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Title: Joyous birthday
Description: Racist, metamorphic birthday card depicting a caricatured portrayal of a Black man taxi driver and a Black man passenger, riding in a taxi. Scene, with the card closed, shows the exterior of a yellow taxi with blue and checkered trims. The passenger and driver, depicted with exaggerated and minstrelized features, including wide eyes and a circular mouth, look out their respective rear and front windows, and toward the viewer. The passenger wears a bowler hat and the driver is in a uniform, including a cap. A suitcase is strapped to the top and a a spare tire is attached to the rear of the vehicle. Scene, with card opened, shows the rear door of the car open and the passenger, attired in a pink plaid suit, seated on a blue car seat, and holding a pot with three flowers on his lap. The trim of the taxi is pink., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Printed in the vernacular on inside front cover: When yo' Birf'day rolls around. May it find yo' Up to Snuff,' And may it bring de best ob joys. Now ain' dat Fare enuf?, Printed on verso: Made in U.S.A., Manuscript note on verso: Hoping you have many more Happy and Joyous Birthdays to come. Ruth., RVCDC, Gift of James Hill.
Date: [ca. 1935]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Cards - Birthday [P.2021.26.2]

Title: [Folk art portraits of two African American women and two African American men]
Description: Folk art bust-length portraits of two African American men and two African American women, portrayed in racist caricature, shown in a row, alternating woman, then man. In the left, the woman, wearing her hair in two braids tied with blue bows on either side of her head that stick out, with red lips, and attired in an off-the-shoulder blue dress with ruffles, faces forward with her eyes looking left. Beside her the man, with red lips and attired in a white collared shirt, a pink tie, and a black jacket, slightly faces left and his eyes look at the woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied in multiple braids, with pink lips, and attired in a pink, ruffled dress, looks to the left. In the right, the man, with pink lips and attired in a blue bowtie, a white shirt with blue stripes, and a black jacket, faces left and looks at the woman., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1909]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors - Unidentified - Faces [P.9057.28]

Title: St. Johns Episcopal Church's minstral club - graphic of minstral show April 12 and 13, 1901
Description: Negative blocked with marking tape depicting a bust-length portrait of an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature wearing a beard and attired in a bowler hat. Contains name of minstrel club and performance dates. Along the top are small photographs including several portraits of white women, a large group portrait of white men and women, and a seated white man playing the guitar., Title from negative sleeve., Duplicate: St. John's club minstrels, Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13 1901 (cartoon). [P.9645.743], Gift of Matthew Schultz, 1998., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Levis, Seth Pancoast, photographer
Date: [1901]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department 4x5 Glass Negatives - Levis [P.9645.1038]

Title: The Inasmuch Mission
Description: Reproduction of a drawing of a busy street scene with the four-story "Inasmuch Mission Men's Hotel and Restaurant" at 1019 Locust Street, Philadelphia. Completed in 1913, the mission house, the exterior resembling a warehouse, rehabilitated "fallen" men through religious and social services. Scene includes views of the nearby markets adorned with awnings under which men and women shoppers peruse displays, converse, and stand idle. The African American man, attired in a bowler hat, a shirt, a jacket, pants, and shoes, stands leaning against the awning pole with his hands in his pockets. In the right, the Chinese man, wearing a queue and attired in a tunic, pants, and slip-on, cloth shoes, stands against a wall and looks down the street away from the viewer. A horse-drawn wagon and pedestrians traverse the street. In the left, a man organ grinder with a monkey entertains children standing on the sidewalk., Copyrighted., Drawn by artist in 1914., See accompanying pamphlet containing the artist's descriptions of the views, "Ever-Changing Philadelphia" (Philadelphia: Frank H. Taylor), p. 6., Accessioned circa 1916., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927, artist
Date: [drawn 1914, printed 1915]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Taylor - Case 11-6 [2717.F]

Title: Minstrel show. Wentworth Town Hall. March 26th - 8:15. Adults .25. Children .15. Orchestra - dancing
Description: Mixed media poster containing a clipped, bust-length, racist caricature depicting "N.D. Johnson" above manuscript text promoting a minstrel show, probably in Wentworth, N.H. Clipped image shows a man in black face, with an exaggerated broad smile, and looking to the left with his eyes. He wears a top hat, red bow, a white shirt with wide lapels and a "shiny" star-shaped pin at the chest, and a tuxedo jacket., Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Contains pasted, clipped photomechanical print captioned: N.D. Johnson., C. Belyea is possibly Charles Moses Belyea (1904-1980) of Grafton, New Hampshire., RVCDC, Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021.
Creator: Belyea, C.
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Advertisements - Minstrel [P.2022.57.2]

Title: Pore lil' Mose sends his Pa a valentine
Description: Racist cartoon containing vignettes about an African American family, portrayed in racist caricature, with the boy prankster Pore Lil' Mose giving valentines to his gal Happy Lil' Sal and his Pa. In the left, shows Miss Sally Sunbeam, portrayed in caricature and wearing her hair in pigtails with yellow bows and attired in a pink dress with a white ruffled collar, yellow stockings, and boots, standing with her dog. She smiles and holds up the valentine while Mose looks on from behind a fence. Below is a vignette depicting Pa angrily holding and reading his “comic” valentine, “Moses Pryor shif’less coon quit his job de first of June never works again till fall hates to ever work at all.” Mose’s mother, attired in a red headkerchief with white polka dots, a yellow shawl, and a blue dress, smiles as she looks over Pa’s shoulder. A younger brother, attired in a red and white sailor shirt with a green bow and green pants, stands behind Pa and scowls with his hands in his pockets. The next vignette, shows Mose fleeing the kitchen with only his legs visible running out the door as a mule looks on. Pa, tripping over the cat, flies through the air head down and legs up and carrying a stick in his hand. Ma leans back with her hand on her head as the plates, cutlery, and coffee pot are thrown from the kitchen table. In the top right is a portrait of Uncle Jack, wearing white hair and attired in a black top hat, a white and red striped shirt, a yellow vest with red polka dots, blue pants, red socks, and brown shoes, standing with his hands in his pockets. The image of Pa’s valentine depicts a racist caricature of an African American man stealing a chicken at night under the moonlight. Contains 21 lines of text written in the vernacular explicating the scenes ending with the line "Pore Lil' Mose.", Title from item., The "Por Lil' Mose" series was published in the New York Herald from 1901 until 1902., Purchase 1978., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Richard Felton Outcault (1868-1928) is renowned as the creator of the first published full page comic. He is also the creator of "Buster Brown."
Creator: Outcault, Richard Felton, 1863-1928, artist
Date: [ca. 1901]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1901 Por [8391.F]

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