Photograph of Earl Bostic signing autographs inside Bill Hawkins’ Record Studio: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white photograph of Earl Bostic signing autographs for a large group of people inside Bill Hawkins’ Record Studio. Bostic and the others are crowded around a long, curving countertop and a record carousel. The group includes men, women, a group of young girls. The people at the front of the crowd are leaning on the countertop. At the center is Bostic, standing behind a stack of long-playing (LP) records in sleeves. Bostic is wearing a button-down shirt with a pineapple pattern and suspenders. He is smiling and looking down at a record in his proper right hand. He is also holding a pen in the same hand. A round record carousel sitting on a round wooden table dominates the foreground of the photograph. It has white LP sleeves fanned out in a circle around the center column with vinyl records filling each sleeve. The column is white and has a square shaped handle at the top. The group of girls standing behind the carousel are all depicted wearing white tops. In the background, next to a window on the left, is a poster depicting Disc Jockey Bill “Hawk” Hawkins talking into a microphone. On the right in the background is a wooden display case pushed against a wall with two signs resting on the top. The sign on the left is round and white with black text on the front advertising [89c] records. The white, rectangular sign on the right has black text advertising [THE FIVE KEYS] and [EDDIE / CHAMLEE] event. In the far right background is a photographic portrait of Cab Calloway. The photograph has a white border and a landscape orientation. The back of the photograph is white and plain with a stamp at the center in a vertically oriented position. The black ink stamp reads [JAMES A. JOYCE / PHOTOGRAPHER / TY 1-0748 CLEVELAND, OHIO].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1952
• Photograph by: James A. Joyce, American
• Subject of: Bill Hawkins, American, 1909 - 1975
• Subject of: Earl Bostic, American, 1913 - 1965
• Subject of: Unidentified Child or Children
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Subject of: Bill Hawkins’ Record Studio, American
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 5 × 7 1/8 in. (12.7 × 18.1 cm)
• Place captured: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Radio
• Object number: 2018.91.2.11
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of W. Allen Taylor, son of "Walkin' Talkin' Bill Hawkins," The First Black Disc Jockey of Cleveland, Ohio
• 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.