Cal Stewart

Cal Stewart (b. 1856 Charlotte County, Virginia, d. December 7, 1919) was an American comedian and humorist who pioneered in vaudeville and early sound recordings. He is best remembered for his comic monologues in which he played "Uncle Josh" Weathersby, a resident of a mythical New England farming town called "Punkin Center."

Cal Stewart
C. 1905 portrait of Stewart from "Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories"
Born	1856 Charlotte County, Virginia
Died	December 7, 1919
Medium	Vaudeville, audio recordings
Nationality	American
Genres	Anecdotal comedy, character comedy
Notable works and roles	Uncle Josh Weathersby

Cal Stewart as Uncle Josh Weathersby, circa 1900

Born in Charlotte County, Virginia in 1856, Stewart spent his early life working in circuses, medicine shows and vaudeville to great acclaim as "Uncle Josh Weathersby from Way Down East". It was on the road that he befriended Mark Twain and later Will Rogers, two men who shared similar wit in comedy.

Around 1897, Thomas Edison's studios hired him to cut several cylinder recordings of his famous speeches and songs. They were well received by the public, and launched an entire series of recordings based on the Uncle Josh character. Stewart's trademark on these recordings is the easily recognizable laugh that precedes his speeches.

Best-selling recordings included "Uncle Josh’s Arrival in New York" (1898), "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough (Laughing Song)" (1898), "Jim Lawson's Horse Trade With Deacon Witherspoon" (1901), "Uncle Josh's Huskin' Bee Dance" (1901), and "Uncle Josh Buys an Automobile" (1903). He wrote the song "Ticklish Reuben" in 1900.

Stewart continued recording on Edison, Columbia, Victor, and independent labels up until his death on December 7, 1919. He also wrote two books based on his monologues and performed in theaters across America with his wife Rossini Vrionides and her brother and sister.

Stewart is represented on the 2007 compilation Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s.

External links

• Works by Cal Stewart at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Cal Stewart at Internet Archive
• Works by Cal Stewart at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Cal Stewart cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Cal Stewart Fan Site (includes digitized version of his book)
• Cal Stewart recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
• Researching Cal Stewart and 'Uncle Josh', part 1 - Patrick Feaster interviewed by Jerry Fabris on Thomas Edison's Attic radio program, WFMU, January 9, 2007.
• Researching Cal Stewart and 'Uncle Josh', part 2 - Patrick Feaster interviewed by Jerry Fabris on Thomas Edison's Attic radio program, WFMU, January 23, 2007.