Topic: "Snowflake"

[jrvass]

In "Women Haters" Moe calls the porter "Snowflake". I always assumed it was a slur like "boy", etc.

I never knew until reading the daily trivia that the porter was Fred "Snowflake" Toones, his nickname/stage name. Not much more enlightened in our present PC society (unless you are rappin' 'bout yo' niggah homees! Go figure.)

IMBD credits him with almost 200 movies! Snowflake probably never made as much money in his whole life as a (c)rapper earns in a week.

James

[Bruckman]

Yeah, "Snowflake" is racially insensitive, about on a par with calling Willie Best "Sleep'n'Eat" Best. It was a different age but at least racial slurs were less violent in those days.

There's a Snowflake reference in, what is it, SOME  MORE OF SAMOA? Or is it THREE MISSING LINKS? When Moe calls the native chieftain "Snowflake" and gets the reply "Me no Snowflake!"

The actor Fred "Snowflake" Toones, as pointed out, was a very prolific actor. I remember him best as the bartender terrified by William Demarest and Jack Norton blasting his club car apart with shotguns in THE PALM BEACH STORY. Also in the 37 A STAR IS BORN. He's the guy in the witness box in the courtroom scene immediately following Fredric March's and Janet Gaynor's civil-ceremonies wedding, in which judge Clarence Wilson (another prolific 30s character actor) can't quite place them, because they've married under their real names, not their cinema names.

[Pilsner Panther]

There's a Snowflake reference in, what is it, SOME  MORE OF SAMOA? Or is it THREE MISSING LINKS? When Moe calls the native chieftain "Snowflake" and gets the reply "Me no Snowflake!"

That's definitely from "Some More of Samoa." I don't remember any similar line in "Three Missing Links," but I could be wrong about that. Someone here will know.

[FineBari3]

Yeah, "Snowflake" is racially insensitive, about on a par with calling Willie Best "Sleep'n'Eat" Best. It was a different age but at least racial slurs were less violent in those days.

There's a Snowflake reference in, what is it, SOME  MORE OF SAMOA? Or is it THREE MISSING LINKS? When Moe calls the native chieftain "Snowflake" and gets the reply "Me no Snowflake!"

Doesn't he say "Me Kingfisher!" after that? Isnt that something to do with Amos 'n Andy?

BTW, being a Porter was looked upon as a very dignified and important position for a Black person back then. The Porters also helped circulate the Pittsburgh Courier, a premire Black newspaper that is still in publication today.

[Pilsner Panther]

Yeah, "Snowflake" is racially insensitive, about on a par with calling Willie Best "Sleep'n'Eat" Best. It was a different age but at least racial slurs were less violent in those days.

There's a Snowflake reference in, what is it, SOME  MORE OF SAMOA? Or is it THREE MISSING LINKS? When Moe calls the native chieftain "Snowflake" and gets the reply "Me no Snowflake!"

Doesn't he say "Me Kingfisher!" after that? Isnt that something to do with Amos 'n Andy?

BTW, being a Porter was looked upon as a very dignified and important position for a Black person back then. The Porters also helped circulate the Pittsburgh Courier, a premire Black newspaper that is still in publication today.

The Kingfish was the pompous Lodge President on the Amos & Andy Show. After the native says, "Me Kingfisher," Moe and Larry go into a little Amos & Andy routine, doing the voices, which were famous from the late 20's all the way through the early 50's. I can't remember the exact wording, but it's something like:

Native: "Me no Snowflake, me Kingfisher!"

Moe and Larry: "Well, howdy, Kingfish! I'm Amos, and I'm Andy."

Below: Amos & Andy with the Kingfish (lower left). These are the TV show stars— the radio cast was white, a fact that never ceases to amaze me... how this culture has changed! I'm not going to be a "PC" twerp and sit in judgment of the taste of my grandparents' generation; no, allegations of racism aside, the show happened to be funny, and it had some excellent scriptwriters as well as actors. It was popular because people wanted a good laugh, not because they liked to sneer at blacks (although I'm sure some did).




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