African American Music and Entertainment Cotton Club Revue Poster Featuring Bill Robinson and Cab Calloway 1936

Bill Robinson Cab Calloway

Broadside

Cotton Club, original poster, 1936, advertises a major revue at the Harlem nightclub that served as a central venue for African American performance during the era of Jim Crow laws and Prohibition era nightlife. The poster features Bill Robinson and Cab Calloway, two of the most prominent performers associated with the club, whose productions brought together dancers, musicians, and large ensemble casts in elaborately staged revues. By 1936, the Cotton Club had become a nationally recognized site of Black musical innovation, hosting artists including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, and Lena Horne, even as performances were historically presented to predominantly white audiences. The advertised September 24, 1936 revue, led by Robinson and Calloway, included a large cast of performers and exemplified the scale and visibility of Harlem entertainment at the height of its influence.

Cotton Club. Poster advertising revue featuring Bill Robinson and Cab Calloway. New York, 1936. Single sheet measuring approximately 12.5 x 9.5 inches. Printed poster promoting a large scale production with named headline performers and ensemble cast.

This poster situates the Cotton Club within the broader context of Harlem nightlife and American popular music, where African American performers achieved national prominence while operating within segregated systems of patronage and control. The prominence of Robinson and Calloway reflects the emergence of star performers whose careers extended beyond the nightclub into film, recording, and touring circuits. The scale of the advertised revue, with a large ensemble and high production value, demonstrates the commercial and cultural significance of such performances during the interwar period. Minor edge chipping and wear; overall good condition.

Item #21010

Price: $750.00