Minstrel show
The minstrel show was an American form of entertainment. It was developed in the 19th century. Each show was of comic skits, dancing and music performances that showed people of African descent. The shows were played by mostly white people in makeup or blackface for the purpose of playing black people. There were also some African American performers and black-only minstrel groups that formed and toured.
Minstrel shows parodied blacks and African Americans as happy-go-lucky, lazy and dim-witted.[1][2]
Minstrel shows came out as brief burlesques in the early 1830s in the Northeastern United States. They were developed into full-fledged form around the next decade.
By the turn of the 20th century, the minstrel show was a shadow of its former popularity. It was replaced for the most part by vaudeville.[3]
Minstrel Show Media
Belvidere Commercial Club Minstrels, Belvidere, Ohio. Many later minstrel troupes, such as this one in 1910, tried to project an image of refinement. Note that only the endmen are in blackface.
This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co., shows the blackface transformation from white to "black".
Jim Crow, the archetypal slave character as created by Rice
Minstrel show performers Rollin Howard (in wench costume) and George Griffin, c. 1855
A complete minstrel show, c.1899
References
- ↑ "The Coon Caricature". Ferris State University. Retrieved Sep 2, 2020.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ↑ "A History of the Musical". John Kenrick. Retrieved Sep 2, 2020.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ↑ Blackface Photos Found in Old University of Maryland Yearbooks. Baltimore Sun. https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-umd-blackface-yearbook-20190208-story.html. Retrieved Sep 2, 2020.
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