Advertisement for Amos 'n' Andy Television Show sponsored by Blatz: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

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.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: June 25, 1951
• Commissioned by: Valentin Blatz Brewing Company, American, 1851 - 1959
• Published by: Life Magazine, 1883 - 2007
• Subject of: Amos 'n' Andy, American, 1928 - 1960
• Subject of: Alvin Childress, American, 1907 - 1986
• Subject of: Spencer Williams, American, 1893-1969
• Subject of: CBS Broadcasting, Inc., American, founded 1927
• Type: advertisements
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.64a: unfolded): 14 1/16 × 20 3/4 in. (35.7 × 52.7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.64a: folded): 14 1/16 × 10 3/8 in. (35.7 × 26.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.64b: unfolded): 14 1/16 × 20 3/4 in. (35.7 × 52.7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.64b: folded): 14 1/16 × 10 3/8 in. (35.7 × 26.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Comedy
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Sitcoms
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2015.64.4ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kathleen M. Kendrick
• 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: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.