Wooden clapper from the Cotton Club promoting Ethel Waters: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a wood clapper instrument with black etched type on front and back. Consisting of three pieces of wood, two small rectangles are attached via thin metal strips to the large paddle-shaped base, one on each side. There is black type on both small wooden rectangles. The type on one side of the clapper reads, "The Cotton Club/ Aristocrat of Harlem/ Lenox Ave. & 142nd St. / Phone Bradhurst 2-7767-1687." On reverse side type reads, "Hear/ Ethel Waters/ Sing/ Stormy Weather/ Geo. Dewey Washington." There is a decorative border in black ink around both rectangles. There is text on the reverse side at one end of the rectangle that reads "National Bo [illegible] Co. / [illegible] west 64th [illegible]."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1933
• Subject of: Ethel Waters, American, 1896 - 1977
• Subject of: Cotton Club, American, 1923 - 1940
• Type: noisemakers
• Medium: ink on wood with metal
• Dimensions: H x W: 2 × 8 1/2 × 7/8 in. (5.1 × 21.6 × 2.2 cm)
• Place used: Harlem, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Popular music
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.45.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Dwandalyn R. Reece in memory of Pauline Watkins Reece
• 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.