Silas Green from New Orleans
Encyclopedia
Silas Green from New Orleans was an African American owned and run variety tent show, which in various forms toured the southern states between about 1904 and 1957.
Part revue, part musicomedy, part minstrel show
, the show told the adventures of short, "coal-black" Silas Green and tall, "tannish" Lilas Bean. In 1940, Time Magazine said of the show :- "This year their troubles start when they go to a hospital with suitcases labeled M.D. (Mule Drivers), are mistaken for two medicos, end in jail. The show is garnished with such slapstick as putting a patient to sleep by letting him smell an old shoe, such gags as "Your head sets on one end of your spine and you set on the other." Silas gets broad at times, but never really dirty. What keeps it moving are its dances and specialty acts, its gold-toothed but good-looking chorus."
performer Salem Tutt Whitney, who sold or gave it to African American circus
owner Ephraim "Eph" Williams (c.1855-c.1935) . Williams was the only black circus owner in America. He had set up his first circus in Wisconsin in 1885, and by the mid-1890s owned 100 Arabian horses and employed 26 people. His circus business collapsed around 1902, but soon afterwards he acquired the rights to Silas Green From New Orleans.
He set up a new company "Prof. Eph Williams' Famous Troubadours", to tour the tent show. It played one-night stands throughout the South, and became one of the longest-lasting tent shows in America. Williams managed the show and continued to perform horse tricks, alongside musicians such as Bessie Smith
. By 1928, the troupe comprised 54 people including a 16-piece band and 16 girl dancers. The main show tent had a capacity of some 1,400.
Around 1922, Williams sold half the share in the show to Charles Collier, who took over sole ownership after Williams' death in the mid-1930s. The show continued to tour until the late 1950s, and in later years was sometimes billed simply as the Silas Green Show.
Margaret "Callie" Lee, Warrenton, Virginia was one of the professional dancers who traveled with the show which also included Nipsy Russel.
Historic poster
s advertising the shows, mostly printed by Hatch Show Print of Nashville, are popular among collectors.
Part revue, part musicomedy, part minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
, the show told the adventures of short, "coal-black" Silas Green and tall, "tannish" Lilas Bean. In 1940, Time Magazine said of the show :- "This year their troubles start when they go to a hospital with suitcases labeled M.D. (Mule Drivers), are mistaken for two medicos, end in jail. The show is garnished with such slapstick as putting a patient to sleep by letting him smell an old shoe, such gags as "Your head sets on one end of your spine and you set on the other." Silas gets broad at times, but never really dirty. What keeps it moving are its dances and specialty acts, its gold-toothed but good-looking chorus."
Origins and organisation
The show was originally written by vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performer Salem Tutt Whitney, who sold or gave it to African American circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
owner Ephraim "Eph" Williams (c.1855-c.1935) . Williams was the only black circus owner in America. He had set up his first circus in Wisconsin in 1885, and by the mid-1890s owned 100 Arabian horses and employed 26 people. His circus business collapsed around 1902, but soon afterwards he acquired the rights to Silas Green From New Orleans.
He set up a new company "Prof. Eph Williams' Famous Troubadours", to tour the tent show. It played one-night stands throughout the South, and became one of the longest-lasting tent shows in America. Williams managed the show and continued to perform horse tricks, alongside musicians such as Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
. By 1928, the troupe comprised 54 people including a 16-piece band and 16 girl dancers. The main show tent had a capacity of some 1,400.
Around 1922, Williams sold half the share in the show to Charles Collier, who took over sole ownership after Williams' death in the mid-1930s. The show continued to tour until the late 1950s, and in later years was sometimes billed simply as the Silas Green Show.
Margaret "Callie" Lee, Warrenton, Virginia was one of the professional dancers who traveled with the show which also included Nipsy Russel.
Historic poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
s advertising the shows, mostly printed by Hatch Show Print of Nashville, are popular among collectors.