Wild Bill Davison Button: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This button celebrates jazz cornetist “Wild” Bill Davison. It is a round button with a black background with gold lettering covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

”Wild” Bill Davison (born William Edward Davison, 1906-1989) was an American jazz cornet player. Davison was active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and best known for his work with bandleader Eddie Condon.

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

Materials, dates and provenance

• user: Levin, Floyd
• Object Name: button
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 2 1/4 in; x 5.715 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: 2011.3086.193
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.193
• Credit Line: Gift of Lucille Levin
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.