Johnny Black

The Krebs Furniture display at the Art Hall, Butler County Fair, Hamilton, Ohio, ca. 1913. Pictured left to right: unidentified, Katie Bauersachs, Joe Krebs, William Bieker, unidentified, W.W. Staylor, Mrs. W.W. Staylor, Johnny Black (with violin) and James Nunn. Johnny Black wrote two famous songs in his life, “Dardanella”, which sold 5,000,000 records, and "Paper Doll" was a hit song for The Mills Brothers six years after Black’s death. “Paper Doll” held the number-one position on the Billboard singles chart in the US for twelve weeks, from November 6, 1943, to January 22, 1944. The success of the song represented something of a revival for the group, after a few years of declining sales. It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. Photo from the George C. Cummins “Remember When” Photograph Collection. Donated by the family of George C. Cummins. Photo used courtesy of the George C. Cummins "Remember When" Collection at the Hamilton Lane Library, Hamilton, Ohio.