Van Johnson red socks: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Pair of unworn red socks associated with Van Johnson, an American actor who is well known for his work with MGM during WWII and throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Wearing red socks like these became one of his trademark looks.

Van Johnson was born Charles Van Dell Johnson on 25 August 1916 in Newport, Rhode Island. Johnson had his Broadway debut in New Faces of 1936 and was cast by director George Abbott in Too Many Girls in 1939. He began his contract with MGM in 1942 as Dr. Randall ‘Red’ Adams in the Dr. Gillespie movie series and had his big break in the 1943 MGM film A Guy Named Joe, during which he was injured, keeping him from being drafted in WWII. He continued to play solider-type roles in films, most notably Battleground (1949), The Caine Mutiny (1954), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). Johnson died on 12 December 2008 and his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors his contributions to the film industry.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: around 1940s
• Object Name: socks, pair of
• Object Name: socks, pair
• Measurements: overall: 15 1/2 in x 2 1/4 in; 39.37 cm x 5.715 cm
• place made: United States
• Subject: Movie
• Subject: Entertainment, Film
• ID Number: 2015.3075.01
• nonaccession number: 2015.3075
• catalog number: 2015.3075.01
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.