“By the Watermelon Vine Lindy Lou”
date: label: publishing date
content: 1904
name: label: composer
content: Allen, Thomas S.
label: user
content: Watkins, Lura Woodside
label: publisher
content: Jacobs, Walter
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This sheet music for the song “By the Watermelon Vine, Lindy Lou” was written and composed by Thomas S. Allen. The sheet music was published by Walter Jacobs in 1904. The cover features an image of a black man and lady sitting on a couch-like watermelon slice in a watermelon patch. “Coon songs” such as this became a popular genre around 1890-1900 as the Great Migration resulted in a new class of urban blacks who became stereotyped out of fear.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>The cover art for this sheet music was made by brothers William Starmer (1872-1957) and Frederick Starmer (1878-1962) Born and raised in England, the brothers moved with their family to New York, William in 1898 and Frederick in 1899. The Starmer Brothers flourished until 1929. William became a U.S. citizen in 1924, while Frederick returned to England in 1929.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Sheet Music
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of C. Malcolm Watkins
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1154.17
label: accession number
content: 1979.1154
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1154.17
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sheet music
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 in x 11 in; 35.56 cm x 27.94 cm