Civil War Hand Puppet
date: label: Date made
content: 1865
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This hand puppet of a woman, is thought to be one of a pair of Civil War era puppets used between 1850-1875. Her face is made from wood and paper mache with painted features and she is dressed in a simple blue and white plaid cotton dress and a white apron.
label: Description (Brief)
content: It's possible this figure was part of a minstrel show that was staged on a showboat that traveled up and down the Mississippi River between 1850-1875. A common form of entertainment, the popular minstrel show is considered to be the first uniquely American form of entertainment, which featured white people parodying African Americans, during the second half of the nineteenth century. The show usually included music, songs, dance, comic repartees, and a closing skit. It was rare, however, that this popular amusement involved puppetry. These floating stages provided entertainment to many working class Americans in both urban and rural areas.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: general subject association
content: Puppetry
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Puppets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Hazelle H. and J. Woodson Rollins
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1164.10
label: accession number
content: 1979.1164
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1164.10
objectType: label: Object Name
content: puppet
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper mache (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 22 in; 55.88 cm