An advertisement from the Lykens Standard, December 21, 1923, for a minstrel show that was held at the Moose Theatre, Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The ad featured a caricature of an individual in black-face.
HARVEY’S GREATER MINSTRELS & OCTOROON BEAUTY CHORUS
Moose Theatre, Lykens
Wednesday, December 26, 1923
Something New in Vaudeville and Noel in Minstrelsy!
The Strutter’s Jubilee
Shake Your Feet
Genuine Darkey Jubilee Singers & Dancers
featuring Margaret Jackson, the Modern Black Patti – HARRY FIDDLER
50 Minstrel Kings & Queens – Street Parade Daily – Band & Orchestra
12 High Class Vaudeville Acts
Seats on sale at Moose Theatre Box Office, December 25th
Admission — 75c and $1, plus tax
Last Show of the Season. Don’t Miss It.
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“Local talent,” who emulated and mimicked the traveling minstrel shows welcomed the out-of-towners to learn new routines and know what was selling elsewhere.
The local white men and women, who blackened their faces, and performed emphasizing negative stereotypical behavior that they attributed to African Americans, for the purpose of getting laughs, were often the most prominent people in the community.
This post is part of a series in which news articles, photographs and other “memorabilia” are presented to show how “black-face” was infused into the culture of the Lykens Valley area. Readers are invited to submit photos and recollections on how long this offensive “entertainment” lasted and what locals thought of it as part of the culture of the area.
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News articles from Newspapers.com. Note: The image pictured in this blog post is exactly as it appeared in the digital copy that was on-line – with part of the face of the character missing.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.