The White Rats was a fraternal organization formed by

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 ...

performers, led by

George Fuller Golden George Fuller Golden (1868 – February 17, 1912), was a popular vaudeville entertainer at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his monologues about his fictional friend Casey. He was also a prizefighter. He was the founder of ...

, as a

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

to support the rights of male performers. Women and African-American performers were not allowed to join. The White Rats attempted to combat the monopolistic practices of the United Booking Office (UBO) and the

Vaudeville Managers Association The Vaudeville Managers Association (VMA) was a cartel of managers of American vaudeville theaters established in 1900, dominated by the Boston-based Keith-Albee chain. Soon afterwards the Western Vaudeville Managers Association (WVMA) was formed ...

(VMA), groups formed by vaudeville theater managers to keep performers' wages low and control when and where performers were allowed to work. It was based on the

Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership a ...

, a British entertainment industry fraternity and charity.Trav S.D. ''No Applause - Just Throw Money: The Book that Made Vaudeville Famous'' (New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2005) It received a charter from the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

in 1910.Smith, Bill. ''The Vaudevillians''. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1976) The union staged several strikes but ultimately disbanded.

Membership

Golden wrote a book about the White Rats, ''My Lady Vaudeville and her White Rats'', which was published in 1909 by the Broadway Publishing Company. This book lists the following members: * George Fuller Golden, President * Ezra Kendall, Secretary and Treasurer Directors: It only allowed white male performers to join.

Meeting places

The White Rats met on Twenty-third street in New York City, in a space above Koster & Bial's Music Hall between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. 565

Strike of 1901

Soon after the White Rats union was formed in 1900, its leadership committee attempted to negotiate with the VMA, led by E.F. Albee and

B.F. Keith Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville. Biography Early years Keith was born in Hillsborough, New Hamp ...

, to reduce or remove a 5% kickback each act was forced to pay in exchange for being booked on the lucrative VMA circuit. After negotiations failed, the White Rats called a strike in February 1901. The Western States branch of the VMA gave in to the union's demands, and the Eastern branch went without vaudeville for two weeks. Keith and Albee called a meeting with the performers in which they claimed they themselves had been against the 5% commission, and would ask the other members of the VMA to remove it. Albee and Keith also agreed to go on the record in the press as being against the 5% commission if the strike was called off, and they did so.Samuels, Charles & Louise. ''Once Upon A Stage: The Merry World of Vaudeville''. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1974) As a result, the strike was called off, and performers began to sign contracts with the VMA again in order to secure valuable long-term performing contracts.

Strike of 1916

The White Rats staged a strike in 1916 to protest poor treatment by vaudeville bookers. In retaliation, Vaudeville managers, led by Albee, created a

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

that prevented any known members of the White Rats from working in any of the 10,000 to 15,000 theaters under his control. Performers often couldn't afford to be out of work, or to work at a reduced rate because of suspected union membership, and the strike collapsed within a year. The White Rats disbanded not long thereafter.

References

External links

{{Commons category
The White Rats page at Vaudeville.org
archived at the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine on August 10, 2007. Trade unions established in 1900 Entertainment industry unions Theatrical organizations in the United States American Federation of Labor 1900 establishments in New York City Fraternal orders