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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Jim:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Historically the minstrel show started as a
black-face entertainment. The first performer in black-face (other than
portrayers of Othello) was Thomas "Daddy" Rice who wrote the song Jim
Crow. The first actual minstrel troupe was formed by Dan Emmett
(Dixie), Frank Brower, Dick Pelham, and Billy Whitlock. They called
themselves the Virginia Minstrels and gave their first performance at the Bowery
Amphitheater on February 6, 1843. Throughout the heyday of the minstrel
show they were done in blackface. In later years, however, there were
whiteface minstrels. Like you, I remember tent shows coming to the
small Oklahoma town I was born in and white face minstrels were the rule.
As an aside, we also had another unique form of entertainment called the
Toby Show. These were very popular shows that toured throughout the
Midwest, generally in tents. The format was the Toby character (a rube
type) who in the end bested the city slicker. There was one of these shows
still touring the Midwest as late as 1960.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It is interesting to note that black performers did
minstrel shows as early as the 1870's and they also corked up. This was
long before Bert Williams became a big star.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I can only surmise that with the advent of
Vaudeville after the turn of the century some remnants of minstrelsy continued
to tour the hinterland and since we both have recollections of seeing these
musical mastodons there were white-face minstrels. However, the initial
troupes were black-face and continued to be such until the demise of the form
around 1900. Many of the black-face performers went into Vaudeville and
continued their black-face characterizations, i.e. Eddie Cantor.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I know it is popular to denigrate the minstrel show
but like jazz it was a unique American entertainment and occurred in a less
critical age. And like it or not, its impact on popular music was great
and left a legacy of memorable tunes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Best Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bill</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=JimDBB@aol.com href="mailto:JimDBB@aol.com">JimDBB@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=gwilliamoakley@earthlink.net
href="mailto:gwilliamoakley@earthlink.net">gwilliamoakley@earthlink.net</A> ;
<A title=dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com
href="mailto:dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com">dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, January 25, 2003 7:19
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Dixielandjazz] Minstrel
shows</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=3>Bill
Oakley: I'm out on a limb about minstrel shows. I maintain
that they were not necessarily just blackface shows but that they were
entertaining vandevillian type of shows and the blackface thing came in as a
variation on it. A black musician friend of mine states that they were
strictly blackface shows. I can remember seeing minstrel shows in my
youth that were not black face and I saw some that were part of a circus and
they were all black.<BR><BR> So, can you fill my in on
this a bit.<BR><BR> Regards, Jim Beebe</FONT>
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