DESCRIPTION:
http://www.postercentral.com A vintage Nat King Cole window card used to sell tickets for his appearance in Chattanooga, TN on Sept. 15, 1954.

This concert poster has a "segregation line" which informs patrons that white spectators will be charged less, and probably had their own section to sit in.

Chattanooga, Tennessee is in the deep south, of course, where concert posters in the 1950s and early '60s often had racial segregation rules for the audience, and many of the concert placards of the day reflected that fact.

This Nat King Cole boxing-style poster is actually shared with Buddy Johnson and his sister Ella down at the bottom. Both were a strong presence on the concert trail during this era.

Both acts were African-American, of course, so this segregated show poster of the 1950s attempted to encourage Caucasians to feel comfortable attending.

This is the only Nat 'King' Cole tour poster I've ever seen that has such a 'seg line.' It's chilling the first time you see it.

There are, however, Nat King Cole placards from throughout his touring career right up until his death in the mid-sixties.

One would assume that the term "spectators" was used because whites were not allowed to dance with blacks, they were only allowed to sit and watch this post-war black-music touring show.

The compete wording on this Nat King Cole broadside, as it reads from the top to the bottom:

Concert & Dance -- Memorial Aud., Chattanooga -- Wed. Sept. 15, 8:30 P.M. -- Admission: Advance $1.50 -- At Door $2.00 -- White Spectators $1.00

In Person -- Nat 'King' Cole plus The Great Buddy Johnson and his Orchestra with Ella Johnson & Nolan Lewis

General Artists Corp., RKO Bldg., N.Y. -- Cincinnati -- Chicago -- Hollywood -- London • (printer's union bug, then) C.J. Warner Poster Corp., 653 Eleventh Ave. N.Y.C.

It's a shame that music concert billboards from the South had to have such proclamations during this era, but such discrimination helped motivate the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and lead toward change.

Such black-music concert window displays with segregated ticket information are not as rare or unusual as you might think; I have seen something like three dozed different posters with 'seg lines' since I began collecting vintage concert-poster art.

It's thought-provoking how a simple 14 by 22-inch cardboard show placard from over 50 years ago could invoke such disturbing feelings when one reflects on the segregation of the era.

This Nat King Cole tour placard is shown off, discussed and dissected by veteran ticket-poster collector Pete Howard (pete@postercentral.com or 805-540-0020).

To see a few other black-music ticket posters from the fifties and sixties, just click over to this page on my Web site: http://www.postercentral.com/rhythmnblues.htm