The Rag-Time Four was an American Quartet performance group circa 1898 to 1899, they were known for popularizing a version of the cakewalk dance.[1][2][3] The four members of the group were Saint Suttle,[3] Gertie Brown,[4] John Brewster, and Maud Brewster. Suttle and Brewster were called the "Blackville Twins", while their female partners were called "their best girls". The group performed vaudeville in Chicago, along with in Milwaukee and Duluth. One of the groups cakewalk events was named Coontown 400.[3]
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History
editThe origin of the cakewalk was a way for enslaved people to mock their masters, during the Antebellum South-period.[3]
"The Two Real Ragtime Coons" was a name given to Suttle and Brown when they performed Vaudeville. The two were involved with many different projects together, with performance and minstrel shows in Chicago, including their involvement in the film Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898).[5]
Songs attributed to The Rag-Time Four
edit- Shake Yo' Dusters
References
edit- ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (December 16, 2018). "Library Of Congress Honors Groundbreaking 1898 Film Depicting Black Joy". Wbur.org. NPR. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
- ^ Metz, Nina (19 June 2019). "How America's earliest films were based in minstrelsy". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 2243488919.
- ^ a b c d Field, Allyson Nadia (2021). "Archival Rediscovery and the Production of History: Solving the Mystery of Something Good—Negro Kiss (1898)". Film History. 33 (2): 1–33. doi:10.2979/filmhistory.33.2.01. JSTOR 10.2979/filmhistory.33.2.01. S2CID 236779328.
- ^ "Fire fighter suffers a heart attack and dies while exercising in firehouse - New York". 7 January 2004. doi:10.26616/nioshfffacef200246.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "8 Oct 1899, Page 17 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-11-30.