Promotional photo of Cab Calloway and his Orchestra: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white promotional photograph of Cab Calloway. Calloway is pictured in the center of the image, light by a round spotlight and casting a large shadow on the plain wall behind him. He wears a light colored, double breasted suit with dark colored bow tie and white pocket square. His arms are bent at the elbows and his arms raised chest high, palms facing down. A conductor's baton is in his proper right hand. At the bottom left of the image is the photographer's mark: [Bloom / Chicago]. Along the bottom of the photograph is printed on the left side: [CAB CALLOWAY / and his Cotton Club / Orchestra] and on the right side: [CAB CALLOWAY, INC. / 1619 BROADWAY / NEW YORK CITY]. There are no marks or inscriptions on the back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1930s
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 8 9/16 × 7 1/2 in. (21.7 × 19.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 10 × 8 3/16 in. (25.4 × 20.8 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.237.15
• 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.