Down the Road a Piece; Celery Stalks At Midnight: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

side 1: Will Bradley Trio. Down the Road a Piece; side 2: Will Bradley and his Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley. Celery Stalks At Midnight (Columbia 36958), from the album, Will Bradley and his Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley, (Columbia C-123). 78 rpm. Both tracks were originally recorded in 1940 and released on Columbia 35707. The album was released in 1947.

The album art and design was created by George Howard Maas (1910-1998), an American commercial artist, graphic artist and designer, and art director. Originally from Kansas City, Maas studied at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. In 1939, he was employed as a painter in the WPA (Works Project Administration). By the early 1940s, Maas had moved to New York City where he continued his career with much success creating cover art for albums, book design and illustrations, and poster art.

Materials, dates and provenance

• recording date: 1940
• release date: 1947
• recording artist: McKinley, Ray
• recording artist: Will Bradley and his Orchestra
• recording artist: Will Bradley Trio
• manufacturer: Columbia
• Object Name: sound recording
• Physical Description: shellac (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in; 25.4 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: 1981.0566.188
• maker number: C-123
• maker number: 36958
• accession number: 1981.0566
• catalog number: 1981.0566.188
• Credit Line: Gift of Robert J. Walter
• 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.