Cab Calloway & Cotton Club Orchestra 1934 Old Orchard Beach, ME Concert Poster....

Description

Cab Calloway & Cotton Club Orchestra 1934 Old Orchard Beach, ME Concert Poster. An original cardboard window card advertising the supremely talented Cab Calloway and his Cotton Club Ork playing at the Old Orchard Pier ballroom venue in Old Orchard Beach, Maine on Sunday night at midnight, September 4, 1934. Great caricature of Cab's face, cool blue & orange checkerboard design (meaning four colors on the poster total) and of course, his famous slogan "Hi-De-Ho" from "Minnie the Moocher." What an active day that was on the pier... movies around lunchtime, dancing in the afternoon and the big star rolling in at midnight. They still knew how to have a good time during the Great Depression! Measures 14" x 22" and grades to repaired Very Good condition. Repair work by Chameleon Restoration, COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Billboard magazine chart historian Joel Whitburn calls Calloway "one of the most charismatic showmen in popular music history." He was a highly successful singer, dancer, bandleader and actor, and forged a career that last 2/3 of a century. He reached the Billboard charts in five consecutive decades (1930's-1970's), and then in 1980 appeared in the hit movie The Blues Brothers with Ackroyd & Belushi.

This poster hails from September of 1934; in August, Cab charted a Top 10 hit ("Moon Glow") and in October he charted another one ("Chinese Rhythm"), one for Victor and the other on Brunswick. With 1931's "Minnie the Moocher" he became the first Black American to have a million-selling single. Decades later, the awards poured in: In 1993, Cab was awarded the National Medal of Arts from Congress; in 1999, "Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame; in 2008 he was posthumously bestowed with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; and in 2019, "Minnie" was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. And yes, he's a member of the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame.

Condition details: The board was once missing the upper left and lower left corners, which have been expertly restored by Chameleon. The other two corners had no missing material but repair work done as well. A two-inch edge tear from the top center between the "H" and "A" of "Orchard" has been mended. Likewise with two tears coming in from the poster's edge, one to the left of Cab's smile (about 1 ¾", never approaching his face) and another down into the "C" of "Calloway" (just barely touching the "A"). Otherwise the poster was just dirty & soiled in places, mostly in the white including the lettering at the very top, which has been dialed way back. There remains a small, harmless surface blemish between Cab's eyebrows. And there are a few more smaller surface creases, to be expected from a window card of this vintage. General toning throughout.


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