Pair of “Chuck Taylor All Star” Converse sneakers worn by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of size 8.5 “Chuck Taylor All Star” Converse sneakers worn by Cab Calloway. The exterior upper shoes are primarily constructed from black, cotton canvas and white rubber. The toe boxes are rounded. The shoes are double stitched with white thread around the outline of the lace guards and ankle collars. The center lines of the heels are reinforced with an additional strip of black canvas. The lace guards feature matching metal eyelets that are strung with flat, white, string laces. Stitched to the proper right side of the left shoe, and the proper left side of the right shoe, are white circular labels with a large, blue, five-pointed star at the center. Blue text printed above and below the star read [CONVERSE] at the top, and [ALL STAR] at the bottom. Printed in white text across the center of the star is cursive text that reads [Chuck Taylor]. The heels are constructed from white rubber. Adhered to the back of each heel is a rubber label with a blue rectangular field at the center surrounded by alternating white and blue bands of varying thicknesses. At the center of the blue field is a five-pointed star with white text that reads [ALL / STAR]. White text in the top left corner and the bottom right corner read [CONVERSE]] and [Chuck / Taylor], respectively. There are two smaller five-pointed stars in the bottom left and top right corners of the label and below the bottom right star is additional small white text that reads [MADE IN U.S.A.]. The shoes’ soles are brown rubber with a diamond pattern tread. On the soles, molded into the arch, is text that reads [Converse / ALL STAR / 8 1/2] with a five pointed star below the word [Converse]. The throat is solid black and the insoles are white with black text that reads [CUSHION / HEEL] and CONVERSE / COMFORT ARCH] at the heel and arch respectively. The shoes are lined with white canvas.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid 20th century
• Manufactured by: Converse, American, founded 1908
• Worn by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: Chuck Taylor, American, 1901 - 1969
• Type: sneakers
• Medium: canvas and rubber with cotton (textile) and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.18a): 6 1/8 × 4 1/8 × 11 7/8 in. (15.5 × 10.4 × 30.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.18b): 6 1/8 × 4 1/8 × 11 7/8 in. (15.5 × 10.4 × 30.2 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Basketball
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.18ab
• 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: © Nike Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.