Series consists of 61 scrapbooks kept by Gerald Pratley, which he called his History Scrapbooks. In general, they relate to various aspects of his personal and professional life. They contain clippings of newspaper and magazine articles about him, reviews of his work, postcards and other travel souvenirs, invitations, ticket stubs, programmes and posters relating to films, membership and identity cards, other memorabilia, some correspondence and photographs. The later scrapbooks also relate to the life and career of his one-time companion, Risa Shuman, a producer at TVOntario. Included are History Scrapbooks numbered from #1 to #52, arranged chronologically at the beginning of the series, with oversize numbered scrapbooks filed in oversize containers. Separate scrapbooks labelled Film Societies and Festivals, Motion Pictures (a scrapbook of correspondence and printed material relating to the Little Cinema which Pratley managed 1961-1962), Films and Recognitions, Press Reports, Specials/Publications, Universities and Other Associations, Miscellaneous Personal, and Recent Items are filed chronologically at the end of the series, along with some loose material.
Among other material, the numbered scrapbooks contain the following: Moira Shearer letter [1949], letters from J. Arthur Rank and Harry Boyle 1950, the National Film Board and British Film Academy 1951, and Leslie Frost 1955 (scrapbook #1); souvenir swatch of the Stratford Festival tent 1957 (#2); Ben-Hur, El Cid and Spartacus promotional material (#3); invitation to Beatles press conference Toronto 1964 (#4); documentation re. Canadian Society of Cinematographers meeting 1967 (#5); telegram regarding death of Pratley's father, and menu from on location with John Huston's Sinful Davey, autographed by John Hurt, Anjelica Huston, and others [1969] (#6); 2 pen portraits of Pratley by Igor Gouzenko 1973 (#7a); note from Robin Spry crediting Pratley with a change he made to his film One Man (#7b); a menu autographed by Elwy Yost, Elwood Glover, etc. (#11); letters from Elwy Yost to Risa Shuman (#14 & #15); note from Michael Apted (#15); autographs of Bryan Mosley, Thelma Barlow and Peter Baldwin of Coronation Street (#15 & #16); Canadian Film Celebration menu autographed by Flora MacDonald and Tantoo Cardinal, and others 1991 (#19); autograph of Charles Lawson of Coronation Street (#20).
The later scrapbooks contain a good deal of non-film related material kept by Pratley to document his other interests. Included are such items as promotional material for restaurants he frequented, retail packaging that illustrated products he used and clippings about the monarchy. There are postcards from travels. A 1993 scrapbook includes extensive documentation on Pratley's trip to New Zealand, Australia and China (#26) and a 1994 scrapbook records a trip to the Yukon and Alaska (#31). Among the photographs are ones of his grandchildren. Some film material is included, such as a call sheet from John Frankenheimer's production of Chico 1993 (#30) and the text sent by Frankenheimer 1996 for an introduction to Pratley's book, The films of John Frankenheimer: forty years in film/John Frankenheimer talks about his life in the cinema to Gerald Pratley (1998) (#45). There is a handwritten note from Clyde Gilmour on the death of Gilmour's wife 1995 (#38). A 1996 scrapbook (#40) includes two early b&w photos of Pratley dated ca.1943. A 2000 scrapbook includes letters from Shri Lankan cinematographer Willie Blake and Canadian writer Betty Jane Wylie (#49).
