The Online Books Page

Minstrel shows

Here are entered works on the 19th and early 20th century entertainments in which comedians portrayed racial stereotypes.

See also what's at Wikipedia, your library, or elsewhere.

• African Americans in the performing arts
• Vaudeville -- United States
• Revues

• Blackface entertainers

• African American minstrel shows
• Blackfaced minstrel shows
• Negro minstrel shows

• The Minstrel Encyclopedia (Boston: W. H. Baker Co., 1921), by Walter Ben Hare (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bones: His Anecdotes and Goaks (London: C. H. Clarke, ca. 1870), by G. W. Moore (page images at HathiTrust)
• Negro Minstrels: A Complete Guide to Negro Minstrelsy, Containing Recitations, Jokes, Crossfires, Conundrums, Riddles, Stump Speeches, Ragtime and Sentimental Songs, Etc., Including Hints on Organizing and Successfully Presenting a Performance (Chicago: F. J. Drake and Co., c1902), by Jack Haverly (multiple formats at Google; US access only)
• New Minstrel and Black Face Joke Book, by Leading Footlight Favorites: The Best Monologues, Endmen's Gags, Jokes, Etc. As Delivered by the Best Known Fun Makers on the Minstrel and Vaudeville Stage (cover title "Funny Stories"; inner running title "New Minstrel Joke Book"; Baltimore: I. and M. Ottenheimer, c1907) (page images at Harvard)
• The Witmark Amateur Minstrel Guide and Burnt Cork Encyclopedia (revised edition, c1905), by Frank Dumont (page images at HathiTrust)
• Minstrelsy (San Francisco Theatre Research v15, monograph 25; 1939), ed. by Lawrence Estavan
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust
• The Minstrel Guide and Joke Book (Baltimore: I. and M. Ottenhiemer, c1912), ed. by Paul E. Lowe (page images at HathiTrust)
• Up-to-Date Minstrel Jokes: A Collection of the Latest and Most Popular Jokes, Talks, Stump-Speeches, Conundrums and Monologues for Amateur Minstrels, Many of Which Have Never Before Appeared in Print; Also, a Special Department of Female Minstrel Jokes (with 4 appended farces; Boston: Up-to-Date Pub. Co., c1902), ed. by Herman Henry Wheeler, contrib. by George H. Coes (page images at HathiTrust)
• Cash money : a minstrel spree for three / by Wade Stratton. (Chicago : T. S. Denison & Co., 1921), by Wade Stratton (page images at HathiTrust)
• Barlow Bros. & Frost's Minstrels, under the management of Abe. Spitz ... [electronic resource]. ([S.l. : s.n., 18--?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Mechanics' Institute [electronic resource] : Whiting's minstrels from New York : first tour through the British pro[vinces] Wednesday evening, August 5, 1863. ([S.l. : s.n., 18--?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Mechanics' Institute Hall, Tuesday evening, May 21 [electronic resource] : fifth night of this unrivalled troupe of artistes pronounced by the press and public ... Rumsey and Newcomb's Minstrels .. ([Saint John, N.B.? : s.n., 18--?]), by Mechanics' Institute of Saint John (N.B.) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Mechanics' Institute, Burnham & Phillips' San Francisco minstrels [electronic resource] : this evening programme .. ([S.l. : s.n., 18--?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Souvenir programme, Thanksgiving, '94 [electronic resource] : the Victoria Amateur Minstrels : Victoria Theatre, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Thursday matinée, November 21th and 22nd., 1894. ([Victoria, B.C.? : s.n., 1894?]), by Victoria Amateur Minstrels (B.C.) (page images at HathiTrust)
• How to put on a minstrel show / (Chicago : Max Stein Publishing House, c1921), by Harold Rossiter and Henry. Clog dancing made easy Ticker (page images at HathiTrust)
• Burnt cork no. 2 : a collection of minstrel gags, stories, monologs, etc. / (New York : M. Witmark & Sons, 1911), by Frank Dumont (page images at HathiTrust)
• The minstrel guide and joke book : a comprehensive guide to the organization and conducting of a minstrel show, and how to make up, containing a diversified collection of the latest mirth-creating jokes, gags, cross-fire and monologues passed over the footlights by the most celebrated artists in burnt cork on the American stage / (Baltimore : I. & M. Ottenheimer, [191-?]), by Paul E. Lowe (page images at HathiTrust)
• A bundle of burnt cork comedy : original cross-fire conversations, gags, retorts, minstrel monologues and stump speeches / (Minneapolis, Minn. : T.S. Denison & Co., c1905), by Harry L. Newton (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bones, his gags and stump speeches : Nigger and Dutch stories and dialogues, "broken china" dialect pieces, and other conundrums. (New York : Wehman Bros., c1879), by Bobby Newcomb (page images at HathiTrust)
• Burnt cork jokes. (Cleveland [Ohio] : Arthur Westbrook Co., [ca. 1910]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• New minstrel jokes and end men's gags. (Cleveland [Ohio] : Arthur Westbrook Co., c1909) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Odd people I have met / ([S.l. : s.n., 191-?]), by Lew Parker (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• How Sister Paxey got her child baptized : an Ethiopian farce in one scene / (Clyde, Ohio : A.D. Ames, ©1880), by J. S. R. Shaw (page images at HathiTrust)
