Cleveland Indians pencil from the travel wardrobe trunk used by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A promotional pencil for the Cleveland Indians from the travel wardrobe trunk used by Cab Calloway. The sharpened graphite pencil has a white, round body with black text that reads [Cleveland Indians] in cursive on one side and the reproduction of an autograph in black on the other that reads [Jim Hegan]. At the top of the pencil, just below the gold tone ferrule, is a black-and-white halftone image of Cleveland Indians catcher Jim Hegan shown in a bust pose. The red rubber eraser attached to the top of the ferrule is partially worn.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1953
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: Jim Hegan, American, 1920 - 1984
• Subject of: Cleveland Indians, American, founded 1894
• Type: pencils
• Medium: paint on wood with graphite, metal and rubber
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 7 1/2 × 5/16 × 5/16 in. (19 × 0.8 × 0.8 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Baseball
• Topic: Communication
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Costume
• Object number: A2015.273.1.1.34
• 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.