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"Chocolate," as a color, was a 1920s-1930s show-business euphemism used as an adjective in African-American entertainment. A popular adjective in the 1920s and 1930s, used as in the black revue title Hot Chocolates (1929). with music by Fats Waller. There were numerous bands called the Chocolate Dandies (see below); and chocolate crops up in several titles, e.g. Harlem chocolate babies on parade (James P. Johnson). "Chocolate shake" (Ellington).

Uses

 * Productions


 * The Chocolate Dandies (1924), Broadway musical
 * Hot Chocolates (1929), Broadway revue
 * "Chocolate Soldier"


 * Ensembles


 * The Chocolateers (1937),
 * The Chocolateers (acrobatic dance team who performed at the Cotton Club. The original members possibly included Al Bert "Gip" Gipson, Paul Black – known for his Chinese splits, straddling the floor as he walked – and Eddie West (with James Buster Brown replacing West for a short period of time)
 * The Three Chocolateers (1939), at the Apollo; Jackie Mabley, Dusty Fletcher
 * The Three Chocolate Drops, performers in the 1931 Broadway musical Rhapsody in Black


 * Songs


 * "Parade of the Chocolate Dolls," a Cotton Club standard; James P. Johnson (w&m)
 * "Chocolate Shake" (©1941), Paul Webster (words); Duke Ellington (music)


 * African American Entertainers


 * Chocolate Williams (aka Billy, aka Bob, né Robert Williams, Jr.; 1916–1984), American jazz bassist and vocalist based in New York City

Unpublished reference
In Bon-Bon Buddy: A Story for Children – an unpublished book completed in 1935 by Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughs – they describe a discriminatory setting in which race is coded as chocolate and nonchocolate.

"Three Chocolates" disambiguation
The Three Chocolates might wrongly associated with:


 * Three Chocolate Dandies, vocalists and dancers from the mid-1920s, which featured Albert Wilkins, Bennie Anderson, Fulton Alexander
 * The Chocolate Dandies (1924), a musical comedy review; the book was by Noble Sissle and Lew Peyton and the music was by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
 * The Chocolate Steppers, dancers from the early-1930s
 * Chocolate Kiddies (1925), an international touring musical revue directed by Sam Wooding
 * The Three Chocolate Drops, dancers from the early-1930s
 * Three Chocolateers, acrobatic danceers and vocalists, who, among other things, performed "Peckin'" in the 1937 film, New Faces of 1937; originally from the West Coast, but performed famously in Harlem, notably at the Apollo Theater and Cotton Club; possible original members: Al Bert "Gip" Gipson, Paul Black, known for his Chinese splits (straddling the floor as he walked), and Eddie West, with James Buster Brown replacing West for a short period of time
 * Kid Chocolate, World Featherweight Champion boxer from Cuba
 * The Chocolateers (aka the Burbank Chocolateers), appeared on WBZ (Boston) as early as May 1926
 * The Chocolateers, a baseball team sponsored by Hershey Chocolate of Hershey, Pennsylvania, from as early as 1929
 * Garrott Chocolateers a radio orchestra out of Pittsburgh (1929–1930), formerly Garrott's Chocolate Soldiers (musical comedy; on radio from 1926 to 1927)
 * Nestle Chocolateers, singers sponsored by the company, initially broadcast from Pittsburgh beginning September 5, 1930, running through 1934, and hosted by Helen Morgan
 * Phil Kelly's Chocolateers, A basketball team from Kingston, New York, in the early 1930s
 * George Dawson's Chocolateers, guitarist Dawson formed this Detroit group in 1935 as the house band at the Chocolate Bar in Detroit; They made a few recordings for Paradise Records in late 1947
 * Carolina Chocolate Drops
 * Jason "White Chocolate" Williams, NBA basketball player
 * Curtis "Chocolate" Williams of Pittsburgh
 * Connie's Hot Chocolates, a 1929 Broadway musical