step and fetch it

kschmir

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Jan 28, 2003, 5:49:32 PM1/28/03

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hi,
a friend asked me about the "phrase" "step and fetch it". i vaguely
knew about a black coemdy duo of the '30ies (or thereabouts), and so
did he. This seems to be different. The phrase appears as a song title
announcement on a v-disc, every word pronounced separately. There's a
store (ship) in the song. So is there a collocation "step and fetch
it" referring to a some kind of amenuensis/lord of the ladders? Or is
it that Step and Fetchit were famous enough to be worked into song
lyrics as types?

klaus

Donna Richoux

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Jan 28, 2003, 6:52:37 PM1/28/03

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kschmir <ksc...@z.zgs.de> wrote:

Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has this to say about "stepinfetchit." In
the 1930s it was slang for a subservient black person. The origin of
this was: "literally 'step and fetch it': nickname of Lincoln Perry
[1892-1985], who specialized in playing stereotypical 'dumb nigger'
roles for Hollywood; he chose the nickname after a winning racehorse."

The Biographical Dictionary site has a different birthyear:

Fetchit, Stepin (orig. Lincoln Theodore Monroe
Andrew Perry) US movie actor _1902-1985

Anyway, he was a single person, not a duo.

--
Best wishes -- Donna Richoux

GrapeApe

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Jan 28, 2003, 7:54:03 PM1/28/03

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>The Biographical Dictionary site has a different birthyear:
>
> Fetchit, Stepin (orig. Lincoln Theodore Monroe
> Andrew Perry) US movie actor _1902-1985
>
>Anyway, he was a single person, not a duo.

Tell that to Winifred Johnson.

http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Fetchit,%20Stepin

N.Mitchum

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Jan 29, 2003, 2:29:29 AM1/29/03

to aj...@lafn.org

kschmir wrote:
----

> a friend asked me about the "phrase" "step and fetch it". i vaguely
> knew about a black coemdy duo of the '30ies (or thereabouts),

>....

That's Stepin Fetchit, one person, a gifted comic actor who worked
mostly in the Thirties but also made movies for decades after. He
played a stereotypical dumb "nigger" that many find offensive
today: head-scratching, slack-jawed, slow talking, bulgy eyed,
and easily frightened. He made famous the line, "Feet, don't fail
me now" (when wanting to run away from a dangerous situation).
People don't want to give him credit for his talent.

----NM

Tony Cooper

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Jan 29, 2003, 3:21:36 AM1/29/03

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On Tue, 28 Jan 2003 23:29:29 -0800, "N.Mitchum" <aj...@lafn.org>
wrote:

Feets. He said "feets".
--
Tony Cooper aka: tony_co...@yahoo.com
Provider of Jots, Tittles, and Oy!s

Earle Jones

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Jan 29, 2003, 8:11:45 PM1/29/03

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In article <b171dn$1dok$1...@msheas02.msh.de>,
kschmir <ksc...@z.zgs.de> wrote:

*
See:

http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_087.htm

"Born Lincoln Theodore Monroe Perry, "Stepin Fetchit" became an
almost mythical figure in African American popular culture. After
attending a Catholic boarding school until he was 12, Perry joined the
vaudeville circuit accompanied by comic Ed Lee performing a minstrel
act called "Step 'n' Fetchit: Two Dancing Fools from Dixie." In the
early 1920s Perry went solo and retained Stepin Fetchit as his stage
name.

As Stepin Fetchit, he became quite popular on the Theater Owners
Booking Association (TOBA) performance circuit. After moving to
Hollywood, Perry appeared in more than 40 films between 1927 and 1976,
including In Old Kentucky (1927), Judge Priest (1934), and The
Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). "

earle
*

Evan Kirshenbaum

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Jan 30, 2003, 6:33:52 PM1/30/03

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Earle Jones <earle...@attbi.com> writes:

> http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_087.htm
>
> "Born Lincoln Theodore Monroe Perry, "Stepin Fetchit" became an
> almost mythical figure in African American popular culture. After
> attending a Catholic boarding school until he was 12, Perry joined the
> vaudeville circuit accompanied by comic Ed Lee performing a minstrel
> act called "Step 'n' Fetchit: Two Dancing Fools from Dixie." In the
> early 1920s Perry went solo and retained Stepin Fetchit as his stage
> name.
>
> As Stepin Fetchit, he became quite popular on the Theater Owners
> Booking Association (TOBA) performance circuit. After moving to
> Hollywood, Perry appeared in more than 40 films between 1927 and 1976,
> including In Old Kentucky (1927), Judge Priest (1934), and The
> Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). "

Perry is also said to be the first black entertainer to become a
millionaire, although like many millionaire entertainers, it didn't
last: he declared bankruptcy in (let's see) 1947.