Search results

Title: [African American youth playing banjo]
Description: Interior view depicting a seated African American boy singing and playing the banjo in a nicely furnished parlor. The boy, attired in a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a dark-colored waistcoat, pants, and shoes, holds the banjo on his lap and looks up and to the right with his mouth open. In the left, a broom is propped against a wooden chair. Behind him is a closed door and a framed object hung on the wallpapered wall., Title supplied by cataloger., Frances Orlando's "George Bacon Wood, photographer of the 1880s: an introduction to the Wood Collection in the Library Company of Philadelphia. (Master's thesis, Philadelphia College of Art, 1985), p. 42., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 1982., 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., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, at national and international exhibitions. His photographs won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1886]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.188]

Title: [Three] colored boys with banjos back of Swannanoa Hotel, Asheville, [NC]
Description: Glass negative showing three young African American men posing in front of a wooden fence behind the Swannanoa Hotel. In the left, the man, attired in a cap, a scarf, a waistcoat, a jacket, pants with the bottoms rolled up, shoes, and a wedding ring, smiles and looks at the viewer as he holds a banjo. In the center, the shorter, young man, attired in a brimmed hat, a white shirt, a checked jacket, a coat, pants, and shoes, smiles and looks at the viewer with his hands in his coat pockets. The man in the right, attired in a cap, a collared shirt, a tie, a scarf, a waistcoat, a jacket, striped pants, and shoes, looks at the viewer and holds a banjo., Time: 10 A.M., Light: Fair sun., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitization and cataloging has been made possible through the generosity of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris in memory of Marriott Canby Morris and his children: Elliston Perot Morris, Marriott Canby Morris Jr., and Janet Morris and in acknowledgment of his grandchildren: William Perot Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, Jonathan White Morris, and David Marriott Morris., Edited.
Creator: Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer
Date: March 28, 1890
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.9895.1611]

Title: Yes you!
Description: Racist, trade card specimen depicting a caricature of an African American man minstrel playing a banjo. Shows the African American man minstrel portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in a white collared shirt, a blue bowtie with white polka dots, a white jacket with orange polka dots and tails, yellow pants with blue and white stripes, and black shoes. He lifts his left leg up and sticks his tongue out as he strums on the banjo., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Series number printed on recto: 58., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - Yes [P.2017.95.211x]

Title: [African American man minstrel bowing holding a banjo]
Description: Racist, trade card specimen depicting a caricature of an African American man minstrel holding a banjo. Shows the African American man minstrel portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in a brown top hat, a blue and white striped shirt with an oversized collar, a yellow bowtie, an orange jacket with tails, a rose boutonniere, green pants, and black buckled shoes. He stands facing to the right slightly bend over as though taking a bow, with his left hand out at his side. He holds a white banjo by the neck in his right hand., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. 18 [P.2017.95.229]

Title: [African American man minstrel playing the banjo]
Description: Scrap depicting a racist caricature of an African American man minstrel playing the banjo. Shows the full-length portrait of the man attired in a white collared shirt, a blue bowtie with white polka dots, a white waistcoat, a white jacket with red polka dots and tails, yellow pants with blue stripes, and black shoes. He looks at the viewer and strums a banjo as he lifts his left leg up in a dance step., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual material., Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 44 [P.2017.95.296]

Title: Telephone for the Alden fruit vinegar
Description: Trade card promoting Alden Fruit Vinegar and depicting a satiric, racist caricature of an older African American man misunderstanding an operator to whom he speaks on a wall-mounted telephone. He faces the viewer, leans against the wall, and remarks in vernacular speech "dis chile's rich..dis man... gib me de city hall." The man is balding and has tufts of hair on the sides of his head. He has a white beard and is attired in a beige coat, an undersized, green vest with buttons, and blue plaid pants rolled up at the bottom exposing his socks and black shoes. On the ground beside his feet is a banjo and brimmed hat. Brothers John Tolman and Walter Alden founded Alden and Bro., later Alden Vinegar Company in St. Louis in 1878. The business expanded to Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. By 1907, the business collapsed., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement: Copyright 1883 by J [H. Bufford's] Sons., Distributor's name on verso: O. H. Wilcox, dealer in simple & fancy groceries, Winfield, N.Y., Text printed on recto: Golly! I guess dis chile's rich--dis man him say wait a minute and him gib me de city hall., Advertising text printed on verso: The highest scientific authorities having analyzed, say "it is a pure wholesome vinegar produced by natural fermentations from fruits." The Alden Fruit Vinegar A Specialty., Stamped on recto: O.H. Wilcox, Merchant, Winfield., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1883
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Alden [P.2017.95.4]

