The Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann collection spans the years 1866-1990s (bulk 1900s-1960s). The papers encompass approximately 315 linear feet and include books, periodicals, blueprints, building plans, and subject files including theater reference materials. The theater reference material, covering more than 2,000 American theaters, is arranged alphabetically by state, city, and theater name, and consists of clippings, newspaper advertisements, programs, and documentation on subjects such as theater organs and theater restorations. There is a large amount of financial and legal material, including box office grosses, annual financial statements, film booking percentages, legal documents related to the leasing and sale of theaters, and descriptions of buildings for insurance purposes.

Particularly strong is its coverage of major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, but many small-town theaters are also included. There is some material from every state and from Washington, D.C.

The photograph series of the Tom B’hend and Preston Kaufmann collection spans from the late 1890s to circa 1990 (bulk 1900s-1960s) and encompasses 52 linear feet, representing nearly 5,000 American theaters. The collection consists of some 24,000 items, including approximately 15,000 photographic prints, 5,000 negatives, 3,000 postcards, and 500 transparencies.

The photographs document the history of motion picture exhibition throughout the United States. The material is arranged alphabetically by state, city, and theater name. While every state (and Washington, D.C.) is represented, coverage is particularly strong in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

Images depict movie theaters converted from opera houses, vaudeville theaters and retail facilities, in addition to thousands of purpose-built theaters including nickelodeons, movie palaces, neighborhood venues and drive-ins, in locations ranging from major cities to small towns. The images reveal many different aspects of theaters, including exteriors, marquees, front-of-house advertising, box offices, lobbies, concession stands, restrooms, auditoriums, organs, and projection booths. The work of many different architects is represented.

Most of the photographs were taken by professional photographers, and B'hend and Kaufmann themselves collected the images from both archives and private collections.

Thomas B’hend was born in Hereford, Texas in 1917. When he was a year old, his family moved to Southern California, and by 1920 was living in Pasadena. As a child he would attend screenings at movie palaces in downtown Los Angeles as well as at the Academy Theater in Pasadena. At the Academy, he observed the preparations for the stage shows put on by Fanchon and Marco and became fascinated with the live performances that accompanied movie screenings of the era. He attended Woodbury Business College in Los Angeles and worked as a file clerk for the “Los Angeles Examiner.” During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Force where he oversaw a public relations office and base newspaper at the Avon Park Air Force base in Florida. Following the war, he worked as a salesman for West Coast Banana Distributors in Los Angeles. By this time, B’hend’s interest in movies theaters had developed into a keen interest in theater organs. From 1962 to 1984 he published “The Console,” a monthly magazine which reported on theater organ news and events. In 1979 he established Showcase Publications with his partner, Preston Kaufmann, and published Kaufmann’s book “Fox, the Last Word: ... Story of the World's Finest Theatre” as well as David L. Junchen’s “Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ.” In 1986, the American Theatre Organ Society asked him to write a monthly newsletter, “ATOS International News” where he continued reporting on theater organ news as he had done in “The Console.” In 1991 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Theatre Historical Society of America, representing the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region, and he began his own monthly newsletter, the “Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Newsreel,” for THS members. B’hend wrote both newsletters until his death in 1994.

Preston Joel Kaufmann was born in San Francisco, California in 1954. In 1963 he observed the demolition of the Fox Theatre in San Francisco and was fascinated with the building’s architectural style. For a time, he studied architectural design but eventually switched his focus to graphic arts. Nevertheless, he had maintained an interest in the Fox Theatre since its destruction and had also developed an interest in the design of other movie palaces constructed during the silent film era. As a teenager he even tried to build a scale model of the Fox, but in studying the structure he decided he could capture the theater better in a book. For over a decade he researched the theater, conducting interviews with everyone from former ushers to theater executives, and a friend recommended that he contact noted theater historian Tom B’hend. The two became lifelong partners and created Showcase Publications, which published Kaufmann’s book, “Fox, the Last Word: ... Story of the World's Finest Theatre,” in 1979. Kaufmann also worked for “The Console,” a magazine created by B’hend, and the two maintained a personal archive of material on American motion picture theaters and theater organs. He served on the Board of Directors of the Theatre Historical Society of America, representing the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region. Before his death in 1998, Kaufmann arranged to have his and B’hend’s personal archive donated to the Margaret Herrick Library.