Amos 'N' Andy

The Amos 'N' Andy show was one of the most popular radio shows of its era. It had its heydays in the 1930s around the time that the first people were moving into Greenbelt. The program is the longest running act in broadcasting history, running for 32 years on the radio and having 78 episodes on television.
During its heyday it was almost an institution, Jack Benny recalled its popularity:
"I can recall walking past motion picture theaters and seeing signs promising to stop the show and turn on the radio when it came time for the show."(1)

This is a clear indication of its amazing popularity. The populsrity is also demonstrated by the way it was program was broadcast in department stores, and the large numbers of letters it received. An example of this was when the show received 2.4 million letter suggesting names for Amos and Ruby's new daughter. The popularity is commented upon by Andrews and Julliard who say that:
"From its inception as a radio serial in 1928, the show became a hallowed part of American family life, invading white houses that ordinarily might never have had a black visitor."

This demonstrates the sheer popularity of the program and large numbers of the American population listened to it. The new residents of Greenbelt would have almost certainly have listened to it.

However by the end of the 1930s the program was becoming less popular. However as the table shows it was still by far the most popular out of all the other comedy dramas available in January 1939, getting a Hooper rating almost double that of its nearest rival. However compared with a few years before it is considerably less popular, in January 1936 it had a Hooper Rating of 22.6, and in January 1931 it had a rating of 53.4.(2)

The authors of the program were Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll this pair were responsible of the origins of the show and for the two main characters in it.

Background of the Program

The program originated in 1929 on WGN Radio, it was originally called the Sam 'n' Henry Show, and ran for 10 minutes each day and did 586 episodes.

Within 15 months it was being broadcast on 40 other stations throughout the country. From 1929 - 36 there were 6 fifteen minute shows per week, and within 3 months it was the most popular show ever, capturing sixty percent of the listeners.

The program had its origins in the Minstrel shows which were popular in America prior to and during this period. The blackface skills were exaggerated by the two main actors Gosden and Correll, these skills had been learnt by the pair when they were children growing up in the south. The situation in America during this period was such that it was easy to accept these stereotypes, which many white Americans believed in. However they also said that they wanted to portray the real life problems of African Americans in the depression. They said that it was not theire to demean the blacks, but that they wanted to bring some humanness to the sterotypes.

Reasons for the Popularity of the Show

The show was very popular with both blacks and whites. It was very funny and as such was one of the main sources of family entertainment on the radio. There were a number of reasons for its popularity in addition to the fact that it was just very funny.

1. It perpetuated the accepted black stereotypes and clichés. This allowed the white listeners to maintain a sense of superiority. The three familiar stereotypes where perpetrated in the show:
a. Coons - (Kingfisher) a clown who fleeced people, avoided work, and spoke in accents unfamiliar to blacks.
b. Toms - (Amos) good, gentle, religious, sober and reassured the audience that there was some good things in the black community.
c. Mammy - (Sapphire) personification of black woman, quick temper, earthy wisdom and love.(3)

However it did also intend to portray the comtempory black man, and did this through the portrayal of successful black men, for example the "salesman from the Superfine Brush Company who cheerfully set out each morning to meet their quotas singing the company jingle" and the "judge who disbarred Calhoun"(4)

It also attempted to show the difficult position of the lives of rootless southern blacks in northern metropolises.

2. Another reason for its amazing popularity was the way in which it provided an escape from the problems of the depression. People could identify with and empathize with the "jobless, scheming, money hungry, victimized Harlem black that the show satirized."(5) It was possible to forget ones own problems by identifying with the characters, many of the characters like many of the listeners were unemployed. Amos 'n' Andy also set a moral tone, portraying the ideas that with a little faith and a little work the country would be back on its feet soon. It reaffirmed the American traditional values.

Radio comedy embodied the principles necessary to relieve problems, the humor is a pressure release valve on human emotions. It also made the depression more of a common experience.

The Depression also diverted interest from the negative racial aspects of the show. It was also the only ‘black’ show on at the time and there were a number of people who complained because it was the only show, which actually had black characters. Although there were a number of black radio programs these were basically bandleaders or singers. It must also be realized that it was not only popular with whites but was also popular with southern blacks. And whilst the NAACP was trying to have it banned there were still large numbers of blacks who supported and listened to the show.

This program can be recognised to be overtly racist, and continue the insulting and degrading sterotypes of African-American which had existed since slavery. Whilst a number of scholars argue that African - Americans enjoyed the program Turner argues that a number of African - American parents prevented their children from listening to it and activly campaigned against the show.(6) The racist sterotypes which it presents can be seen to be regarded as the sterotypes which a portion of the dominant culture of the white males, wanted to be presented to the rest of the country. These sterotypes fitted in with the racial tension of the period with the civil rights movement. One of the reasons for asserting this type of sterotype was an a attempt to make the white Americans feel better about themselves and assume a sense of superiority during this period of deep depression.