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Showing posts with label Photograph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photograph. Show all posts
Early Photograph of a Cross Dresser
Shopping for Pueblo Pottery Roadside Vendor Original Photograph c. 1930 collection Jim Linderman
Vernacular Travel Photo
Vernacular Travel Photo (Museum of Natural History, NYC March, 1971)
Collection Jim Linderman Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Black Sideshow Minstrels of Nashville: Jerri Jackson and the Hi Steppers of 1952 R&B Rock and Roll
The High Steppers of 52! The unknown sideshow photographer kept good notes too. Seldom does a photograph caption squeeze in so much information. However, the real story isn't the Cetlin and Wilson Shows mentioned. It is the remarkable all African-American cast and crew bringing hot music and dancing to the greater community at a time when the races hardly met.
Here, the High Steppers are performing in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania. Over 60 years later the population of Heidelberg is still 98% white. The kids watching the show had probably never seen anything like it.
The best source for the High Steppers story is an obscure book The Sound of Applause by Audrey Taylor Henry. Her book claims to be "A History of Medieval and Modern Outdoor Entertainment Forms Introducing Three African-American Showmen" but it is even more. The author had numerous personal connections to the High Stepper members, and she shares stories about an extended black family who grew up on the circuit.
The book has an odd format. Chapters are followed by "quiz questions" as in a textbook. She also has an extensive glossary of carnival terms. A surprising number have African-American roots. These include dance forms such as Krumping, Mess Around, Poppin', Snake Hips and the Tack Annie. Even those in the trade referred to the act as a "jig" show.
Jerri Jackson was born in Georgia in 1907. He learned piano and performed with his church choir, but he likely didn't perform any gospel with the High Steppers Act. Exotic dancers seldom perform in church. He paid his performers well. Members received 50 dollars a week, and in the off seasons were also employed to perform in "ethnic" clubs and the Bijou Theatre in Nashville. He was referred to as the local impresario in Nashville and was active booking and producing acts in the Theater Owners Booking Association which catered to black audiences.
Mr. Jackson's first colored revue was known as The Hip Cats Minstrel Review active in the 1940s.
Billboard Magazine reported in 1951 that "Jerri Jackson's Hi Steppers and the Divena, underwater strip tease show were the leading money earners" in Macon, Ga.
The High Steppers touring stage had signs reading "Rock "N" Roll Special Midnight Ramble" and "Rock 'N Roll with Jerry Jackson's High Steppers" back when the phrase had hardly emerged. In Levon Helm's biography, he credits a similar act known as the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as an influence.
Black showmen operating in the Jim Crow era have not received the attention they deserve. The massive Bear Family box set Nashville Jumps, Blues & Rhythm 1945 - 1955 is a good start. Black in Blackface: A sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows by Henry Sampson is too.
Yes, there were black minstrel shows without white performers in black face. Here is another.
Original Photograph Collection Jim Linderman
Love During Wartime Vietnam Edition. Pair of Snapshots
Antique Folk Art Cane Carver and Whimsy Maker c. 1880
B. F. Perkins Brick Tower Words of God Vernacular Architecture
B. F. Perkins Brick Tower Words of God. Original photograph Jim Linderman 1992 Alabama
How to Shoot a Tintype Backdrop to Create an Effective Illusion of Being Outdoors
Vintage Photograph of Uncle Sam Folk Art and Friends
Sideshow Banners Vintage Photographs of a Ten-in-One
A "Ten in One" is a sideshow with ten different shows. This one had a dozen.
Sideshow Banners Vintage Photographs of a Ten-in-One Anonymous, no date.
Collection Jim Linderman
Champion Whittler C. A. Hughes Wooden Figure and Uncle Sam Folk Art Arkansas 1927
Champion Whittler C. A. Huges Wooden Figure and Uncle Sam Folk Art
Original press photograph edited by hand before publication 1927 Arkansas
Collection Jim Linderman
Early Automobile with (a) Character Painted on the Radiator!
Early Automobile with (a) Character Painted on the Radiator! Original photograph collection Jim Linderman. Thanks to Curley's Antiques.
Country Stoneware Auction c. 1940 "Clifton Sells" Snapshot Collection Jim Linderman
A Country Stoneware Auction c. 1940 Caption (continued on reverse) reads: "Clifton auctioneer at farm. Clifton in his warm farm clothes for auction sales. He was preferred for he knew many people by name. Wore Borcelans Hats."
Circa 1940 snapshot collection Jim Linderman
Giant Cat Folk Art Yard Art Tree and Root Sculptures
Giant Cat Folk Art Yard Art Tree and Root Sculpture snapshots. Unknown location, unknown date. Collection Jim Linderman
Vintage Ventriloquist Vent Dummy (and one in the box) Original Snapshot collection Jim Linderman
Ephemeral Folk Art Figure of the Scarecrow Kind original photograph collection Jim Linderman
Ephemeral Folk Art Figure of the Scarecrow kind original photograph circa 1890 collection Jim Linderman
Antique American Horse and Jockey Weathervane
Antique American Horse and Jockey Weathervane ready for installation.
Anonymous Snapshot, no date, collection Jim Linderman
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