Crank toy in the form of a minstrel banjo player and minstrel male dancer
date: label: Date
content: mid 20th century
name: label: Created by
content: Unidentified
notes: label: Description
content: A handmade, wooden crank toy in the form of caricatures of a banjo player and male dancer. The toy has a wooden base, open at the front and back, with two (2) carved, wooden figures on top. Both figures have jointed arms and legs, white plastic hands and have a metal wire attaching them to the crank mechanism. The figure on the left is a male dancer. His head and body are primarily painted black. He has round white eyes and lip white lips. A white strip on plastic runs down the center of the torso representing a white shirt. The shirt has two (2) silver pins resembling buttons. The figure on the right is a banjo player seated on a wooden seat. He is nearly identical to the figure on the left except with the addition of a black hat with a green brim and a tan hand band and the banjo he is holding. The banjo has a black neck, white head and silver tacks attached around the head. Just above the base of the toy is a hand-operated mechanism to move the figures. The mechanism includes a wooden dowel with a wooden crank is threaded through round holes in the sides. Two (2) wooden squares are attached to the dowel, that turn beneath two white plastic wiffle golf balls. The golf balls have threaded through a second dowel that is attached to a board, with arches cut-out above the golf balls. The dancer is connected at the back to the mechanism and the banjo player is connected via his proper left hand. When the crank is turned, the blocks cause the balls to turn and the panel to move, resulting in the dancing motion of the dancer and the strumming of the banjo by the banjo player.
label: Statement
content: Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Caricature and cartoons
label: Topic
content: Domestic life
label: Topic
content: Stereotypes
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
label: Classification
content: Toys and Games
label: Classification
content: Racist and Stereotypical Objects
label: Exhibition
content: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.7.265
objectType: label: Type
content: mechanical toys
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: wood , metal and plastic
label: Dimensions
content: 16 x 11 3/4 x 5 7/16 in. (40.6 x 29.8 x 13.8 cm)