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Gisbert Bossard/Max Florence Photograph Collection, 1908-1912
P0002

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Scope and Content:

The Gisbert Bossard/Max Florence Collection consists of about 60 glass lantern slides used by Max Florence for a series of lectures he delivered in New York City in 1911. Included in the slides are rare interiors of the Salt Lake Mormon Temple by Gisbert Ludolf Gerhart Bossard. Bossard was a Swiss convert to Mormonism who fell out with the church and took these pictures as a form of revenge in 1911. He gave the images to Max Florence who tried to sell them in New York City. Florence was not able to find a buyer and after the LDS Church published House of the Lord with better quality interiors of the temple in 1912, the issue became moot. The other views consist of American Presidents, a woman behind bars with the caption "The White Slave" across it, Salt Lake politicians and boosters such as Florence and Samuel Newhouse, views of a streetcar in front of several buildings including the Elite Theatre and the Tribune building, portraits of LDS Church leaders, the Florence Film Exchange, the Elite Theatre, and the Luna Theatre. Some of these images were taken by Charles Ellis Johnson.

Biographical Note:

Max Florence was born in 1865 to Russian-Jewish parents in Latvia. He moved to America when he was nineteen and made his way West. Eventually he ended up in Salt Lake City where he owned several motion picture theaters and the Florence Film Exchange. He apparently sold these businesses in 1911 or 1912. After 1911 he ran a restaurant, owned an express truck, and marketed alcohol during prohibition. After serving a sentence in prison for conspiracy to transport contraband liquor, he moved to Farmington, Utah. He died of cancer in 1932. Gordon Van Fleet purchased the Florence home after a fire in 1944 and discovered the hidden slides. Mr. Van Fleet donated the images to Special Collections in 1991.

Researcher Note:

The physical condition of the slides is generally good, although some have small cracks. Register completed by Daniel Davis, February 2001.

Inventory:

Box 1.

Portraits

1:01. William Jennings Bryan.
1:02. George Q. Cannon.
1:03. Max Florence, captioned "Doing the Best I Can"
1:04. Max Florence, captioned "A Salt Lake Booster."
1:05. Max Florence and unidentified friend, captioned: "Two Little Boosters - Max Florence and his College Chum."
1:06. J.W. Kern.
1:07. Jesse William Knight, Democratic candidate for Governor of Utah.
1:08. Francis M. Lyman.
1:08a. Francis M. Lyman.
1:09. Samuel Newhouse.
1:10. Samuel Newhouse.
1:11. Samuel Newhouse, captioned: "A Real Live 'Utah Booster,'"
1:12. Samuel Newhouse, captioned: "The Father of the Salt Lake Sky-Scrapers."
1:13. image President Theodore Roosevelt.
1:14. William Spry, Republican candidate for Governor of Utah.
1:15. J.S. Sherman.
1:16. R.G. Sleater, candidate for U.S. Representative of Utah.
1:17. Erastus Snow.
1:18. Lorenzo Snow.
1:19. President William H. Taft.
1:20. Margaret Zane Witcher, Republican candidate for Slate Lake County Clerk.
1:21. William Jennings Bryan.

The Florence Film Exchange

1:22. Interior of the Florence Film Exchange in the rear of the Luna Theatre.
1:23. Interior of the Florence Film Exchange.
1:24. Interior of the Florence Film Exchange.
1:25. Business office of the Florence Film Exchange.
1:26. Interior of the business office of the Florence Film Exchange.

Streetcar Views

(This Series is numbered, and describes a trip taken on a Salt Lake City streetcar.)

1:27. image Streetcar in front of the Elite Theatre captioned "The Max Florence Special Starting from the Elite Theatre."
1:28. Streetcar in front of the U.S. Post Office.
1:29. Streetcar in front of the Tribune building.
1:30. Streetcar in front of the Herald Office.
1:31. Streetcar in front of Freed Furniture and Carpet.
1:32. Streetcar and riders, top of Elite Theatre in background.
1:33. The Ladies G.A.R. Military Band posed with their instruments in front of the Elite Theatre (copy negatives only).
1:34. The American Drum Corps posed with their instruments in front of the Elite Theatre.
1:34a. Streetcar in front of the Brigham Young Monument, looking northwest, LDS Temple in background.

Mormon Sites and Miscellany

1:35. Exterior of the William C. Staines Conservatory, Mormon Temple barely visible in the background.
1:36. Probably the interior of Brigham Young's office in the Lion House.
1:37. Probably the interior of Brigham Young's office in the Lion House.
1:38. Exterior of the Bureau of Information building.
1:39. image View of the Mormon Temple looking northwest (photo by A.J. Clapham).
1:40. View from the roof of the Mormon Temple includes a protion of the northeastern spire in the foreground, Hotel Utah in the background.
1:41. Close-up of an exterior wall of the ground floor of the Mormon Temple.
1:42. Views of the Terrestrial Room of the Mormon Temple.
1:43. Views of the Terrestrial Room of the Mormon Temple.
1:43. Room with alar and witness chairs, Mormon Temple.
1:44. Views of the Terrestrial Room of the Mormon Temple.
1:45. Enactment of a temple ceremony, one man in temple robes and another in street clothes, unidentified room in the Mormon Temple.
1:46. image An illustration of a woman behind bars with the caption "The White Slave" across it.
1:47. Enactment of a temple ceremony, one man intemple robes and another in street cloethes, unidentified room in the Mormon Temple.
1:48. An illustration of a woman behind bars with the caption "The White Slave" across it.

Lantern Show Slides

1:49. Introductory slide reading "Good Afternoon."
1:50. Ending slide reading "Good Night."
1:51. Slide reading "Change of Program Wednesday and Sunday."
1:52. Illustration of a train caboose with a blank space, reads "Rocky Mountain Limited" at the bottom.

Flags

1:53. A forty-six star American flag.
1:54. The British flag.
1:55. The British flag.
1:56. The German flag
1:57. The German flag.
1:58. The Swedish flag.
1:59. The Swedish flag.
1:60. The Swiss flag.
1:61. The Swiss flag.

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Special Collections & Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University Libraries, Logan, Utah, 84322-3000