1939. Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson in 'Hot Mikado'
The great tap-dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson starred in the 1939 "hot" version of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, which had an all-black cast.
Color carbro print by Harry Warneke, 1939. Warneke had designed a special camera in the 1930s that could hold 3 plates to make color prints. (The edges of this photograph show the 3 different color extremities of the 3 images that made up the final color print.)
Color carbro print by Harry Warneke, 1939. Warneke had designed a special camera in the 1930s that could hold 3 plates to make color prints. (The edges of this photograph show the 3 different color extremities of the 3 images that made up the final color print.)