{"product_id":"t-o-b-a-time","title":"T.O.B.A Time","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlack vaudevillians and entertainers joked that T.O.B.A. stood for “tough on black artists.” But the Theater Owner’s Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) played a foundational role in the African American entertainment industry and provided a training ground for icons like Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Sammy Davis Jr., the Nicholas Brothers, Count Basie, and Butterbeans and Susie.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichelle R. Scott’s institutional history details T.O.B.A.’s origins and practices while telling the little-known stories of the managers, producers, performers, and audience members involved in the circuit. Looking at the organization over its eleven-year existence (1920–1931), Scott places T.O.B.A. against the backdrop of what entrepreneurship and business development meant in black America at the ...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Lewis Museum Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50564036034855,"sku":"9780252086984","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0707\/1419\/6263\/files\/TOBABook.jpg?v=1760746438","url":"https:\/\/reginaldflewismuseum.myshopify.com\/products\/t-o-b-a-time","provider":"The Lewis Museum Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}