I have enjoyed looking at an old "Minstrels of 1957" program from the Jeanie Ellerd Pennell collection. The cover art was done by Joseph Garnett, one of our area artists. In talking to Joe about this cover art, he believes it was his first paying job. He was in high school then.
The Minstrels was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, often performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface. I know that some don't like to discuss the Minstrel performances produced by the Plainview Lions Club and the Plainview Band Parents Association, but they are a
I was only a small child and do not remember the Minstrels produced in Plainview. I know that some don't like to discuss the Minstrel performances produced by the Plainview Lions Club and the Plainview Band Parents Association, but they are a p[art of our history.
What I remember about these performances is the amount of work that went into them and the diversity of music and performances included within them.
As I look through this particular program, I recognize many of the names of talented Planviewans that created this musical variety show.

Browsing the ads in the program, many were familiar, but several I had never heard of. Here is a listing of the 1957 business ads:
Green Machinery, Hilton Hotel, Cloverlake Dairy Foods, Plainview Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Meinecke Bros., War'ds Grocery and Market, Pritchett & Webb, B.E. Clark, Harvest Queen Mill & Elevator Co., The Camera Shop, Ragland's Western Wear, The Plainview Tribune, Bentley's, Jarvis-Tull & Company, Mason-Waggoner Office Supplies & Equipment Co., Blair Drug Company, White's Super Markets, Newman Motor Company, Inc., C.L. Abernathy Insurance & Real Estate, Ted Andrews & the Sheriff's Dept., Chevron Finance Company, Dargan's, Smith-Bawden Grain Co., Plainview Abstract Co., Patterson Carpet Co., City National Bank, Gene Bumpus Gasoline Butane, Eaton Stationery Company, The Harder Agency, Bryan and Hoffman Paving Contractors, Wood-Mitchell Funeral Home, Borden's Service & Borden's Porta-Lube, Hale County Abstract Co., C.L. Craig Distributor-Phillips 66, Crowell's Diamonds-Watches-Silverware, L.M. Austin, Jr. Special Agent-Prudential, Bruce & Son Moving & Storage, John G. Logsdon Insurance, Raymond Akin and Gene Harris Auctioneers, Boyd & Davenport Insurance, Penney's, Arch Keys, The Yardstick, Vanderpoel Jewelry, Irby's 5-10-25 Stores, Hail Shoes, Curtie Mae Rogers Insurance, Paul Huggins Men's Store, Alcove, Dan Mac Naughton Insurance, Sears Roebuck and Co., Paynes' Plainview, O.B. Jackson Wholesale Meats, Hunter's AVC Stores, Gardenville Grocery, West's Drug Store, Bennett & Hill Feed Yards, Army & Navy Store, Motor Machine Service, Don R. Cook Farm Center, Julian B. Smith, Bratcher-DePauw Motor Co., W.T. Cain Motor Co., Cooper Pontiac-Cadillac, Inc., Hanna Nash Co., Haynes Motor Co., Bob Hooper Motor Co., Kiker Motor Co., Maggard-Nall Motor Co., Martin Motor Co., Winn Motor Co., Ruel Nash Chevrolet, Plainview Hardware Co., Cobb's Department Store, Pioneer Drilling and Machine Co., Ernie Brock Insurance Agency & Real Estate, White Furniture Co., Hale County State Bank, Connor Mathis Co., Inc., Waller Tailoring Company, Seipp Machine Shop, Plainview Production Credit Association, B.B. Howle Real Estate, Don Mouser Insurance Agency, Bud's Appliance Co., Zeigler's Food Store, Furr's Soper Market, Hugh Hale, Insurance, Strain's Super Service, International Paper Co. Long-Bell Division, Garrison Furniture and Appliances, Rockwell Bros. and Co., E.K. Hufstedler and Son, Stapleton Bros. Machine and Tank Co., Kelly Refrigerator and Electric, B.C. Goree, Panhandle Popcorn, Kimball-Plainview Co., KVOP, Gifford-Hill Western, Inc., Culligan Water Conditioning, Berry's Pastries, Noel Cleaners, Higginbotham Bartlett Company, Edmiston Service station, Southwestern Public Service, Phillips Battery, Co., H.C. (Henry) Hoyle Stockyards, McGrath's Fine Foods, Firestone Store, Brown Refrigeration, Herald-News Publishing Company, Crenshaw Paint & Glass Company, Anthony's, G.D. Billington Company, The Rose Shop, Lemons Funeral Home, Piggly Wiggly, Gordon's, Corcorran-Purcell Men's Wear, Beall's, Consolidated Gas & Equipment Company, Plainview Co-op Compress, Inc., National Oil & Butane Company.