder   9	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Presenting That Clown Prince of Fun — Mr. Jerry Collins!” (alternative title: “That Jovial, Jolly, Jester of Jokes — Mr. Jerry Jurrow!”)
Box   9 Folder   10	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“The Queen Got Sore”
Box   9 Folder   11	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Quota Girl” (See also “Winter Time”)
Box   9 Folder   12	Screenplay, annotated, by Kober, n.d.
Box   9 Folder   13	Revised Screenplay, by Kober, n.d.
	Recipe for Murder
Box   9 Folder   14	Final Shooting Script, by Kober, December 27, 1934, with later revisions
	“A Red-Faced Chief Who's Just Come Offa the Indian Reservoir”
Box   9 Folder   15	Short Story, by Kober, May 3, 1950
	“The Return” (With Interruptions)
Box   9 Folder   16	Short Play, by Kober, copyright 1926
	“Roller-Coaster”
Box   9 Folder   17	Original Story, by Zeppo Marx and S.J. Perelman, n.d.
	“Sammy Rogers Explains”
Box   9 Folder   18	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Shirley Temple, You Traitor!”
Box   9 Folder   19	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Show Business” (“Shoe String”)
Box   9 Folder   20	Play Script, by Kober, n.d.
	“Shuberts' Unfinished Tympanist”
Box   9 Folder   21	Short Story (possibly a chapter from Kober's autobiography), n.d.
	“Sometimes I'm Happy”
Box   9 Folder   22	Correspondence re: play, 1939-1942
	“A Special Session In the Bronx”
Box   9 Folder   23	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Sprize In the Bronx”
Box   9 Folder   24	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Squirl Food, That's What you Are, Joe — Genuwine Squirl Food!”
Box   9 Folder   25	Short Story, by Kober, December 1, 1956
	“A Stage Director Spends a Quiet Evening At Home”
Box   9 Folder   26	Short Play, by Kober, n.d.
	“Story Conference”
Box   9 Folder   27	Short Story, by Kober, published in TAC, Vol. 1, no. 3, October 1938
	“The Story of Little Flame”
Box   9 Folder   28	Stories, by Kober, n.d.
	“A Summer's Day”
Box   9 Folder   29-30	Play Script, by Kober, n.d.
	“Sunday In the Bronx”
Box   9 Folder   31	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Thank You For Being Such a Good Sport”
Box   9 Folder   32	Short Sketch, by Kober, n.d.
	That Man Is Here Again
Box   9 Folder   33	Royalty Statements, 1947-1848
Box   9 Folder   34	Script for Radio Program, by Kober, n.d.
Box   9 Folder   35	Uncorrected Proof, n.d.
Box   9 Folder   36	Film Script, with Cues, n.d.
	“I Read Your Future”
Box   9 Folder   37	Script, annotated, by Kober, January 18 or 30, 1962
Box   9 Folder   38	Script, by Kober, March 19 or 29, 1962
Box   9 Folder   40	Script, by Kober, post-March 29, 1962
Box   9 Folder   41	Script, by Kober, n.d.
Box   9 Folder   42	Partial Script, annotated, by Kober, n.d.
Box   9 Folder   43	Synopsis, Script Fragments, Notes, n.d.
	“They Went Thiss-a-Way”
Box   9 Folder   44	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“This I Believe”
Box   9 Folder   45	Autobiographical Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“The Three C's”
Box   9 Folder   46	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	Thunder Over the Bronx
Box   9 Folder   47	Sample Book
Box   9 Folder   48	Correspondence with Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1935, 1939-1962; with Dorothy Parker's Preface
Box   9 Folder   49	Promotional Postcards
Micro 1072 Reel   1	Reviews and Clippings, August 1935-January 1936
U.S. Mss 7AN Box   9 Folder   50	Royalty Statements, 1935-1938
	“Topstone Bull-it-in”
Box   9 Folder   51	Newsletter, probably written by Kober, July-August 1923
	“A Tribute to Maurice `Splash' Evans and to George `Brudder' Raft”
Box   9 Folder   52	Short Piece (for Variety?), by Kober, December 4, 1954
	“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
Box   9 Folder   53	Synopsis (incomplete), by Kober, n.d.
	“Two-Faced Quilligan”
Box   9 Folder   54	Notes and Suggested Changes From a Conference, October 25, 1944, with Darryl Zanuck on the First Draft Continuity of October 3, 1944
Box   9 Folder   55	First Draft Screenplay, annotated, by Kober, October 3, 1944
Box   9 Folder   56	Final Script, annotated, by Kober, November 27, 1944
Box   9 Folder   57	Story Treatment, by Kober, n.d.; Notes
	“We Are Not a Packa Fly-By-Night Hustlers Who Are Gonna Disappear Away”
Box   9 Folder   58	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Wedlock Is a Padlock”
Box   9 Folder   59	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“What Is Your Problem?”
Box   9 Folder   60	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“What's a Girl Supposed To Do — Sit Aroun' and Twill Her Thumbs?”
Box   9 Folder   61	Short Story, by Kober, March 20, 1957
	“Why I Gave Up Crime — and Also My Television Set”
Box   9 Folder   62	Short Story (incomplete), by Kober, n.d.
	“The Wife of the Party”
Box   9 Folder   63	Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Will the Real Arthur Kober Please Remember His Alias?”
Box   9 Folder   64	Autobiographical Short Story, by Kober, n.d.
	“Will You Remember”
Box   9 Folder   65	Contract for Film, 1949
Box   9 Folder   66	First Draft Screenplay, by Kober, April 18, 1949, with revised pages and annotations
	“Winter Kill” (Novel)
Box   9 Folder   67	Contract for Screenplay by Kober, 1946
	“Winter Time” (formerly “Quota Girl”)
Box   9 Folder   68	Correspondence and Notes, 1943
	Wish You Were Here
Box   9 Folder   69	Correspondence, 1949-1967
Box   9 Folder   70	Congratulatory Telegrams
Box   10 Folder   1	Outline for Ice Capades; Program
Box   10 Folder   2	Playbills
Box   10 Folder   3-4	Royalty Statements, 1948, 1952-1974
Box   10 Folder   5	Scene Outline, Notes
Box   10 Folder   6	Partial Script, revised and annotated, by Kober, n.d.
Box   10 Folder   7	Script, Act I, n.d.
Box   10 Folder   8	Incomplete Revised and Annotated Script, by Kober and Joshua Logan, n.d.
Box   10 Folder   9	Script, by Kober and Logan, n.d.
Box   10 Folder   10	Sheet Music, music and lyrics by Harold Rome
	“Words”
Box   10 Folder   11	Sketches, by Kober, n.d.
Box   11 Folder   1	Short Stories - Loose Pages
Box   11 Folder   2	Story and Play Sketches and Ideas
Box   11 Folder   3	Lists of Short Stories Published in the New Yorker, with Earnings, 1935-1965, and Lists of Other Writings
Box   11 Folder   4	Outline for a Television Show, n.d.
Box   11 Folder   5	Synopses for Unidentified Television Series, n.d.
Box   11 Folder   6	Miscellaneous Notes