1930s Black Americana Al Barbelle Advertisement Artwork

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Framed vintage 1933 Black Americana commercial lithograph print created by the commercial artist Al Barbelle Artwork “Go 'way bee, dis … Read more Framed vintage 1933 Black Americana commercial lithograph print created by the commercial artist Al Barbelle Artwork “Go 'way bee, dis ain't yo hive!"

The Artist: Alfred "Al" Barbelle (1888–1957), a prominent American illustrator known largely for his sheet music covers and commercial advertisements.

The illustration depicts a young Black child hesitant to use a chamber pot because a bee is hovering right over it. It features text written at the bottom in a stylized, exaggerated Southern African-American dialect typical of early 20th-century media. This image was originally used as a humorous print and distributed as a novelty item or commercial advertisement, sometimes associated with honey butter companies of the era . See less