Vaudeville and Ragtime Show

"For more than a hundred years, vaudeville was America's most popular form of entertainment. The people that sit glued to their TV sets today would have been flocking to their local Palace to see the top stars of the day doing their acts."

"The acrobats, the animal acts, the dancers, the singers and the old-time comedians have taken their final bows and disappeared into the wings of obscurity. For 50 years from 1875 to 1925 - vaudeville was the popular entertainment of the masses. The vaudeville actor roamed the country with a smile and a suitcase. With his brash manner, flashy clothes, capes and cane, and accompanied by his gaudy womenfolk, the vaudevillian brought happiness and excitement to the communities that were visited."

Obviously I wasn't around back then to see vaudville shows, but I certainly grew up being entertained by many performers who continued on into theater, movies, radio, and even TV. Many of the stars I loved as a kid were former vaudville performers that I got to see whenever they made appearances on TV. I remember hearing them talk about how they began in show business back in the old days, when they'd appear on talk shows, and many times they'd perform acts that they did back in vaudville. These were true entertainers who, very early in their careers, learned singing, dancing, acting, doing comedy, and usually knew how to play a musical instrument as well. How many of todays so-called celebrities can walk and chew gum at the same time, very few. They don't make'em like they used to.

Anyway, just to drop a few names of some of my favorites; Jack Benny (of course), Bobe Hope, Milton Berle, George Burns and Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, well, you get the picture, unfortunately you won't find any of them here. Unless you're a fan of the era, you probably won't recognize many (if any) names mentioned on this site. It does have a number of Real Audio files for you to listen to, so, enjoy.