The Rag-Time Four was an American Quartet performance group circa 1898 to 1899, they were known for popularizing a version of the

cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black slave plantations before and after emancipation in the Southern Uni ...

dance. The four members of the group were Saint Suttle,

Gertie Brown Gertie Brown Moore (born Gilberta Gertrude Chevalier, August 23, 1878 – February 24, 1934) was a vaudeville performer and one of the first African-American film actresses. Brown is most famous for her part in the 1898 silent film ''Something Go ...

, John Brewster, and Maud Brewster. Suttle and Brewster were called the "Blackville Twins", while their female partners were called "their best girls". The group performed

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

in Chicago, along with in Milwaukee and Duluth. One of the groups cakewalk events was named Coontown 400.

History

The origin of the cakewalk was a way for enslaved people to mock their masters, during the Antebellum South-period. "The Two Real Ragtime Coons" was a name given to Suttle and Brown when they performed Vaudeville. The two were involved with many different projects together, with performance and minstrel shows in Chicago, including their involvement in the film

Something Good – Negro Kiss ''Something Good – Negro Kiss'' is a short silent film from 1898 of a couple kissing and holding hands. It is believed to depict the earliest on-screen kiss involving African Americans and is known for departing from the prevalent and purely ste ...

(1898).

Songs attributed to The Rag-Time Four

* Shake Yo' Dusters

References

{{Reflist} Musical groups from Chicago American jazz ensembles from Illinois