HANDY, W(ILLIAM) C(HRISTOPHER). (1873 1958). American composer and trumpeter; creator of the immortal Saint Louis Blues. TLS. (“W.C. Handy”). With holograph postscript. 1p. 4to. New York, November 22, 1940. On his personal stationery. To American vaudeville performer JOE LAURIE, JR. (1892-1954).

“I appreciated your letter containing birthday greetings more than mere words can tell, but I was rather expecting to hear from you, knowing from so many past pleasant experiences what would emanate from your fertile mind.

I really had a very happy birthday at home, surrounded by friends and members of my immediate family. I have been kept very busy preparing material for my forthcoming autobiography which is being brought out by Macmillan Company shortly after the first of the new year, and besides that was appointed and am now serving on a Draft Board for the gentleman with the long white whiskers whom we all love.

Rosamond is now appearing in ‘Cabin in the Sky’ and if you’ll just let me know when you would care to, we can go together to witness its performance. This leaves me and mine all well, and with thanks again to both Mrs. Laurie and you for your kind remembrances... [In holograph:] P.S. Wait till you read the chapter on Memory Lane.”

Drawing on traditional Black folk music, Handy helped develop the concept of blues as “a harmonic framework within which to improvise,” (Encyclopaedia Britannica). His famous Memphis Blues incorporated the use of the “blue,” or flattened seventh tone and is characteristic of southern folk music. Handy later wrote other blues pieces such as Beale Street Blues and Careless Love but his St. Louis Blues is his most consequential work. Handy is also notable for his publication of Unsung Americans Sung, Blues: An Anthology Complete Words and Music of 53 Great Songs, Book of Negro Spirituals, and Negro Authors and Composers of the United States.

Our letter mentions Handy’s forthcoming autobiography, Father of the Blues, published in 1941 as well as his work for the draft board. It was in October 1940 that the first peacetime draft in U.S. history went into effect with the passage of the Selective Service Act. Draft boards were comprised of individuals appointed by the governor and his selective service aide.

Laurie, the letter’s recipient, became famous on the Vaudeville circuit as “the Pint-Sized Comedian” appearing in such Broadway shows as Over the Top (1918), Plain Jane (1924), If I Was Rich (1926), and Swing Your Lady (1934). Laurie also penned a column in Variety “Letters to Lefty” and authored two books on the history of Vaudeville: Show Biz: From Vaude to Video and Vaudeville: From Honky Tonks to the Palace. With the decline of Vaudeville, Laurie appeared on such radio shows as Can You Top This? and the drama We Were Always Young. From 1933-1934, Handy toured with the “Memory Lane” old-timer’s revue, organized by Laurie.

American composer J. Rosamund Johnson (1873-1954) trained at the New England Conservatory, coming into prominence as a composer during the Harlem Renaissance when, in 1900, he set to music “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a poem composed by his brother, lawyer, writer and Civil Rights activist, James Weldon Johnson. First performed at a Jacksonville, Florida, Lincoln’s birthday celebration to honor Booker T. Washington, the song became immensely popular and was dubbed “the Negro National Anthem” by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons in 1919. Handy mentions Johnson’s participation in Vernon Duke’s musical Cabin in the Sky, in which he had a minor role. The show’s Broadway run lasted from October 25, 1940 to March 8, 1941.

Folded and lightly age toned. In very good condition.