Antique Sheet Music MY MAMMY The Sun Shines East - The Sun Shines West ©1921

This vintage sheet music, published by Irving Berlin, Inc., showcases the iconic "MY MAMMY The Sun Shines East The Sun Shines West" with lyrics by Joe Young and Sam Lewis and music by Walter Donaldson. It also features "ROCK-A-BYE LULLABYE MAMMY" written by Grant Clarke. The back includes an advertisement for Irving Berlin's timeless hit song, "TELL ME LITTLE GYPSY", which was the biggest hit of the Flo Ziegfeld Follies.

The song "MY MAMMY" was a popular American song from 1921 and gained prominence during the early 20th-century Tin Pan Alley era, a period when New York City was the hub of American popular music production.

Al Jolson famously performed the song in blackface in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, the first "talkie" with synchronized dialogue and music. The ballad-style lyrics depict a yearning for a "mammy," a term historically associated with enslaved or domestic African American women who cared for white families. While the song is not explicitly derogatory, its connection to minstrelsy and blackface performances and its romanticized portrayal of the Southern past and slavery has led to criticism for perpetuating racial insensitivity and stereotypes.

Musically, it remains a historical artifact of early 20th-century American popular culture, illustrating the dominance of Tin Pan Alley and the influence of vaudeville.
The song's association with The Jazz Singer also marks it as a milestone in film history, as the movie revolutionized the industry by introducing sound, even if its racial depictions are now heavily criticized.

The pages of the sheet music have become detached and chipping, but the illustration on the front still maintains its bright colors. The depiction of an antebellum plantation home surrounded by tall oak trees is a testament to the enduring beauty of this historic time period.