Black half hose from the travel wardrobe trunk used by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An unworn pair of black half hose from the travel wardrobe trunk used by Cab Calloway. The crew length socks are constructed from sheer, black, nylon mesh. At the cuff is a thick woven band with very thin ribbing. The socks are reinforced at the heels, soles, and the toes. Stamped on the soles of the socks is orange text that reads [IRREGULARS / 56% MERCERIZED COTTON / 44% NYLON / MADE IN U.S.A. RN 14596]. Adhered to the top of one of the half hose socks is a paper tag. The tag is wrapped over the cuff of the sock and is yellow on the front and plain white on the back. On the front of the tag is a white manufacturers logo, a graphic of five, five-pointed stars of varying sizes at the center of a white hexagon. Black text above the hexagon reads [MEN's]. Text below reads [HALF HOSE] and [MADE IN U.S.A] divided by a black, diamond shaped flourish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid 20th-late 20th century
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Type: hosiery
• Medium: cotton (fiber) and nylon with ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.1.44a): 16 7/8 × 9 × 1/16 in. (42.8 × 22.9 × 0.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.1.44b): 16 5/16 × 8 9/16 × 1/16 in. (41.4 × 21.7 × 0.2 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.1.44ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.