Gosden and Correll were white and imitating blacks, even appearing in “blackface” for a movie. However, the visual presentation changed something. Their sales slogans were also inserted into the programs: “I’m From Milwaukee, and I ought to know…,” “Blatz-Milwaukee’s Beer” and “What Changed Milwaukee’s Mind?” A total of 78 episodes were filmed in 16- and 35-mm formats and were sent to television stations across the country for broadcast. Tim ‘Kingfish’ Moore wrote and produced his own stage plays, even traveling to Australia and New Zealand with those theater companies.”īlatz purchased a two-page print spread advertising the program in the June 25, 1951, issue of LIFE magazine. “Spencer Williams, who played Andy, was a pioneer in black cinema.
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“Remember, ‘Jim Crow’ and the racial separation between black and white is shamefully in full vigor, which means separate theaters, restaurants, what have you? Out of that separation, black entertainers for their own audiences flourished, and many were geniuses at producing art with little resources,” he continues. “Whether they did it intentionally or it just happened by dumb luck, the cast was filled by people that were the best in their fields of black entertainment,” says Norman Phillips, an Alabama-based historian and retired educator. Auditions for the roles eventually filtered into the selection of a surprising cast. What brought Blatz and the radio comedy together in 1951 was a nationwide market base and a new venture: Gosden and Correll decided to film episodes for the fledgling medium of television. The nickname “Kingfish” was even appropriated by then-Louisiana governor, Huey Long. While it forwarded black stereotypes, it was well-liked for the comedy situations and its characters. “Amos ’n’ Andy” was a comedy based around the taxicab business of Amos Jones, his friend, Andrew Hogg Brown, and George “Kingfish” Stevens, president of the Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge. Two years later, the name was changed to “Amos ’n’ Andy,” and it became one of the most popular broadcast programs on air, lasting until 1955-and another five years under a music hall format. During that same period, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll went on the air over Chicago’s WGN radio with “Sam ’n’ Henry” on Jan. The Blatz beer legacy includes being our town’s first brewery to have a bottling department in 1875 and to shipping nationally-a mere decade after the War Between the States.īlatz survived prohibition by creating items such as malt soap and non-alcoholic beverages. It’s now produced by the Miller Brewing Company under the aegis of the Pabst Brewing Company, which re-acquired the labeling rights. What could possibly go wrong with the situation? How about if Sapphire should come home to spoil the ring of false identities.History seems to die hard, and in a city known for beer, one of the major players in the Milwaukee beer industry was The Valentin Blatz Brewing Company, operating from 1851-1959. A set of signals is arranged to feed Gabby the answers needed to fool the unwitting brother in law.
Will the unkind words said about Leroy get Kingfish cut out of the good graces of Sapphire’s brother? Andy has a plan to use the lack of recognition, and recruits their friend, Gabby to fill in as Kingfish. Word of a lucrative investment reaches Andy, and he’s sure that the smell of cash will call Kingfish out of hiding.Įnjoy a few moments of Kingfish putting his foot in his mouth when he meets the brother in law who he has never seen. The official story is that Kingfish and Sapphire are out of town, so Andy shows the visiting relative a night out. The least that Andy can do is take Lightning and pick up Leroy from the train station. Besides seeking favors for raising money, Kingfish also has troubles when he learns that his brother in law is to come to town.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:26 - 12.1MB)Īndy tells Amos all about the new business idea that Kingfish has cooked up.
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