Advertisement for Amos 'n' Andy Television Show sponsored by Blatz

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A black and white magazine advertisement for the television show “The Amos 'n Andy Show” from Life Magazine, Volume 30, Number 26, pages 98–99. The advertisement features images of the head of Alvin Childress as cabdriver Amos Jones on page 98 (2015.64.4a) and the head of Spencer Williams as Andy Brown on page 99 (2015.64.4b). Childress is wearing a New York City taxi driver hat, while Williams is wearing a dark derby hat with a silk band and is smoking a cigar. The top third of the advertisement runs across both pages and reads, [Blatz / presents… / Amos ‘n’] on 2015.64.4a, and [Andy on TV!] on 2015.64.4b, with an image of a taxi cab driver hat hanging on the “A” over [Amos] and a derby hat hanging on the “A” over [Andy]. On the bottom of 2015.64.4b, the left half of the page text reads, [Meet a legend / face to face… / World premiere, / week of June 24th / At last, you can see America’s / most heartwarming cast of comedians / in the finest entertainment television / has ever produced. See them all… / Amos, Andy, Kingfish, Lightenin’, / Tune in…meet a legend face to face! / Proudly presented by / Blatz Beer…Milwaukee’s finest / on behalf of its dealers everywhere. / Blatz Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wis.]. The text on the bottom right corner reads [Another TV triumph from CBS / Consult your local newspaper / for date, time, and channel.]. 2015.64.4a also includes pages 23, 24 and 97. 2015.64.4b also includes pages 21, 22, and 100. Page 21 indicates that this issue dates to June 25, 1951.

Catalog date

June 25, 1951

Recorded subjects

African American; Comedy; Men; Segregation; Sitcoms; Stereotypes

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