Lobby card for Imitation of Life: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The lobby card features a color image of a still from the film. There is a woman on the proper right side with wavy brown hair and a blue top with green pants. She is sitting in profile facing the proper left side. Her left hand is up to her mouth and her right arm is resting on her lap. There is another woman on the proper left side of the image. She has curly hair and is wearing a brimmed hat, pearl earrings, a brown dress, gloves, and a fur stole. There is a white trim on the proper right side of the image and it is abstract in shape. The proper right side of the image contains a yellow background with a colored drawing of two characters from the film. The woman on the proper right has wavy hair and sad eyes and is larger in size. The woman on the proper left was drawn smaller. She is wearing a long-sleeved green dress and has curly hair. Her right arm is raised. There is a blue box below it with white text that reads [CLAUDETTE / Colbert / in / Fannie Hurst’s GREAT NOVEL / IMITATION of LIFE]. There is a border around the image. There is red text on the proper right bottom of the border which reads [WITH LOUISE BEAVERS / A JOHN M. STAHL production]. There is red text in the center containing a list of cast members. In the bottom proper left border there is blue text which reads [A / Realart / RE-RELEASE / 6 Country of Origin U.S.A. R 49/650].

The back of the lobby card has some areas of discoloration. There is an upside-down diagonal red stamp at the bottom left which reads [Independent Poster Exch.] with an address below it.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1949
• Distributed by: Realart Pictures Inc., American, founded 1948
• Subject of: Claudette Colbert, French, 1903 - 1996
• Subject of: Fannie Hurst, American, 1885 - 1968
• Subject of: Louise Beavers, American, 1902 - 1962
• Subject of: John M. Stahl, Azerbaijani, 1886 - 1950
• Subject of: Fredi Washington, American, 1903 - 1994
• Subject of: Warren William, American, 1894 - 1948
• Subject of: Ned Sparks, Canadian, 1883 - 1957
• Type: lobby cards
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2013.118.115.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.