110:. The newspaper accounts of the performance make clear, Kmen argues, that as a musician he was widely known — he was described in one article as "the celebrated sable satellite," and another mentioned "the popular song Fresh Corn Meal" that he sings. The performance, which featured Old Corn Meal performing on stage the way he did in the street — from his horse-drawn vendor's cart — was such a success that another was organized, though during the second performance his horse fell on stage and was killed. In 1840, he performed at the Camp Street Theater on at least two occasions.
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Kmen describes this as "the first appearance of a Negro on the white stage in New
Orleans, indeed perhaps in the United States," though at least the latter claim is inaccurate. But his research shows clearly that Old Corn Meal was a much discussed figure, coming up repeatedly in articles in the
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News clipping from
November 24, 1860, recalling George Nichols and "Corn Meal", a New Orleans personality. Nichols got songs from Corn Meal, which he used in his minstrel performances. This clipping itself both describes Corn Meal and portrays him like a character in a minstrel
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who became famous in the late 1830s for singing and dancing while he sold his wares. He is one of the earliest known
African Americans to have had a documented influence on the development of
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On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and
Signifying—The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor.
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declared: "Poor old Corn Meal . . . is gone. never again shall we listen to his double toned voice — never again shall his corn meal melodies, now grumbled in a
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99:, whose "Corn Meal" skit most likely came from seeing Old Corn Meal's act during one of his visits to New Orleans in 1835, 1836, and 1838.
134:, vibrate on the ear. He was a public-spirited a character as any we ever met with, and was as thoroughly known as a popular politician."
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in 1837. There he did a solo act alongside his horse and cart. Old Corn Meal performed there at least once more, in 1840.
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59:. "Fresh Corn Meal", which he composed, was his signature song; he also did popular material from blackface acts like "
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Old Corn Meal was known for walking through New
Orleans singing and dancing while he led his horse and cart and sold
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In 1837, "Old Corn Meal" was included in a performance at the recently opened St. Charles
Theatre in a
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The Sounds of
Slavery: Discovering African American History Through Songs, Sermons, and Speech
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during the late 1830s. When he died in 1842, his passing was noted in several newspapers. The
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214:"Fiddle Tune History -- Minstrel Tales: Picayune Butler and Japanese Tommy "Hunky Dory!""
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White performers who did blackface acts probably took material from Old Corn Meal.
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Blacking Up: The
Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-century America
71:". His popularity led to an invitation to perform at the
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63:" and "My Long Tail Blue". He was a natural
235:19th-century African-American male singers
167:White, Shane; White, Graham J. (2005).
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67:, but he could "easily into a ringing
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201:. New York: Oxford University Press.
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240:19th-century American male singers
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208:New York: Simon & Schuster.
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265:19th-century American dancers
245:African-American male dancers
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260:Singers from New Orleans
197:Toll, Robert C. (1974).
154:. Quoted in Watkins 106.
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50:American popular music
250:American male dancers
204:Watkins, Mel (1994).
150:Wittke, Carl (1968).
91:, a blackface circus
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255:Blackface minstrelsy
130:— now squeaked in a
26:(died 1842), was an
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73:St. Charles Theatre
192:General references
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61:Old Rosin the Beau
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229:Categories
46:minstrelsy
104:melodrama
57:corn meal
43:blackface
39:Louisiana
117:Picayune
69:falsetto
65:baritone
106:called
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132:treble
138:Notes
93:clown
83:show.
22:, or
175:ISBN
128:bass
123:Bee
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159:^
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