?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(ENTERTAINMENT--MUSIC.) Photo postcard of early blues singer Edith Wilson, signed and inscribed on verso. Autograph Note Signed to unknown recipient, 3½ x 5¼ inches, on verso of an unaddressed postcard featuring a portrait of Wilson and a printed holiday greeting; faint mount remnants on inscribed side, minor wear and soiling. London, circa December 1926
Edith Goodall Wilson (1896-1981) was part of the first wave of female blues recording artists, recording 17 tracks in 1921 and 1922, shortly before Bessie Smith began recording. This was followed by a career in vaudeville, the period when this postcard was produced and written: "Best wishes to you and all of the family. I do hope all are in good health by now. I am doing fine. Sincerely, from Edith Wilson, Blackbirds of 1926, London Pavilion Thea., London, Eng." The Blackbirds of 1926 was a revue of all-Black performers starting Wilson and Florence Mills which did more than 200 shows in London from September 1926 onward. The Prince of Wales (soon to be King Edward VIII) is said to have seen the show at least twenty times.
Wilson went on to an acting career, performed USO shows during World War Two, was executive secretary of the Negro Actors Guild, and also portrayed Aunt Jemima in commercials and live appearances from 1948 to 1965. She performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1980. We trace no other autographs of this Edith Wilson at auction, although you'll find quite a few by the First Lady of the same name.
