“HUGE STAGE SPECTACLE”: ORIGINAL MILLS BROTHERS POSTER

MILLS BROTHERS. [Poster] In Person, Radio Famed Mills Brothers in Harlem Sketches. St. Louis: Globe Poster Corporation, circa 1940. Original tan posterboard lettered in dark blue, measuring 14 by 22 inches. $300.

Vintage poster advertising the appearance of this legendary quartet, in Lansing on March 10, “one day only.”

The pioneering Mills Brothers used their voices not only to harmonize in four parts in the Barbershop tradition, but created the sounds of various instruments and combined them in jazz harmonies, foreshadowing the advent of “scat.” “For more than 75 uninterrupted years, the magical appeal of the eloquent music of The Mills Brothers has attracted adoring audiences worldwide” (Press Release). “Paper Doll” alone sold six million copies in its original release and it was just one of more than 2,000 recordings between 1935 and 1965 that produced at least 36 legitimate hits.

Small spot of adhesive residue to top margin, chipping to lower right margin, not affecting text.