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N0KFQ > TODAY 12.01.13 18:06l 52 Lines 2436 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34335_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 12
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 130112/1552Z 34335@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Jan 12, 1926:
Original Amos n Andy debuts on Chicago radio
On this day in 1926, the two-man comedy series "Sam 'n' Henry" debuts
on Chicago's WGN radio station. Two years later, after changing its
name to "Amos 'n' Andy," the show became one of the most popular radio
programs in American history.
Though the creators and the stars of the new radio program, Freeman
Gosden and Charles Carrell, were both white, the characters they
played were two black men from the Deep South who moved to Chicago to
seek their fortunes. By that time, white actors performing in dark
stage makeup--or "blackface"--had been a significant tradition in
American theater for over 100 years. Gosden and Carrell, both
vaudeville performers, were doing a Chicago comedy act in blackface
when an employee at the Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio
show.
When "Sam 'n' Henry" debuted in January 1926, it became an immediate
hit. In 1928, Gosden and Carrell took their act to a rival station,
the Chicago Daily News' WMAQ. When they discovered WGN owned the
rights to their characters' names, they simply changed them. As their
new contract gave Gosden and Carrell the right to syndicate the
program, the popularity of "Amos 'n' Andy" soon exploded. Over the
next 22 years, the show would become the highest-rated comedy in radio
history, attracting more than 40 million listeners.
By 1951, when "Amos 'n' Andy" came to television, changing attitudes
about race and concerns about racism had virtually wiped out the
practice of blackface. With Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams
taking over for Gosden and Carrell, the show was the first TV series
to feature an all-black cast and the only one of its kind for the next
20 years. This did not stop African-American advocacy groups and
eventually the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) from criticizing both the radio and TV versions of
"Amos 'n' Andy" for promoting racial stereotypes. These protests led
to the TV show's cancellation in 1953.
The final radio broadcast of "Amos 'n' Andy" aired on November 25,
1960. The following year, Gosden and Carrell created a short-lived TV
sequel called "Calvin and the Colonel." This time, they avoided
controversy by replacing the human characters with an animated fox and
bear. The show was canceled after one season.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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