Program for Cafe Zanzibar: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A program from the Cafe Zanzibar. The program is designed so that patrons could address it to a friend and have it mailed by the business. The program is a single sheet of paper, folded in half. The front features a white box, bordered by a grayscale leopard-print background. The illustration inside the white box is of a scantily clad woman seated on a rock, wearing a flowing orange skirt and feathered headdress. Above and to the left of the woman is orange script that reads, [Home of the Stars / Program]. Below the white box, is white text against a black background. The background is roughly the shape of a rectangle with uneven edges. The text reads [CAFE ZANZIBAR / BROADWAY AT 49th / NEW YORK]. The interior pages features black text set against an orange-tinted photograph showing a line of showgirls. At the top of the program the text reads, [Joe Howard presents The Winter Edition of “ZANZIBARABIAN NIGHTS”]. Below, on the left interior page is the program, which featured Pee Wee Marquette as the host. The floorshow acts included Bill Robinson, Louis Armstrong, The Nicholas Brothers, Maurice Rocco, The Peter Sisters, the Delta Rhythm Boys, and the Zanzibeauts. On the right interior page is the rest of the program and the finale and the two (2) bands scheduled for the dancing portion: Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra and Claude Hopkins and his Orchestra. The staff are listed at the top of the right interior page. The back provides spaces for an address and stamp on the right. On the left is a rectangle of a grayscale leopard-print. Inside the rectangle is an illustration of a white tag with black text that reads, [Regards From] above a blank line. Below the tag is a white box with black text that reads, [AFTER / DINING, DANCING / AND SEEING A / WONDERFUL SHOW], and a black box with white text that reads, [AT THE Cafe / ZANZIBAR / BROADWAY AT 49TH ST. / NEW YORK CITY].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1945
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Distributed by: Cafe Zanzibar, American, 1943 - 1948
• Subject of: Joe Howard, American, 1867 - 1961
• Subject of: Pee Wee Marquette, American, 1914 - 1992
• Subject of: Louis Armstrong, American, 1901 - 1971
• Subject of: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, American, 1878 - 1949
• Subject of: Maurice Rocco, American, 1915 - 1976
• Subject of: Velma Middleton, American, 1917 - 1961
• Type: souvenir programs
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Closed): 7 3/16 × 4 15/16 × 1/16 in. (18.3 × 12.6 × 0.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Open): 7 3/16 × 9 15/16 × 1/16 in. (18.3 × 25.3 × 0.1 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.68
• 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: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.