T. O. B. A.

T.O.B.A., the Theater Owners Booking Association, was the vaudeville circuit for African American performers in the 1920s and 1930s. The theaters all had white owners and collaborated in booking jazz, blues, comedians, and other performers for black audiences. The organization started in 1909 with 31 theaters and had more than 100 theaters at its peak in the 1920s.

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Major T.O.B.A. stars included Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.

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The T.O.B.A., also known as the Toby Time, had theaters in all the major cities in the North and South and in many small cities as well. (Time was a common term for vaudeville circuits). Performers said the initials stood for Tough on Black Artists or Tough on Black Asses because of the owners' strict ways with payment and discipline.

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The most prestigious black theaters in Harlem, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. were not part of the circuit, but booked acts independently. The T.O.B.A. was considered less prestigious. Many black performers, such as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson performed in white vaudeville, often in blackface.

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Vaudeville: :For the town in France, see Vaudeville, Meurthe-et-Moselle....

African American: African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans, Black Americans, or simply blacks are an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to West and Central Africa. Many African Americans have European and/or Native American ancestry as well....

1920s: Sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or primarily in North America as the "Roaring Twenties"....