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[MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY DEVCOM AVMC (USA)]

Starting in the 1890's, the magician Alexander Herrmann had an on-stage Black assistant called "Boomski".  I gather that several individuals occupied that role, and other magicians also called their Black, on-stage assistants by that name, so it was somewhat genericized.

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=&date1=1777&date2=1963&proxtext=boomski&x=0&y=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&rows=20&searchType=basic&sort=date
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