Music case used by Frank Derrick of the Cab Calloway band: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An instrument case used by Frank Derrick and owned by Cab Calloway. The plasticized case is black matte, rectangular in shape, and has two, black nylon straps attached to each end of the case and reinforced with black metal studs. The case has a lid that is completely removable. The case itself also features a black, plastic, luggage handle attached to the long end of one side. Adhered above the handle is a Continental Airlines tag with fillable address lines printed below. The address lines are filled in with handwritten black text that includes a name and address for [FRANK DERRICK]. Also adhered near the handle is a white, adhesive, airline barcode label and below is the residue for another, peeled off adhesive label. Attached to the handle are two luggage tags: one for Norwegian Cruise Line with Cab Calloway’s name and address handwritten on the back, and the other, Ultra Air from JFK airport for flight number 122 and dated 1/9/93. Each edge of the case and lid is reinforced and held in place with metal studs. The top corners of the lid and the bottom corners of the case are also reinforced with metal. The nylon straps secure the lid to the base and have a metal buckles to adjust the straps. One of the straps has a metal piece on the end to guide through the buckles. The other strap has a frayed end. The straps are attached to the case with leather pieces held in place with metal studs. The interior of the case is plain. Adhered to the top of the lid is a white, plastic, pocket shipping label that has been partially torn off. Adhered above the shipping label is a white Federal Express economy shipping label with a white British Airways Security label plastered over it.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1970-1994
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Used by: Frank Derrick, American, born 1950
• Owned by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: FedEx Corporation, American, founded 1971
• Subject of: British Airways, British, founded 1974
• Subject of: Continental Airlines, American, 1937 - 2012
• Subject of: Norwegian Cruise Line, American, founded 1966
• Subject of: UltrAir, American, 1992 - 1994
• Type: cases (containers)
• Medium: plastic with cloth , leather , metal , nylon , string (fiber product) , paper (fiber product) and pressure-sensitive tape
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Overall): 8 3/4 × 17 7/16 × 14 5/8 in. (22.3 × 44.3 × 37.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.10a): 8 × 16 1/4 × 13 1/16 in. (20.3 × 41.2 × 33.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.10b): 7 9/16 × 17 7/16 × 14 5/8 in. (19.2 × 44.3 × 37.2 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.10ab
• 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.