Pinback button featuring Marshall Major Taylor: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A circular pinback button featuring an image of a Marshall "Major" Taylor dressed in a blue and red striped shirt. The image is at the center of the button and is surrounded by a red circle atop the white background. Text inside the circle reads: [MAJOR TAYLOR / IVER JOHNSON CYCLES]. The back of the pin has a label for The Whitehead & Hoag Company that has black type that reads: [THE / WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO. / NEWARK, N.J. / (Logo of Union Label) / PATENTED / JULY 17, 1894 / April 14, 1896 JULY 21, 1896] and a metal unlocked pin style fastener.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1899
• Created by: Whitehead & Hoag Company, American, 1892 - 1965
• Subject of: Marshall Walter Taylor, American, 1878 - 1932
• Subject of: Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works, American, 1891 - 1975
• Type: buttons (information artifacts)
• Medium: ink on paper, metal and celluloid
• Dimensions: Diameter: 7/8 in. (2.2 cm)
• Place made: Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Cycling
• Topic: Sports
• Object number: 2011.159.3.47
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Dawn Simon Spears and Alvin Spears, Sr.
• 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: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.