Bottle opener from the travel wardrobe trunk used by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Pabst Blue Ribbon bottle opener with can piercer (A2015.273.1.1.30a) and protective cover (A2015.273.1.1.30b) from the travel wardrobe trunk used by Cab Calloway. The silver tone tool features a bottle opener on one side and can piercer on the other. Stamped text on the top of the handle reads [Pabst Blue Ribbon]. Stamped text of varying sized on the bottom on the handle reads [VAUGHAN U.S.A. PAT. 1,996,550 / Pabst Blue Ribbon]. The tool has a keyring hole at the bottle opener end. The protective cover is a short piece of black rubber tubing that covers the can piercer.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid 20th-late 20th century
• Manufactured by: Vaughan Manufacturing, American, founded 1869
• Distributed by: Pabst Brewing Company, American, founded 1844
• Owned by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Type: bottle openers
• Type: can openers
• Medium: A2015.273.1.1.30a: metal
• Medium: A2015.273.1.1.30b: rubber
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.1.30a): 4 3/4 × 7/8 × 13/16 in. (12 × 2.3 × 2.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.1.30b): 1 × 7/8 × 3/16 in. (2.5 × 2.3 × 0.4 cm)
• Place made: Peoria, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Cooking and dining
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.1.30ab
• 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.