Flip Phillips' 80th Birthday Party Medallion: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This medallion is from the Flip Phillips 80th birthday party, in 1995. It is made of gold tone plastic with red and black ink. There is a metal loop at the top of the medallion with remnants of a hanging fabric strip. The medallion is printed:

MARCH 24-26, 1995 FLIP PHILLIPS' 80th BIRTHDAY PARTY [image of Flip Phillips]

Flip Phillips, born Joseph Edward Filipelli (1915-2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player.

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1995
• user: Levin, Floyd
• Object Name: medallion
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 2 3/4 in; x 6.985 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: 2011.3086.079
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.079
• Credit Line: Gift of Lucille Levin
• 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.