Little Sunshine [Al Jolson in "Big Boy"]: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Sheet music for the song "Little Sunshine" from the film Big Boy starring Al Jolson. The front cover of sheet music features a large black and white photo of Al Jolson's face in blackface set against an orange background. Black type on top portion of the cover reads: [LITTLE SUNSHINE / WARNER BROS. PRESENT / AL JOLSON / IN / "BIG BOY"]. Type near bottom right corner of the cover reads: [WORDS & MUSIC BY / SIDNEY MITCHELL / ARCHIE GOTTLER / AND / GEO. W. MEYER]. Underneath, is the publisher’s information which reads: [M. WITMARK & SONS / NEW YORK / MADE IN U S A]. Type in bottom left corner reads: [TOMORROW / IS ANOTHER DAY / LITTLE / SUNSHINE / LIZA / LEE / HOORAY FOR / BABY AND ME / WITH BANJO, UKULELE / GUITAR & MANDOLA / ACCOMPANIMENT.]. [Vernon Mcd. / 404] is handwritten, in pencil, at the top of the cover. The interior of the front cover has an additional song in black ink. The interior of the sheet music contains three pages of sheet music, in black ink, for Big Boy. The back cover has a black and white photograph of Dorothy Mackaill and a few bars of music.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1930
• Subject of: Al Jolson, American, died 1950
• Composed by: Sidney D. Mitchell, American, 1888 - 1942
• Composed by: Archie Gottler, American, 1896 - 1959
• Composed by: George W. Meyer, American, 1884 - 1959
• Published by: M. Witmark & Sons, American, 1886 - 1929
• Owned by: Vernon Sugg McDonald, American, 1906 - 1982
• Type: sheet music
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 11 7/8 × 1/16 in. (30.2 × 0.2 cm)
• Place collected: Sugg McDonald House, Sonora, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Blackface
• Topic: Minstrel (Music)
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2014.275.16
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Sylvia Alden Roberts
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.