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Transcription: [00:24:03](Interviewer)
The connection that is clear between vaudeville, between carnivals, between minstrelsy, and tent shows, minstrel tent shows or other forms of tent shows. There's another form that is closely linked to all of these though in a rather strange way, that of the medicine show. Now, Willie you worked a little sort of on and off in your later years when you were doing carnival with some medicine showmen. How did that work? What was a medicine show to you?

[00:24:32][Willie(Interviewee)]
Well, a medicine show was a doctor. He made his own medicine, he had, he would sell liniment, and that liniment, anything that hurt you it was supposed to cure it. Then he would have capsules, whatever it was. Don't care what you had. That's what you bought for-, it would cure it, but the thing about it he would have a big thing just like this. You didn't pay no money to come in to see that. He would have the big show and after he had the show then he'd make his medicine pitch. He sells medicine, but he would pay his performers out of the money he make outta his medicine.
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[00:25:11] (Interviewer)
Unlike.. uh.. most of the other forms medicine shows, were more often than not white-owned with black entertainers appearing on them, it was very hard for a black doctor to really operate in many of the years, especially in the South, to manage a show, because you'd run into too much trouble down there. There were only two or three shows, Doc Robinson's, no.. not Doc Robinson's

[00:25:40](Willie)
Yeah Doc Robinson's Minstrel yeah

[00:25:43] (Interviewer)
Doc Robinson's Minstrels, there were, there were a few shows that were all black medicine shows, more often what you had was mixed and white medicine shows that would employ, one or two black.. uh... entertainers, entertainers that might've come from the Minstrel stage, might've come from the carnival stage, might've come from any of a variety. There's one other area I think we should talk about, and , show those links, and speaking about Vaudeville,

[00:26:08] (thunder strikes)
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[00:26:09](Interviewer)
Maybe... maybe we're gonna get wet (Will in background responds "yeah") I think so. Maybe we can talk a little bit about.. uh.. Irvin C. Miller's "Brown Skin Models" and the role that you played in that and then how.. so what happened to Irvin C. Miller and Florida Blossom, to show how closely linked a lot of these things were.
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[00:26:29](Willie)
Well, a Brown Skin Model show was a, a theater show, but right after World War Two