1876, London

1876, London

Identifier
S.24-1998
Carried out by
Eugene Rimmel, Eugène Rimmel (http://data.silknow.org/activity/designer)
Collection
Depiction
Production time
Production place

Description

Silk programme for an Amateur Ethiopian Entertainment at the Albert Hall, Cookridge Street, Leeds, 27 January 1876, given as part of the Rockingham Society's Annual Festival Silk programme on cream silk in black typography with gold fringe applied all round, displayed in green frame covered in floral leaf paper. Produced for 'An Amateur Ethiopian Entertainment in Aid of the Leeds General Infirmary' with songs, stump speech, banjo, and the comic sketch, The Perruquier Perplexed, Leeds Albert Hall, 27 January 1876. This silk programme was produced for an "Amateur Ethiopian Entertainment" which formed part of the Rockingham Society's Annual Festival. The event took place at the Albert Hall, Leeds (opened 1868) and was a charity performance in aid of the Leeds General Infirmary. The luxurious nature of the gold-fringed programme shows the minimal difference in the style of programmes produced for professional and amateur events in the 19th century. This programme was made in London by the specialist perfumier, Eugene Rimmel, who produced a wide range of perfumed papers and fabrics. The "Ethiopian Entertainment" consisted of instumental and vocal numbers performed in the style of Black Face Minstrels. The Minstrel Show, originating from the patter songs of T.D. Rice, was the most popular form of entertainment in the United States from 1840 to 1880: it came to England in the 1840s where it soon established itself as respectable family fare, unlike the more vulgar Music Hall.