Minstrel show Facts for Kids

The minstrel show was an American form of entertainment. It was developed in the 19th century. Each show was of comic skits, dancing and music performances that showed people of African descent. The shows were played by mostly white people in makeup or blackface for the purpose of playing black people. There were also some African American performers and black-only minstrel groups that formed and toured.

Minstrel shows parodied blacks and African Americans as happy-go-lucky, lazy and dim-witted.

Minstrel shows came out as brief burlesques in the early 1830s in the Northeastern United States. They were developed into full-fledged form around the next decade.

By the turn of the 20th century, the minstrel show was a shadow of its former popularity. It was replaced for the most part by vaudeville.

Images for kids

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
Many later minstrel troupes, such as this one in 1910, tried to project an image of refinement. Note that only the endmen are in blackface.
Plantation scenarios were common in black minstrelsy, as shown here in this post-1875 poster for Callender's Colored Minstrels
Minstrel show performers Rollin Howard (in wench costume) and George Griffin, c. 1855
1906 postcard advertisement featuring dandy-type characters
Detail from an 1859 playbill of Bryant's Minstrels depicting the final part of the walk around
1930 NBC promotional pamphlet utilizing minstrel show references. Collection of E.O. Costello