Business cards from Mae's Millinery Shop: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Eight (8) business cards for Mae Reeves (.1-.8) all alike made from white cardstock with black printed text that read: "GRanite 6-6516 / Mae Reeves / Exclusive Custom Made Hats by 'Mae' / Draping Remodeling / 41 North 60th Street Philadelphia 39, Pa." A woman in a maid's uniform holding a large hat box is printed in the upper left corner. The reverse of .1-.4, .6, and .8 are blank. Handwritten in pencil upside down on the reverse of .5 is the text: "189-16-5978". Handwritten in pencil on the reverse of .7 is the text: "SH / 75453".

One (1) business card for James W. Grant (.9) made from white cardstock with black printed text that reads: "Phone EVergreen 2-1557 / JAMES W. GRANT / CUB SCOUT MASTER - PACK No. 93 / DEMOCRAT COMMITTEEMAN - 1st DIV.-24th WARD / 309 NORTH 33rd STREET PHILADELPHIA 4, PA." Handwritten text in pencil on the reverse is scribbled over and now illegible.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1941-1994
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Mae Reeves, American, 1912 - 2016
• Subject of: Mae's Millinery Shop, American, 1941 - 1994
• Type: business cards
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2010.6.71.1-.8 each): 2 × 3 1/2 in. (5.1 × 8.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2010.6.71.9): 1 15/16 x 3 1/2 in. (4.9 x 8.9 cm)
• Place collected: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Millinery
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2010.6.71.1-.9
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Mae Reeves and her children, Donna Limerick and William Mincey, Jr.
• 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: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.