1931 Bristol High School Spring Dance Program Art Deco Patrons For Sale

An annual spring dance program from Bristol High School, dated April 10, 1931, documents a formal school social event from the early Depression era. The cover features the event title arranged in a centered typographic hierarchy, with “Annual” at the top, “Spring Dance” below, followed by “BRISTOL HIGH SCHOOL” and the date “APRIL TENTH” with “NINETEEN HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE” at the bottom. The booklet is bound with a solid teal-green cover, a color characteristic of Art Deco design preferences of the period.Inside, the first page repeats the school name and the precise date of April 10, 1931, beneath a stylized Art Deco illustration depicting a dancing figure accompanied by birds, rendered with the geometric, streamlined aesthetic typical of early 1930s graphic design. This page also announces that the music for the evening was provided by “MIDSHIPMEN,” identifying the dance band that supplied the entertainment. The center spread contains an extensive list of “PATRONS,” including dozens of names of local community members, such as Dr. and Mrs. William C. LeCompte, Mr. and Mrs. Asa Fabian, Dr. and Mrs. T. S. Harris, and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wallace, among many others. This patronage list reflects the social networks and community support systems that sustained high school events in small American towns during this era. The final interior page features a thank you message addressed “To Our Friends / WHO DONATED TO THE SUCCESS / OF THIS AFFAIR, AND TO OUR / PATRONS, THE COMMITTEES EX- / TEND THEIR SINCERE THANKS.” The program shows typical age-related toning to the interior pages but remains intact with no significant creases, tears, or stains, indicating careful preservation over nearly a century. As a piece of educational ephemera and local social history, this program offers insight into the formal dance culture, community patronage traditions, and Art Deco visual language of early 1930s American high school life, making it a document of interest to collectors of school memorabilia, print ephemera, and regional historical artifacts.