ABSTRACT
MAKING an appearance on the stage, from prestigious theatres in Edwardian British cities to the Kursaal at Southend, a public hall in Wrexham, the Corn Exchange in Newark or the pier theatre in Blackpool was work; and reviews, even from such unlikely publications such as the Fruit Trader's Journal, were clipped and treasured by entertainers. Fame and fortune could be fickle, and those entertainers who failed to adapt to changes in the public's taste would find work falling off. It must have been with chagrin that Edwardian entertainers noticed the successes of the Congo pygmies during the years 1905 to 1907, for their attraction was merely that they were short adult Africans. In the contemporary comments we can see ignorance and prejudice, curiosity, and show business enterprise. We can also observe governmental impotence, high society's naivety, journalism at its best and worst, and a subtle victory by the six Africans over the hundreds of thousands who paid to look at them.
