How to Breakdance: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pack of View-Master 3D reels. The title of the pack is: [How to Breakdance]. The package contains three reels with a total of twenty-one pictures. The front of the package features a man in a red outfit breakdancing. Text throughout the packaging advertises that the viewer can: [Learn to breakdance with the New York City Breakers]. The three reels are secured by a plastic cover at the bottom of the package. The back of the package features additional information about the reels and an advertisement for other reels.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1984
• Created by: View-Master International Group
• Subject of: New York City Breakers, American, founded 1982
• Owned by: Michael Holman, American, born 1955
• Type: transparencies
• Medium: plastic, ink, photographic film, dye, fiberboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 8 3/4 × 4 1/2 × 1/4 in. (22.2 × 11.4 × 0.6 cm)
• Place made: Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Break dancing
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Play
• Object number: 2016.31.2.2
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: Images in View-Master © 1984 Hip Hop International, Inc Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.