Somstepa Coon Jigger
date: label: date made
content: 1910
name: label: maker
content: Louis Marx and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This Somstepa Coon Jigger 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 1910. It features a black man dancing atop a stage decorated with children dancing along the river. Black Memorabilia like the Somstepa Coon Jigger 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. This derogatory toy is inaccurate, but 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: 2018.0188.06
label: accession number
content: 2018.0188
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0188.06
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy
label: Object Name
content: collectible
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: box: 2 in x 4 in x 3 in; 5.08 cm x 10.16 cm x 7.62 cm
label: Measurements
content: man: 7 in x 2 in x 1 1/2 in; 17.78 cm x 5.08 cm x 3.81 cm