WHATCOAT STREET STABLE
The Arabbing tradition is passed down from generation to generation. In some families, it is difficult to find a member who has not Arabbed at some point in their life. This is the case with the Allen family, a well-known Arabbing family from west Baltimore. The Allen family owned the Whatcoat Street Street stable for fifty years. It had been a horse stable since the 1920s, even before the Allen family bought it in the early 1940s.[1] But, Allen’s wife Mildred initiated the tradition of Arabbing in their family. According to former Arabber, Roland Freeman, Whatcoat Street Stable “continuously employed over forty people”[2] and many of those people were members of the Allen Family. Eugene and Mildred had twins, Pauline and Eugene. Eugene was the “fat one” and so his mother nicknamed him “Fatback,” which then became his Arabber name.[3] Although there are not many records of women working as Arabbers, both twins Arabbed throughout their life. “Fatback” was an Arabber for most of his life, and continued to be a leader of the Arabbing community, until his death in June 2017.
The fact that Arabbing is a family tradition is part of the reason for the trade’s survival. People knew the Allen family well. They were respected, and their neighbors wanted to support them. Descendants of Mildred and Eugene Allen still live in Baltimore and participate in the Arabbing trade. Cousin James Chase, also known as “Boom Boom” or “Fruit,” Arabbed out of Whatcoat for nearly twenty years. Fruit Chase is an engaging storyteller, and many of the stories from his Arabbing days are humorous, but all of them remind us that Arabbing is hard work. Fruit worked hard to satisfy the high expectations of his uncle, Anthony “Frog” Savoy, and his grandfather Donald “Manboy” Savoy Sr. Both Frog and Manboy are important figures in the Arabbing community.
[1] Freeman, The Arabbers of Baltimore, 70.
[2] Freeman, The Arabbers of Baltimore, 100.
[3] The Film Foundry, Inc. We Are Arabbers, DVD, (2005).