1- When was the first bona fide barbershop quartet launched?
2- Who are the earliest known quartets?
3- Name this famous vaudevillian, who began his show biz career as a singer in a professional barbershop quartet named the Manhattan Comedy Four, and later teamed up with Ed Gallagher to form one of America's greatest and most popular vaudeville comedy acts.
4- In the golden age of barbershopping, many of the greatest quartets were comedy quartets. Name the most renowned of these turn-of-the-last-century quartets, and, for extra credit, in what year were they organized?
5- What is noteworthy about the Casion Comedy Four?
Answers to Barbershop History Quiz:
1- It's impossible to say with certainty, However, quartets that we, in 2002 would recognize as barbershop in nature, are first written about in the 1870's.
2- The following quartets, all from the 1870's, are the earliest mentioned in print: The Hamtown Students, the American Four, the Four Shamrocks, the Continental Four and the Big Four.
3- Al Shean
4- The Avon Comedy Four in 1900
5- Its lead singer was Al Jolson