Spic Coon Drummer
date: label: date made
content: ca 1924
name: label: maker
content: Louis Marx and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This Spic Coon Drummer wind-up tin 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 1924. It features a drummer sitting on a base drum whilst playing a snare drum. Black Memorabilia like the Spic Coon Drummer personify negative stereotypes of African Americans by utilizing humor as a vehicle for racial oppression. This toy exemplifies the “Coon,” a wrongful characterization of African Americans as lazy, bug-eyed, big-lipped, buffoonish people. The name itself dehumanizes African Americans because it serves as an abbreviation of the word raccoon. Coons became a stock character in minstrelsy shows during the nineteenth century and toymakers of the twentieth century co-opted this stereotype to increase revenue. While these derogatory toys are inaccurate, their 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: 2018.0188.01
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0188.01
label: accession number
content: 2018.0188
objectType: label: Object Name
content: collectible
label: Object Name
content: toy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (box material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal; tin (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/2 in x 3 1/4 in x 4 3/4 in; 21.59 cm x 8.255 cm x 12.065 cm
label: Measurements
content: box: 9 in x 5 in x 4 in; 22.86 cm x 12.7 cm x 10.16 cm