Arkansas Traveler
American Variety Stage: Audio Sampler
This is a classic "rube" sketch that has its origins in an 1852 lithograph by Currier & Ives depicting a wise-cracking, fiddle-playing hillbilly's encounter with a sophisticated city-slicker. Originally released on a wax cylinder in the 1890s, The Arkansas Traveler was probably the best-selling example of the popular genre "descriptive scene" (also called "descriptive specialty"), a humorous dramatic sketch that often included sound effects and music. Steve Porter was a versatile vaudeville comedian who wrote and performed many comedy routines on early sound recordings. Ernest Hare teamed with Billy Jones in 1920 to form Jones & Hare, "The Happiness Boys" of radio fame, and the most popular singing comedians of the 1920s. ... [Read More]
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