Pair of gray Capezio dance shoes worn by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of gray, Capezio, dance shoes worn by Cab Calloway. The exterior upper shoe and tongue are constructed with a dove gray canvas. There are worn patches on the canvas on both shoes mostly near the welts. There is also a worn patch along the top edge of the heel on the right shoe. The toe boxes are rounded. The shoes are double stitched around the outlines of the toe boxes and have a single seam down the center lines of the heels. The lace guards feature matching gray, metal eyelets that are strung with flat, white, string laces. The left shoelace is missing one aglet. The heels are constructed from stacked leather. The shoes’ soles are constructed from tan leather and have black scuff marks. Adhered to the sole on the left shoe is a round, green, fluorescent sticker with handwritten black ink text on it that reads [231].The shoes are lined with white canvas. Printed on the tan insoles is dark brown text that reads [ON-STAGE Fashion / by CAPEZIO], and, printed smaller brown text below reads [NEW YORK • CHICAGO • HOLLYWOOD / MAN MADE INNERSOLE & SOCKLINING].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid 20th-late 20th century
• Manufactured by: Capezio, American, founded 1887
• Worn by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Type: oxfords
• Medium: canvas , leather , metal and cotton (fiber) with pressure-sensitive tape
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.12a): 3 7/16 × 4 1/8 × 11 in. (8.8 × 10.4 × 28 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.12b): 3 3/8 × 4 1/8 × 11 in. (8.6 × 10.5 × 28 cm)
• Place made: Fair Lawn, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.12ab
• 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: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.