Sam the Gardner
date: label: date made
content: circa 1950
name: label: maker
content: Louis Marx and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This Sam the Gardner wind-up tin and hard plastic toy is part of Black Americana, a genre of objects reflecting African American history. The Louis Marx & Company created this toy in New York City during the 1950s. Sam is wearing a white suit and a boater hat with red accents. His tin wheelbarow is painted red and features a yellow faux wood interior. Interestingly enough, the Marx Company also produced a white version of Sam the Gardner, but this version of the toy personifies negative stereotypes of African Americans. Its utilization of humor as a vehicle for racial oppression can be seen through Sam's exaggerated facial features such as his big red lips. While this derogatory toy is inaccurate, its existence speaks to American race relations and the prejudice African Americans encountered daily in their struggle for equality
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York
topic: label: Subject
content: Stereotypes
label: Subject
content: Racism
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2018.0188.12
label: accession number
content: 2018.0188
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0188.12
objectType: label: Object Name
content: collectible
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 8 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in; 20.32 cm x 21.59 cm x 11.43 cm