The Best of Moms Mabley: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A vinyl record (a) and cardboard album jacket (b) for the comedy album “The Best of Moms Mabley.” The vinyl disc has a red paper label with printed black text and the Mercury Records logo in black and white. The album jacket cover has a large color photograph of Moms Mabley performing on stage in front of a seated crowd. Within a white text box in the center, the album title is printed in blue text [The Best Of Mom’s Mabley] and below is the track list printed in yellow text. In the space between the album title and track list is the inscription [19] in blue ink. The back of the album jacket is white with black printed text, with a message written by Bill Cosby within a black outline. To the left of the excerpt, written vertically in red marker is an inscription reading [MR. MENASTER]. The track list is printed below in two columns along with a grid of four other albums by Mabley. The release number is at the top right corner: [SR-61139/MG-21139].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1967
• Recorded by: Moms Mabley, American, 1897 - 1975
• Produced by: Hal Mooney, American, 1911 - 1995
• Written by: Moms Mabley, American, 1897 - 1975
• Written by: Eddie Parton, American
• Composed by: Lloyd Mayers, American, born 1929
• Published by: Mercury Records, American, founded 1945
• Type: long-playing records
• Medium: vinyl with ink on paper and cardboard
• Dimensions: Diameter (disc, a): 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (jacket, b): 12 1/4 × 12 1/4 in. (31.1 × 31.1 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Comedy
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: U.S. History, 1961-1969
• Topic: Vaudeville
• Object number: 2015.157.3ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ray Menaster
• 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: © Mercury Records Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.