McCrary & Branson was a commercial art gallery and portrait studio that operated for approximately 30 years in the late 19th and early 20th century in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

in the United States. The firm was likely in operation beginning approximately 1875–1880 and ending approximately 1905. For much of its history, McCrary & Branson was located at 130 Gay Street, along Knoxville's major commercial thoroughfare. In addition to

stereoscopic view Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...

s, and posed portraits of wealthy whites, they trafficked in a number of racist

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

s depicting blacks in crude and stereotyped scenarios. The panoramic lithographs included titles like "The Last One In's a Nigger," "Ain't Gwine Be No Rine," and "All Coons Look Alike to Me," the last of which was also a popular song of the day. These images were commercially lucrative for the firm and McCrary & Branson made a point to copyright these images to protect their intellectual property, in one case entering into litigation to defend their claim. The images of the babies in the ''Alligator Bait'' photograph were nonetheless plagiarized for "Alligator Bait" postcards published by Curt Teich, et al. An image called "She Was Bred in Old Kentucky" was "sold for $5,000 to a Louisville firm." The image was heavily used in advertisements and marketing materials for Green River Whiskey, which was distilled in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

McCrary

Franklin Bell McCrary (November 14, 1849 – April 10, 1921) was an American photographer. He operated McCrary and Branson in partnership with painter Lloyd Branson in

and later entered the syrupFrank B Mccreary Mccreary Year: ''1920''; Census Place: ''Knoxville Ward 2, Knox, Tennessee''; Roll: ''T625_1749''; Page: ''9A''; Enumeration District: ''81'' manufacturing business. McCrary was born in

Sullivan County, Tennessee Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee on its northeast border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,163. Its county seat is Blountville. Sullivan County is part of the Kingsport– Johnson City&ndash ...

. Frank McCrary may have composed the firm's bestselling ''

Alligator Bait Depicting African-American children as alligator bait was a common trope in American popular culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. The motif was present in a wide array of media, including newspaper reports, songs, sheet music, and visual ar ...

'' lithograph; according to a 1900 feature article about Branson, "His partner showed it to him declaring it would prove popular and had it copyrighted. Branson took no special interest in it but regarding it as clever, perhaps, but rather low art." McCrary died in Knoxville of chronic

myocarditis Myocarditis, also known as inflammatory cardiomyopathy, is an acquired cardiomyopathy due to inflammation of the heart muscle. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain, decreased ability to exercise, and an irregular heartbeat. The ...

and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Branson

Enoch Lloyd Branson (August 8, 1853 – June 12, 1925) was a celebrated painter recognized for his portraits and his "heroic genre scenes." According to the

Knoxville Museum of Art The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), is an art museum in Knoxville, Tennessee. It specializes in historical and contemporary art pieces from the East Tennessee region. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists o ...

, "Branson devised a method of producing vivid portraits based on photographs, which provided his primary income as an artist."

Gallery

References

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External links

Cowan's Auctions Lot 287: Turn-of-the-Century Racist Prints, Including Gimme de Rine
Lot of 2 prints, each 7" x 19.5" on 9.5" x 22.5" mounts, each inscribed in the negative Copyright 1898, McCrary & Branson, Knoxville Tenn.. One is titled Last One In's A N****r, the other made up of two side-by-side views and titled "Gimme De Rine"/"Ain't Gwine To Be No Rine". Photographers from Tennessee History of Knoxville, Tennessee