George Walker: Everybody’s Bon Bon Buddy
George Walker: Everybody’s Bon Bon Buddy
On the 13th of May 1903 The Tatler released a full page photo advertisement of Aida Overton Walker (1880-1914) with her husband and dance partner George W. Walker (1873-1911) dancing the Cakewalk in their touring theatrical In DaHomey. By July The Walker’s were providing instruction in the dance and George – it was noted – appearing, in private, in the same sartorial ostentation that his onstage characters where known for and with the same ‘good time’ sunshine-charm. Walker’s signature tune was ‘Bon Bon Buddy’
I’m a Bon Bon Buddy, the Chocolate Drop,
The Chocolate Drop,
I’m a Bon Bon Buddy, the Chocolate Drop,
The Chocolate Drop – that’s me
I’ve gained no fame, but I’m not ashamed,
I’m satisfied with my nick name
I’m a Bon Bon Buddy, the Chocolate Drop,
The Chocolate Drop – that’s me
and apparently he was everything this song suggested.
This paper discusses George Walker and his performance of self and it is situated in the understanding that his duality, mediatized politics, and looked-at-ness compelled him to fashion himself as everyone’s ‘Bon Bon Buddy’. George is an example of a performing artist who consciously chose to use culture as capital in the late Victorian period; who sold his identity – imposed or perceived – to an on-stage and off-stage audience. He wore, both in dress and as a performance of self, the capital he generated on stage and he chose this style as a counter-hegemonic expression of defiance that assured that he – a free successful black man – would always be visible. In a period when men – notably American Men – “performed” themselves as self-made men, George was the inverted opposite: the man-made self.
African Americans, Dandies, Display, Costume, George Walker, Performance History
Millette, Holly-Gale
909906ff-426b-47ab-a71a-5788ea36c213
Millette, Holly-Gale
909906ff-426b-47ab-a71a-5788ea36c213
Millette, Holly-Gale
(2015)
George Walker: Everybody’s Bon Bon Buddy.
Dressing/Undressing the Victorians: : Reading Clothes in Victorian and Neo-Victorian Contexts, University of Chester, Chester, United Kingdom.
28 Mar 2015.
(Submitted)
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Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
On the 13th of May 1903 The Tatler released a full page photo advertisement of Aida Overton Walker (1880-1914) with her husband and dance partner George W. Walker (1873-1911) dancing the Cakewalk in their touring theatrical In DaHomey. By July The Walker’s were providing instruction in the dance and George – it was noted – appearing, in private, in the same sartorial ostentation that his onstage characters where known for and with the same ‘good time’ sunshine-charm. Walker’s signature tune was ‘Bon Bon Buddy’
I’m a Bon Bon Buddy, the Chocolate Drop,
The Chocolate Drop,
I’m a Bon Bon Buddy, the Chocolate Drop,
The Chocolate Drop – that’s me
I’ve gained no fame, but I’m not ashamed,
I’m satisfied with my nick name
I’m a Bon Bon Buddy, the Chocolate Drop,
The Chocolate Drop – that’s me
and apparently he was everything this song suggested.
This paper discusses George Walker and his performance of self and it is situated in the understanding that his duality, mediatized politics, and looked-at-ness compelled him to fashion himself as everyone’s ‘Bon Bon Buddy’. George is an example of a performing artist who consciously chose to use culture as capital in the late Victorian period; who sold his identity – imposed or perceived – to an on-stage and off-stage audience. He wore, both in dress and as a performance of self, the capital he generated on stage and he chose this style as a counter-hegemonic expression of defiance that assured that he – a free successful black man – would always be visible. In a period when men – notably American Men – “performed” themselves as self-made men, George was the inverted opposite: the man-made self.
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Submitted date: 2015
Venue - Dates:
Dressing/Undressing the Victorians: : Reading Clothes in Victorian and Neo-Victorian Contexts, University of Chester, Chester, United Kingdom, 2015-03-28 - 2015-03-28
Keywords:
African Americans, Dandies, Display, Costume, George Walker, Performance History
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Local EPrints ID: 457670
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/457670
PURE UUID: 1387a359-cb0f-4735-9763-ca7b63a05aa3
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Date deposited: 14 Jun 2022 17:00
Last modified: 15 Jun 2022 01:42
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