Poster for Ebony Parade: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A large poster for the film Ebony Parade with a blue background and an off-white border. Across the blue background are red musical notes and stars outlined in white. At the top center in red lettering is [20 Great Stars]. Printed in the center in small black type is [Astor Pictures presents] followed by [EBONY PARADE] in large yellow letters over a red background. Surrounding the title are color photographic portraits of the stars of the film. At the top left are the faces of Mantan Moreland, Dorothy Dandridge and Ruby Hill, followed by a full portrait of a seated Mabel Lee and in the bottom left corner is an image of the Mills Brothers gathered around two microphones. On the right side are the faces of Cab Calloway, Vanita Smythe, Francine Everett, and Count Basie. At the bottom right is a yellow box bordered in black with red text that reads [featuring / Cab Calloway * Count Basie / His Band His Band / Mills. Bros. * Vanita Smythe / Mantan Moreland * Mable Lee/ Ruby Hill * Francine Everett / Dorothy Dandridge * Pat Flowers / and / Day, Dawn, and Dusk * Jubilaries]. At the bottom left, in small white text on a red background is [RELEASED THRU ASTOR PICTURES CORP.]. On the back of the poster are two stamps in purple that say [Screen Classics, Inc. / 1632 Central Parkway, Cincinnati 10, Ohio].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1947
• Distributed by: Astor Pictures, American, 1930 - 1963
• Subject of: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: Dorothy Dandridge, American, 1922 - 1965
• Subject of: Count Basie, American, 1904 - 1984
• Subject of: The Mills Brothers, American, 1928 - 1982
• Subject of: Mantan Moreland, American, 1902 - 1973
• Subject of: Francine Everett, American, 1915 - 1999
• Subject of: Vanita Smythe, American, 1925 - 1994
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 36 5/8 × 20 7/8 in. (93 × 53 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 41 1/4 × 26 15/16 in. (104.7 × 68.5 cm)
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Comedy
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.118.31
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.