Tambourines, Bone Castanets, and Banjos Meet Jump Jim Crow: A History of Blackfaced Minstrelsy in America from 1828 to 1898: A Forgotten Heirloom in a
Book Details
Author(s)Washington R. Dobbins Jr
PublisherOutskirts Press
ISBN / ASIN1432766686
ISBN-139781432766689
AvailabilityUsually ships in 24 hours
Sales Rank6,009,496
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
The "Golden Age" of Blackfaced Minstrelsy in America!
The age of minstrelsy in America is a period of entertainment that for years has been shoved aside in much the same way a valuable family heirloom is packed away and forgotten. It may be that as Blacks moved away from southern plantations to the industrialized north any references to the harsh conditions of slavery was not of much enjoyment to the new freedmen. It may be that the nation became culturally too sophisticated to enjoy or respect the shuffling, cakewalking, hand-slapping, joke telling troupes known as minstrel companies. Historians, when writing on the history of drama in America, have overlooked the important role of Negro minstrelsy in this country. Historians may have considered the minstrel show a lower art form and therefore not worthy of critical acclaim. The fact is "blackfaced", "burnt cork", or "Ethiopian" minstrelsy was truly the first American form of entertainment. Historian Robert C. Toll describes the minstrel performance as "...the first American popular entertainment form to become a national institution, it set many precedents and trends that strongly influenced its successors, especially burlesque and vaudeville." Alain Locke, in the International Library of Afro-American Life and History, quotes Dr. Issac Goldberg in saying, "Almost every song-and-dance man of note, from the times of Harrigan and Hart down to our own sophisticated day, started out behind the burnt cork." It is safe to assert, therefore, that all other forms of entertainment in the U.S.A., whether it is vaudeville or Broadway, owe their existence to the influences of early American minstrels. This book: (1) Traces minstrelsy from its origins in Europe to the events which led to its "peculiar" birth in America, (2) documents the way minstrelsy became an established art form, (3) examines the growth, peak and decline of this type of entertainment, (4) studies the influences of other entertainment forms on minstrelsy, and (5) looks at the minstrel influence on similar forms of entertainment which came after it. The contributions of P.T. Barnum, George Washington Dixon, and Charles Matthews; as well as Thomas Dartmouth Rice will be given attention. The influences of the Christy Minstrels, Stephen Foster, James Bland and the Fisk Jubilee Singers are also included. Specialty acts and "oddities" are also written about. "A History of Blackfaced Minstrelsy in America from 1828-1898" acknowledges that were as many white contributors to the development of the period as there were Black contributors. "A History of Blackfaced Minstrelsy in America from 1828 - 1898" is a "must read" and "must have" book for any student of the history of theatre in America; and for any student of history, in general. Washington R. Dobbins, Jr. has carefully crafted a document of historical theatrical significance.
The age of minstrelsy in America is a period of entertainment that for years has been shoved aside in much the same way a valuable family heirloom is packed away and forgotten. It may be that as Blacks moved away from southern plantations to the industrialized north any references to the harsh conditions of slavery was not of much enjoyment to the new freedmen. It may be that the nation became culturally too sophisticated to enjoy or respect the shuffling, cakewalking, hand-slapping, joke telling troupes known as minstrel companies. Historians, when writing on the history of drama in America, have overlooked the important role of Negro minstrelsy in this country. Historians may have considered the minstrel show a lower art form and therefore not worthy of critical acclaim. The fact is "blackfaced", "burnt cork", or "Ethiopian" minstrelsy was truly the first American form of entertainment. Historian Robert C. Toll describes the minstrel performance as "...the first American popular entertainment form to become a national institution, it set many precedents and trends that strongly influenced its successors, especially burlesque and vaudeville." Alain Locke, in the International Library of Afro-American Life and History, quotes Dr. Issac Goldberg in saying, "Almost every song-and-dance man of note, from the times of Harrigan and Hart down to our own sophisticated day, started out behind the burnt cork." It is safe to assert, therefore, that all other forms of entertainment in the U.S.A., whether it is vaudeville or Broadway, owe their existence to the influences of early American minstrels. This book: (1) Traces minstrelsy from its origins in Europe to the events which led to its "peculiar" birth in America, (2) documents the way minstrelsy became an established art form, (3) examines the growth, peak and decline of this type of entertainment, (4) studies the influences of other entertainment forms on minstrelsy, and (5) looks at the minstrel influence on similar forms of entertainment which came after it. The contributions of P.T. Barnum, George Washington Dixon, and Charles Matthews; as well as Thomas Dartmouth Rice will be given attention. The influences of the Christy Minstrels, Stephen Foster, James Bland and the Fisk Jubilee Singers are also included. Specialty acts and "oddities" are also written about. "A History of Blackfaced Minstrelsy in America from 1828-1898" acknowledges that were as many white contributors to the development of the period as there were Black contributors. "A History of Blackfaced Minstrelsy in America from 1828 - 1898" is a "must read" and "must have" book for any student of the history of theatre in America; and for any student of history, in general. Washington R. Dobbins, Jr. has carefully crafted a document of historical theatrical significance.
