Minstrel show
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A minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose o
Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843
Thomas D. Rice from sheet music cover of "Sich a Getting Up Stairs", 1830s
Sheet music cover for "Dandy Jim from Caroline", featuring Dan Emmett (center) and the other Virginia Minstrels, c. 1844
Poster for Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels
Vaudeville
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Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1870s until the early 1930s.
Minstrel show
…declined. By the turn of the 20th century the minstrel show enjoyed but a shadow of its former popularity, having been replaced for the most part by the vaudeville style of theatre. The form survived as professional entertainment until about 1910. Minstrel shows were popular before slavery was abolished, sufficiently…
A promotional poster for the Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles (1894), showing dancers, clowns, trapeze artists, costumed dogs, singers and costumed actors
This 1913 how-to booklet for would-be vaudevillians was recently republished.
Marie Dressler in "Tillie the Scrub Lady"
Trixie Friganza Hayes