Smith and Bubar

As the effects of the Great Depression became more severe in the early 1930's, Bubar was working more and more out of the Fox Oakland Theatre for the Fox District Manager - Dick Spier.

In the first year of Roosevelt's new presidency (1933), one of the first New Deal measures passed to deal with the worsening economy, was the National Recovery Administration (NRA).

The NRA helped small businesses, and was configured in such a way that Spier eyed the opportunity to improve his own bottom line: he suggested to Bubar that he and Bubar's artist friend, Barrington Smith, form their own small art business (Smith and Bubar).

Spier, in turn, could still utilize Bubar for Fox art projects by outsourcing them to Smith and Bubar, especially since the offices were still in the Fox Oakland Building!

Just how long Smith and Bubar was a viable enterprise - or exactly when Bubar re-formalized his working relationship with Fox West Coast Theatres - is being researched at this writing (January 2004).

 

Plate of Barrington Smith's work - part of flyer	Plate of Jewett Bubar's work - part of flyer