Theater poster for Beauty Shop: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A showcard advertising the stage play “Beauty Shop" by Shelly Garrett. The poster is small, narrow and printed on thin cardboard. The text is black, white, and Day-Glo pink and in a variety of sizes and fonts. The top fourth of the poster has two speech bubbles: the one on the left that reads, [AMERICA’S / No.1 SMASH HIT / BLACK COMEDY], in black text and is filled in with hot pink. The speech bubble on the right reads: [ALWAYS / SELLS / OUT!], as white text in a black speech bubble. Below the speech bubbles is the text: [SHELLY / GARRETT’S] written in black ink and below that is the main title of the play, [BEAUTY SHOP], outlined in black ink and overlaid with Day-Glo pink ink. The text has been set against a Day-Glo green background, featuring a brick wall and a window with a view into a barbershop, where three cartoon figures are depicted in black and white. The figure on the left is a barber, wearing a barber’s coat and holding a pair of shears. The center figure is a balding male figure wearing a barber's cape. The figure on the right is a female wearing a crop top and mini skirt, hoop earrings and has her hair arranged into two puff balls on either side of her head. Behind the figures is a counter holding a hairdryer and bottles and jars. The bottom third of the poster lists the theater location, dates, prices of admission, and information on how to purchase tickets. The reverse of the poster is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1991
• Printed by: Globe Poster Printing Company, American, 1929 - 2010
• Subject of: Shelly Garrett, American, 1946 - 2018
• Subject of: University of the Arts, American, founded 1876
• Subject of: Merriam Theater, American
• Type: advertising cards
• Medium: ink on cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W: 22 1/16 × 14 in. (56.1 × 35.6 cm)
• Place used: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Beauty salons (Beauty shops)
• Topic: Comedy
• Topic: Comedy (Theatre)
• Object number: 2015.64.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kathleen M. Kendrick
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.