Sign for Minton's Playhouse: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Historic neon sign from Minton's Playhouse. The sign has multicolored neon letters [MINTON'S PLAYHOUSE] secured to a blue metal background. The sign features five neon musical notes: one on either end of the moniker and three in the center.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: after 1984
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Used by: Minton's Playhouse, American, 1938 - 1974
• Subject of: Henry Minton, American, 1885 - 1970
• Type: signage
• Medium: neon on metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 38 × 297 × 13 in. (96.5 × 754.4 × 33 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 38 × 273 × 13 in. (96.5 × 693.4 × 33 cm)
• Place used: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Bebop (Music)
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Object number: 2015.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Harlem Community Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York State Urban Development Corporation, d/b/a/ Empire State Development
• 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.