T.O.B.A. Time
eBook - ePub

T.O.B.A. Time

Black Vaudeville and the Theater Owners’ Booking Association in Jazz-Age America

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

T.O.B.A. Time

Black Vaudeville and the Theater Owners’ Booking Association in Jazz-Age America

About this book

Black vaudevillians and entertainers joked that T.O.B.A. stood for "tough on black artists." But the Theater Owner's Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) played a foundational role in the African American entertainment industry and provided a training ground for icons like Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Sammy Davis Jr., the Nicholas Brothers, Count Basie, and Butterbeans and Susie.

Michelle R. Scott's institutional history details T.O.B.A.'s origins and practices while telling the little-known stories of the managers, producers, performers, and audience members involved in the circuit. Looking at the organization over its eleven-year existence (1920–1931), Scott places T.O.B.A. against the backdrop of what entrepreneurship and business development meant in black America at the time. Scott also highlights how intellectuals debated the social, economic, and political significance of black entertainment from the early 1900s through T.O.B.A.'s decline during the Great Depression.

Clear-eyed and comprehensive, T.O.B.A. Time is a fascinating account of black entertainment and black business during a formative era.

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Yes, you can access T.O.B.A. Time by Michelle R. Scott in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & African American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Preface
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. Introduction: “They Called It T.O.B.A.”
  10. 1 “Whistling Coons” No More: Race Uplift & the Path to T.O.B.A.
  11. 2 “Hebrew, Negro, and American Owners”: Black Vaudeville and Interracial Management
  12. 3 T.O.B.A. Forms: The Interracial Business Plan for a New Negro Business
  13. 4 The Multiple Meanings of T.O.B.A.: The Performers’ Perspective
  14. 5 A “Responsibility” to Community: Circuit Theaters and Black Regional Audiences
  15. 6 “Trouble in Mind”: The End of T.O.B.A. Time
  16. Epilogue: T.O.B.A.’s Legacy
  17. Appendix
  18. Notes
  19. Bibliography
  20. Index