Title: Go to Edelman's for your kid gloves, zephyrs, ribbons and hosiery, 335 Northampton St., Easton, PA
Description: Trade card promoting Edelman's store and depicting a satiric, racist caricature of an older African American man misunderstanding an operator to whom he speaks on a wall-mounted telephone. He faces the viewer, leans against the wall, and remarks in vernacular speech "dis chile's rich...dis man... gib me de city hall." The man is balding and has tufts of hair on the sides of his head. He has a white beard and is attired in a beige coat, an undersized, green vest with buttons, and blue plaid pants rolled up at the bottom exposing his socks and black shoes. On the ground beside his feet is a banjo and brimmed hat. M.A. Edelman had a shoe store on 146 Northampton Street, Easton, PA circa 1871. Circa 1880s, he opened a store selling women's accessories on 335 Northampton Street., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement: Copyright 1883 by J H. Bufford's Sons., Text printed on recto: Golly! I guess dis chile's rich- dis man him say wait a minute and him gib me de city hall., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1883
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Edelman [P.2017.95.54]

Title: Two souls with but a single thought
Description: Lantern slide formerly owned and probably used in art lessons by Philadelphia painter, photographer, and art teacher, Xanthus Smith of a racist depiction of African Americans in caricature by comic artist, Thomas Worth. Depicts a young and dapperly-dressed African American couple eating a piece of watermelon on a porch as the parents of one of the couple watches them from a doorway. Seated on a bench, the woman, wearing her hair tied up with a pink ribbon and attired in a blue shirt with buttons down the center, a white skirt with ruffles at the bottom, red and black checked stockings, and black shoes, sits beside the man, attired in a gray bowler hat, a white shirt with stripes, a gray waistcoat, gray and black striped pants, and black shoes. They hold a large slice of watermelon up together and bite from it while looking at one another. In the left, the mother, attired in a blue and pink plaid head kerchief, a pink and black striped shirt with a white lace collar, and a pink skirt, and the father, attired in a white collared shirt, a black waistcoat, and black pants, looks on at the couple from an open doorway. A banjo hangs from the post of the porch in the right. In the background, trees and the night sky is visible., Title from label on mount on verso., Gift of Edna Andrade, 1994., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides-Smith, Xanthus [P.9471]

Title: [African American woman on a balcony talking on a tin can telephone to an African American man minstrel]
Description: Die-cut trade card specimen shaped like a top hat and depicting racist caricatures of an African American woman on a balcony talking on a tin can telephone to an African American man minstrel. Shows the African American woman, attired in a yellow dress, leaning over the balcony of a palatial building, while holding a tin can telephone on a string to her right ear. On the ground, the African American man minstrel is portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in a white top hat with a black band, a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, a white waistcoat, a black jacket with tails, red and white striped pants, and black shoes. He stands holding the other end of the tin can telephone to his right ear. A banjo lies at his feet., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. 29 [P.2017.95.239x]

Title: Uncle Tom's Cabin. On the Levee
Description: Racist scene derived from Stowe's popular abolitionist book, probably a theater advertisement for a minstrel production. Depicts enslaved African American men and women, portrayed in racist caricature with exaggerated facial features, having a hoedown on a levee. In the foreground, two women and two men dance facing the viewer. In the left, the woman, attired in a straw hat with a white ribbon tied over the hat and under her chin, a pink smock, a green skirt, black stockings, and black shoes, puts her right foot on its heel and raises her left arm up. Beside her the man, attired in a yellow collared shirt, red suspenders, gray and yellow checked pants, and brown shoes, steps back on his right leg as he raised his right arm up. Beside him, the woman, attired in a yellow headkerchief, a green collared shirt with red polka dots, a copper colored skirt with black polka dots, black stockings, and black shoes, holds her skirt with her right hand as her left hand touches her mouth. In the right, the man, attired in a yellow collared shirt with red stripes, white overalls, and black shoes, leans to the right with both hands in his pockets. Seated in the right, two men play banjos. More African American men and women, seated and standing, clap, sing, and raise their arms up. In the background are stacks of wooden crates, and the water is visible., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1899. Courier Litho. Co. Buffalo, N.Y., Purchase 1988., 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: 1899
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Entertainment [P.9219]

Title: [Theo. Ricksecker's trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards depicting a jester and a frog performing a variety of activities, including the jester playing a banjo and the frog dancing; the frog posing and the jester sketching his portrait; and the frog bound to a leaf stem and the jester aiming a bow and arrow at an apple on top of the frog's head., Title supplied by cataloger., Advertising text printed on versos promotes Ricksecker's skin soap, reliable perfumes, Fifth Avenue Cologne, and face powder., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Ricksecker [1975.F.747-749]

Title: The happy negro
Description: Satiric print depicting a "happy" enslaved family in a tropical setting, probably the West Indies. Shows an enslaved man strumming his banjo seated next to his wife and child near palm trees and a flower bush. A dog sleeps near its bowl at their feet and grass-roofed huts are visible in the background. Also contains prose below the image comparing and contrasting the white man's and enslaved person's joys and cares. The white man "full of care, has heart no light, he great deal want, he little get, he sorry, so he fret" whereas the negro 'hub no care, heart is light, me tink not what tomorrow bring, me happy so me sing.", Holland published a series of cartoons critical of the decadence of the West Indies plantation society of the early 19th century., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65., Purchase 2005., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., RVCDC
Date: [August] 1 1810
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1808-Hap [P.2005.28.3]

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