Your Name in Lights: The Vaudeville Marquee

[Fletch]

You don't know the comic dancers Barto and Mann, but once upon a time, you would have. 4'11" Dewey Barto and 6'6" George Mann got together as a Mutt and Jeff impression (I kid you not!) for a 1926 comic strip revue. They tramped the hustings thru 1942, bearing witness to the golden sunset of vaudeville. They took part in the Earl Carroll Vanities, Olsen & Johnson's Hellzapoppin, two European tours, and one movie, 1933's Broadway Thru a Keyhole.

You may remember Dewey's daughter, sassy comedienne Nancy Walker...

She could cook, too!
...and George's anonymous comeback in the '70s as cereal's King Vitaman.

He didn't need to.

Barto & Mann were well known enough to be paid tribute in 1932 by perhaps the earliest sight gag ever put on a big band recording. Sax men Dick Clark (5'2") and "Long" John Langsford (6'11") of Joe Haymes' Orchestra did a turn on the hot arrangement of Let's Have a Party.

Let's go in vaudeville / We'd make a pair / (Dick) I'll take the bows / (John) And I'll take the air!
Let's do a rhumba / Oh what a dance / (Dick) I'll take precautions / (John) And I'll take a chance!

Being a big guy, George Mann had a particularly good view of the theater marquee in its classic age. And doubling as a professional photographer, he could do something about it. This collection on Flickr.com contains some 70 shots of the theaters where B & M played. You see the headline movies of the day, the stage shows with artists well-known or not so much, and the life of the streets in golden era downtowns from Boston to San Francisco.

I'd post a few examples, but "The owner has disabled downloading of their photos." Ah well - such is life in the great memory hole of pop culture. Get gussied up, tuck your tickets inside your sweatband, go and enjoy.

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

I love those old theater marquee signs, especially the ones with the light bulbs. When my friend and I were at Disneyland, we had just finished our last ride before the park closed. As we started walking back, I couldn't help and notice how beautiful Main Street looked with all the "old fashion" marquees and all the lights. There's not many places I can think of that have that look today. For the days we visit Downtown Disney and cannot go into the park, my friend and I pathetically stare in through the gates at what we can see of Main Street and moan and groan about how we want to walk there. lol! Thank you for posting this.