Ham and Spam "The Minstrel Team"
date: label: date made
content: 1924
label: date made
content: 1921
notes: label: Description
content: This Ham and Sam "The Minstrel Team" wind-up tin toy was made by the Ferdinand Strauss Corporation in New York during 1921. 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 pianist playing the "Dixie Blues" with a guitarist. Unfortunately, Black Memorabilia like these figurines personify negative stereotypes of African Americans by utilizing humor as a vehicle for racial oppression. These musicians symbolize minstrelsy stereotypes of African Americans as buffoonish entertainers at the beck and call of white Americans. Furthermore, the song is a direct reference to "Dixie," a word synonymous with the Confederate States of America and white supremacy. This means Ham and Sam's "Dixie Blues" nods to African American subservience during the Civil War and the blackface minstrelsy songs about Dixie which emerged from that era. 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: 2018.0188.17
label: accession number
content: 2018.0188
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0188.17
objectType: label: Object Name
content: collectible
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: piano: 5 1/2 in x 3 3/32 in; 13.97 cm x 7.874 cm
label: Measurements
content: musician: 6 in x 2 in x 2 in; 15.24 cm x 5.08 cm x 5.08 cm