Lobby card for The Bronze Venus: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The lobby card features a large yellow banner across the top reading [LENA HORNE] in red and [STAR SENSATION OF "CABIN IN THE SKY" and "STORMY WEATHER"] in blue. There is a red star on either side of “LENA HORNE”. Underneath the banner there is a black and white tinted image of of a band leader directing an orchestra against a blue background decorated with stars. There is green on either side of the image. The yellow banner continues below the image and reads [THE BRONZE VENUS] in blue. There is an image of Lena Horne standing and wearing a pink gown on the proper right side of the banner. There is an image of a quartet (The Basin Street Boys) under the yellow banner. The second man from the proper right side is holding a guitar. Each man is wearing a matching tuxedo with a tinted pink shirt and bowtie. There are blue stars, music notes, and music graphs in several areas on the background of the lobby card and on the yellow banners. There is blue text in the top proper right corner which reads [TODDY PICTURES CO. / Presents] There is an orange banner in the bottom proper left corner with blue text that reads [WITH / RALPH COOPER / LAWRENCE CRINER / BASIN STREET BOYS / The CATS and the FIDDLE / Produced by HARRY M. POPKIN / Directed by LEO POPKIN]. There is a thin blue border around the lobby card. There is blue text in the bottom proper left corner under the border. The text reads “COUNTRY OF ORIGIN U.S.A.”].

The back of the lobby card is blank, with some small areas of discoloration.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1943
• Distributed by: Toddy Pictures Company, American, 1941 - 1970s
• Subject of: Lena Horne, American, 1917 - 2010
• Subject of: Ralph Cooper, American, 1908 - 1992
• Subject of: John L. Criner, American, 1898 - 1965
• Subject of: Basin Street Boys, American, founded 1935
• Subject of: The Cats and the Fiddle, American, 1937 - 1951
• Subject of: Harry M. Popkin, American, 1906 - 1991
• Subject of: Leo C. Popkin, Canadian, 1914 - 2011
• 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: Dance
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Musical films
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Object number: 2013.118.96.1
• 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.