did gamble wuz a sin and a shame... I'm gambling for my Sadie, Cause she's my lady, I'm a hustling coon, ... dat's just what I am. Coon songs portrayed blacks as "hot", in this context meaning promiscuous and libidinous. They suggested that the most common living arrangement was a "honey" relationship (unmarried cohabitation), rather than marriage. Blacks were portrayed as inclined toward acts of provocative violence. Razors were often featured in the songs and came to symbolize blacks' wanton tendencies. However, violence in the songs was uniformly directed at blacks instead of whites (perhaps to discharge the threatening notion of black violence amongst the coon songs' predominantly white consumers). Hence, the spectre of black-on-white violence remained but an allusion. The street-patrolling "bully coon" was often used as a stock character in coon songs. The songs showed the social threats that whites believed were posed by blacks. Passing was a common theme, and blacks were portrayed as seeking the status of whites, through education and money. However, blacks rarely, except during dream sequences, actually succeeded at appearing white; they only aspired to do so. Use in theater Coon songs were popular in vaudeville theater, where they were delivered by "coon shouters", who were typically White women. Notable coon shouters included Artie Hall, Sophie Tucker, May Irwin, Mae West, Fanny Brice, Fay Templeton, Lotta Crabtree, Marie Dressler, Emma Carus, Nora Bayes, Blanche Ring, Clarice Vance, Elsie Janis, Trixie Friganza, Eva Tanguay and Julia Gerity. As with minstrel shows earlier, a whole genre of skits and shows grew up around coon songs, and often coon songs were featured in legitimate theater productions. Effects on African-American music Coon songs contributed to the development and acceptance of authentic African-American music. Elements from coon songs were incorporated into turn-of-the-century African-American folk songs, as was revealed by Howard W. Odum's 1906–1908 ethnomusicology fieldwork. Similarly, coon songs' lyrics influenced the vocabulary of the blues, culminating with Bessie Smith's singing in the 1920s. Black songwriters and performers who participated in the creation of coon songs profited commercially, enabling them to go on to develop a new type of African American musical theater based at least in part on African-American traditions. Coon songs also contributed to the mainstream acceptance of ragtime music, paving the way for the acceptance of other African-American music. Ernest Hogan, when discussing his "All Coons Look Alike to Me" shortly before his death, commented: See