Spic and Span "The Hams What Am"
date: label: date made
content: 1924
name: label: maker
content: Louis Marx and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This Spic and Span wind-up tin toy was made by the Louis Marx and Company in New York during 1924. It is one of the company's earliest toy products and is part of Black Americana, a genre of objects reflecting African American history. The toy features a drummer and violinist wearing red jackets and blue striped pants and playing atop a colorful stage. Unfortunately, Black Memorabilia like these figurines personify negative stereotypes of African Americans by utilizing humor as a vehicle for racial oppression. The mens' theatrical moves symbolize minstrelsy stereotypes of African Americans as buffoonish entertainers at the beck and call of white Americans. 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: 2018.0188.18
label: accession number
content: 2018.0188
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0188.18
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 in x 6 1/2 in x 4 in; 25.4 cm x 16.51 cm x 10.16 cm