15 Facts About Minstrel show

Minstrel show, called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.

Each Minstrel show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people specifically of African descent.

Upper-class houses at first limited the number of such acts they would Minstrel show, but beginning in 1841, blackface performers frequently took to the stage at even the classy Park Theatre, much to the dismay of some patrons.

Minstrel show had a somewhat aristocratic demeanor, a "codfish aristocrat", while the endmen exchanged jokes and performed a variety of humorous songs.

Second portion of the Minstrel show, called the olio, was historically the last to evolve, as its real purpose was to allow for the setting of the stage for act three behind the curtain.

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Minstrel show characters were often described in animalistic terms, with "wool" instead of hair, "bleating" like sheep, and having "darky cubs" instead of children.

Minstrel show's death and the pain it caused his master was a common theme in sentimental songs.

Minstrel show frequently cried about the loss of his home during the war, only to meet up with someone from the past such as the child of his former master.

Minstrel show's often went by the name of Aunt Dinah Roh after the song of that title.

Minstrel show was a Northern, urban black man trying to live above his station by mimicking white, upper-class speech and dress—usually to no good effect.

Minstrel show was acknowledged for playing some role in the war, but he was more frequently lampooned for bumbling through his drills or for thinking his uniform made him the equal of his white counterparts.

Minstrel show was usually better at retreating than fighting, and, like the dandy, he preferred partying to serious pursuits.

Minstrel show instruments were a melange: African banjo and tambourine with European fiddle and bones In short, early minstrel music and dance was not true black culture; it was a white reaction to it.

Minstrel show dance was generally not held to the same mockery as other parts, although contemporaries such as Fanny Kemble argued that minstrel dances were merely a "faint, feeble, impotent—in a word, pale Northern reproductions of that ineffable black conception.

Minstrel show played a powerful role in shaping assumptions about black people.