Jack Bradley was only 15 when he first heard Louis Armstrong on a 78-r.p.m. record in his family’s living room, an ordinary introduction to a man who would end up having a profound influence on Mr. Bradley’s life.
“I never heard anything like that before,” said Mr. Bradley, who is now 74 and lives in this seaside town on Cape Cod.
Mr. Bradley met Armstrong in the early 1950s, after a mesmerizing performance at the American Legion Hall in nearby Hyannis. He recalls approaching the jazz legend in his dressing room and receiving an autographed photograph and a packet of Swiss Kriss, an herbal laxative that Armstrong endorsed. “My life was never the same; my life became Louis,” he said.
From that brief encounter blossomed a tight-knit relationship that turned Mr. Bradley into one of the foremost collectors of Armstrong memorabilia. He amassed thousands of images of Armstrong, on and offstage, rare recordings, sports coats and slippers, and even a banister from the Colored Waifs’ Home for Boys in New Orleans, where Armstrong was remanded as a teenager.
“You just can’t get involved in the world of Louis Armstrong without coming across the name Jack Bradley,” said Michael Cogswell, the director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives at Queens College.
The college runs the museum in the house in Corona, Queens, where Armstrong lived for nearly 30 years. The school bought the collection for $500,000 in 2005, and since then a trove of material has been moved from Mr. Bradley’s home to the college.
“I never heard anything like that before,” said Mr. Bradley, who is now 74 and lives in this seaside town on Cape Cod.
Mr. Bradley met Armstrong in the early 1950s, after a mesmerizing performance at the American Legion Hall in nearby Hyannis. He recalls approaching the jazz legend in his dressing room and receiving an autographed photograph and a packet of Swiss Kriss, an herbal laxative that Armstrong endorsed. “My life was never the same; my life became Louis,” he said.
From that brief encounter blossomed a tight-knit relationship that turned Mr. Bradley into one of the foremost collectors of Armstrong memorabilia. He amassed thousands of images of Armstrong, on and offstage, rare recordings, sports coats and slippers, and even a banister from the Colored Waifs’ Home for Boys in New Orleans, where Armstrong was remanded as a teenager.
“You just can’t get involved in the world of Louis Armstrong without coming across the name Jack Bradley,” said Michael Cogswell, the director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives at Queens College.
The college runs the museum in the house in Corona, Queens, where Armstrong lived for nearly 30 years. The school bought the collection for $500,000 in 2005, and since then a trove of material has been moved from Mr. Bradley’s home to the college.
