Arizona republican., 1903-01-16
CAKE WALKING. OLD AND NEW

Lots of folks have told how the cake
walk came into being, and all the tales
have been different This is what
Proctor Knott" the retired champion
of this sort of fantastic pedestrianism,
says about it. and he should know:
1T goes back to slavery days long
before de wah was thought off, said
Proctor to a Sun reporter the other
night. You see. in those days the ne
groes did not have much chance to
amuse themselves. so, when the oppor-
tunity came. you can gamble on ii they
took it. Once in a great while their
masters would give them a holiday, say
around 'cohn' shocking time.
The slaves would gather in a barn
on one of the plantations on a moon
light night. and some of the sports
would engage in a corn shocking con.
test, in which all were allowed to COM
pete. The corn was piled in the center
OF the floor and the first man whe
found red ear of corn was declared
the winner, AS n reward he was al
lowed to kiss the prettist girl and have
her as a partner for the rest of the
evening. Then the floor was Cleared
and a dance followed.
THE dance was cross between q
shamble and strut, but IL was origin
al with the negro and exceedingly fun
ny, Once i'm a while one of the darkies
would try to emulate the white dandy
by walking across the floor, with head
erect and chest expanded The others
would jeer him, but he kept on walking
until he got tired and sat down. IN
due time the rest of the negroes took
the walk up.
ION all of these occasions the old
mammys would bake cakes from corn
meal placed on a layer OF cabbage
leaves over hot ashes. 1t was the Gus
tom after the dance for all hands to
partake OF the cake. When the walk
became popular the mammys used to
bake extra cakes as a prize for the
couple making the best showing That
is Just how the cake walk originated
"The genuine old southern cake walk
was introduced in New York in the
early seventies by colored walters who
/ had worked In restaurants in the south
I One who held the championship for
many years was Tony Brown. He was
/ as black as hades and was a darkey 10
the core. Brown was a funny fellow
and when he came north and showed
! AcArNS nov iS NOulu prize Wink ne Ul0Qe
! a hit.
| Brown was a fine waiter, too He
/ could hold more cups of coffee on one
arm without splitting a drop than any
man / ever saw. He got a lob in a
! restaurant on Sixth avenue, and stag
gered the customers by carrying TWEEN
ty cups of coffee at one time. He was
daffy on cake walking. and the way he
Strnftpl and 1OntD hn
caution.
'One night at a prize walk Brown
attempted the feat of carrying a dozen
cups Of water. but came to grief near
the close of the match. Some one
creased the floor and he slipped. Brown
was roasted by the crowd and left town
and has not been heard from since.
The big cake walks used TO come
off at the old Jefferson market. The
'culled' swells of those days were right
in 1t, and some fine sport was the re-
suit Then the game switched over 70
SiXty-ninth street and Third avenue In
the old American Institute building.
This was in 1882. l was a prize waltzer
at the time and butted into the game
by chance.
The employees of the old Empire
Star and Garter and Hamlet used 10
give fancy balls occasionally. In 1884
these were turned into cake walks. The
best walker at the time was Jim Web
ster. He worked in a tailor shop
Webster was a fine looking fellow and
could walk to beat the band. Then
Dandy Jack came along. He worked
for Honest John Kelly. Dandy Jack
had a large following.
| After him came Polo Jim Jeffer-