Minstrel shows — and their image adjustment — a part of Atlantic City’s history.
An example of a minstrel show in Atlantic City. This photo is credited to Atlantic Foto Service, found online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellenmc/2745923184/
IT WAS AUGUST 1898 AND, DRAWN to the beer garden at Fortescue’s Pavilion at Arkansas Avenue and the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, parched patrons quaffed their brews. Sudsy from nearly drowning (or seeming to) in the ocean, 18-year-old William Claude Dukenfield lay gasping on the tiles, delivered there by designated saviors. Onlookers swelled the crowd. Moments later, remarkably revived, W.C. Fields — the young man’s stage moniker — performed a juggling routine for the paying customers.
Half a century later, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis would pull the same stunt (just the drowning-and-saving — no juggling) to attract beachgoers to the 500 Club.
That, baby, is show biz.
Fields, a future legend in vaudeville and movies, returned to the seashore the following July with Murphy and Gibson’s American Minstrels on the Steel Pier, and therein lies both a tale and a tradition: minstrelsy was the bedrock of American popular entertainment. It begat vaudeville and set the stage for musical theater. Partners John Murphy and Alf Gibson, who had plied their trade with Philadelphia-based Dumont’s Minstrels, introduced the minstrel show to Atlantic City that summer of 1899. Though the genre had grown creaky by that time, it had a belated run in “America’s Playground.” Frank Elliott, a singer-bassist with the Murphy-Gibson troupe, took the helm in the mid-1920s and his Steel Pier Minstrels placed greater emphasis on music and variety acts.
Individual performers thrived on Elliott’s watch. Former Big League catcher Charlie Dooin, who had managed the Phillies and coached for John McGraw’s Giants (and whose freckles, thick red hair, and jutted jaw signaled a fiery temperament), found contentment singing Irish ballads. Veteran comedian Vic Richards maintained his seashore popularity. A pair of funnymen who would find wider fame — Bud Abbott and Lou Costello — reportedly cut their comic teeth under Elliott at the Steel Pier.
The heyday of the minstrel show had been in the middle decades of the 19th century. Performers (both white and black) in blackface sang, quipped, and cavorted in a lively if decidedly stereotyped depiction of African-Americans. To label it caricature would be charitable. Yet the richness of “Negro melodies” infused performances, inspiring songwriters from Stephen Foster to Tin Pan Alley. If hindsight recognizes the ugly strains of racism, the soundtrack of 20th century American culture owed much to the shows’ creators.
“And it’s so nice not to be in competition with each other anymore. Nobody is judging us. We don’t have to worry about what [judges] Nigel or Mary [Murphy] are going to say. You can relax and just have some fun out there."
In a “news” box on the upper right side of the Archeophone Records home page, there’s a list of the songs played thus far in the first two episodes of HBO’s 'Boardwalk Empire,' set in 1920s Atlantic City.
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1. Mr. Bones said... on Apr 18, 2011 at 11:33AM
“This article was great!! Too many authors, today, do not give good credit for the type of entertainment minstrelsy provided. Clever, funny and melodic songs that bring back great memories. Someone has said that today's music is called 7 11 music. 7 words 11 times. Give me the good old days of nostalgia.”
2. Anonymous said... on May 5, 2011 at 11:03AM
“Done it again Jim--great article.”