A group photograph of young lads in blackface, dressed as minstrels with banjos
by [Photography] [Racial Stereotyping]
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
We have identified the place, date and subjects in this extraordinary image: the 53 boys (there are possibly two adults seated in the second-bottom row) are students at Hindmarsh Public School in suburban Adelaide, in full dress as per their performance at the first concert of the city and suburban Model Schools at the Exhibition Hall on Thursday 15 September 1898. The lengthy account of the event appeared in the 'South Australian Register' the next day: with the benefit of hindsight, and in light of the above observations, it makes sombre reading. 'The chief contributors to the mirth of the evening were the Hindmarsh boys, who, attired in amusing caricatures of the fantastic garments usually affected by the burnt-cork profession, kept the audience in a continual state of merriment while they occupied the platform. Indeed, these youngsters afforded quite a study of the various shapes and shades of the tall hat, as well as the many methods of wearing these, together with costumes that were certainly remarkable for colour, coat-tails that were too long, collars that were too large, and faces of all degrees of blackness, proving irresistibly mirth-provoking. Of all the band perhaps the efforts of the leader, who manipulated a dummy organ with great earnestness and vigour after the fashion of certain minstrels often seen in our streets, were the most comic. Two songs - "Da old banjo" and "Goodnight" - were contributed by the queer company, but their vocal efforts were entirely outshone by the comic effect of their attire and actions'.
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Details
- Seller
- Michael Treloar Antiquarian Booksellers (AU)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 120634
- Title
- A group photograph of young lads in blackface, dressed as minstrels with banjos
- Author
- [Photography] [Racial Stereotyping]
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Unknown Photographer
- Place of Publication
- [Hindmarsh
- Date Published
- 1898