An advertisement for Harvey and Henry’s All White Famous Minstrels and their September 10, 1923, performance at the Moose Theatre, Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Up To The Minute in Every Detail
VAUDEVILLE FEATURES — SCREAMING COMEDY
Billy Davis — W. S. Harvey and Company
Bonsals Elite Syncopators — Many Others
Prices — 50c, 75c and $1.00
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The ad was accompanied by an article in the same paper that further promoted the event:
ANOTHER BANNER SHOW AT MOOSE THEATRE
Harvey and Henry’s All-White Famous Minstrels will be the second performance to theatre goers at this place at Moose Theatre, Monday evening. The Minstrels in its new colors for 1932 season will make its appearance here after playing a number of the larger cities. Its roster contains many well known stars of minstrelsy, among whom are Billy Davis, W. H. Harvey and Company, Gehen and Scott, Miss Mage Anderson, Bonsdale Elite Sextet and others. The press comment states the performances given by the company is of the highest and meritorious order and all lovers of this kind of amusement should not fail to see the bill presented. For further details be sure to read the Moose Theatre ad….
The reference to this show as “All White” was to indicate that all the performers were white. However, the show still had the traditional “black-face” end men, as did nearly all minstrels shows during this time period.
“Local talent,” who emulated and mimicked the traveling minstrel shows welcomed the out-of-towners to learn new routines and know what was selling elsewhere.
The local white men and women, who blackened their faces, and performed emphasizing negative stereotypical behavior that they attributed to African Americans, for the purpose of getting laughs, were often the most prominent people in the community.
This post is part of a series in which news articles, photographs and other “memorabilia” are presented to show how “black-face” was infused into the culture of the Lykens Valley area. Readers are invited to submit photos and recollections on how long this offensive “entertainment” lasted and what locals thought of it as part of the culture of the area.
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Clippings from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.