• Wax works at play / (Chicago : T.S. Denison, c1894), by Henry Llewellyn Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Fighting for the union : an Ethiopian farce : performed by Griffin & Christy's minstrels / (New York : Happy Hours Company, No. 1 Chambers Street, [187-?]), by G. W. H. Griffin, Happy Hours Company, and Griffin & Christy's Minstrels (page images at HathiTrust)
• The kink in Kizzie's wedding : a mock Negro wedding / (Dayton, Ohio : Paine Pub. Co., c1921), by Mary Bonham (page images at HathiTrust)
• Frills and frolics : a musicale melange for ladies minstrels ; comedy de luxe ; minstrels a la mode / (Boston : Walter H. Baker, 1921), by Walter Ben Hare (page images at HathiTrust)
• The sham doctor : a negro farce; in one act and three scenes / (New York: F.A. Brady, [1856]), by Charles White (page images at HathiTrust)
• Hard times : a negro extravaganza - one scene / (New York : De Witt Pub. House, 1874), by Daniel Decatur Emmett and Charles White (page images at HathiTrust)
• Badly sold : a Negro act in two scenes / (Boston : W. H. Baker, 1893), by George H Coes (page images at HathiTrust)
• The midnight intruder : an Ethiopian farce / (Chicago : Dramatic Pub. Co., ♭1876), by Frank Dumont (page images at HathiTrust)
• Gallus Jake : an Ethiopian comicality in one scene. (New York : Dick & Fitzgerald, ©1874) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Squire for a day : a Negro sketch / (New York : Robert M. DeWitt, ♭1875), by A. J. Leavitt (page images at HathiTrust)
• Fowl deeds : a negro comedy / (Franklin, OH : Eldridge Entertainment House, c1920), by Jenny Wren (page images at HathiTrust)
• Up-to-date minstrel jokes : a collection of popular jokes, talks, stump-speeches, conundrums, and monologues for amateur minstrels and a special department of female minstrel jokes, stump-speeches and monologues arranged especially for "Lady Minstrels" / (Boston : W.H. Baker, c1902), by Herman H. Wheeler (page images at HathiTrust)
• The minstrel encyclopedia, (Boston, Walter H. Baker company, 1921), by Walter Ben Hare (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• The Irishman and the coon : a vaudeville act / (Philadelphia : The Penn Pub. Co., 1922), by Harry L. Newton (page images at HathiTrust)
• The darkey drama : a collection of approved Ethiopian acts, scenes, interludes, etc., etc. ... Part first / (London : Samuel French ; New York : Samuel French & Son, [1867?]), by Henry Llewellyn Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Pickles and tickles; a Negro farce in one act, for six male characters ... (New York, Dick & Fitzgerald, ©1901), by Thomas Barnes (page images at HathiTrust)
• The water-melon cure : knock-about farce in one act / (Chicago : Dramatic Pub. Co., ©1912), by C. Walcott Russell (page images at HathiTrust)
• A lucky job; a Negro farce, (Chicago, Dramatic Pub. Co., ©1874), by Charles White (page images at HathiTrust)
• The black brigands : a musical burlesque, in one scene / (New York : De Witt, Publisher, c1884), by Frank Dumont (page images at HathiTrust)
• Obeying orders : Ethiopian military sketch in one scene / (Chicago : Dramatic Pub. Co., ©1874), by Charles White and John Arnold (page images at HathiTrust)
• Colored senators : an Ethiopian burlesque, in one scene / (Clyde, Ohio : A.D. Ames, ©1887), by Bert Richards (page images at HathiTrust)
• Chops, an Ethiopian farce, in one act, (Clyde, O., A.D. Ames, 1886), by G. Shackell (page images at HathiTrust)
• Othello: a burlesque, (New York, Happy Hours Co., [1879?]), by William Shakespeare (page images at HathiTrust)
• Black vs white, or, the Nigger and Yankee : an original farce in one act /, by George S. Vautrot and William H. Crawford (page images at HathiTrust)
• Don't get weary, or, Johnny you've been a bad boy : musical sketch in one act., by James V. Hatch and Camille Billops (page images at HathiTrust)
• The business end of a minstrel show /, by Albert Carlton, Carter Godwin Woodson, Frank Dumont, and former owner. GEU Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (page images at HathiTrust)
• Hamlet the dainty : an Ethiopian burlesque on Shakespeare's Hamlet : performed by Griffin & Christy's minstrels /, by G. W. H. Griffin, James V. Hatch, and Camille Billops, contrib. by Happy Hours Company (page images at HathiTrust)
• Making of a minstrel show; a help-u book for amateurs. (Franklin, Ohio : Eldridge entertainment house, c1920), by Seymour S. Tibbals (page images at HathiTrust)
• Absent minded : a genteel farce, ... in one act, to which are added a description of the costumes - cast of the characters - entrances and exits - relative positions of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage business / (Chicago : Dramatic Publishing Company, c1881), by Frank Dumont (page images at HathiTrust)
• De black magician or The wonderful beaver, an ethiopian comicality in one scene ... (New York, Robert M. De Witt, 1876), by Henry Llewellyn Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• New minstrel and black face joke book : the best monologues, endmen's gags, jokes, etc. as delivered by the best known fun makers on the minstrel and vaudeville stage / (Baltimore : I. & M. Ottenheimer, 1907) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Baker's Darkey plays : a collection of short, humorous plays in black face suitable for negro minstrel entertainments. (Boston : W. H. Baker & Co., 1915), by George H. Coes, E. Man about town Bowers, F. E. Hiland, Walter H. Baker & Co, and Mass.) Walter H. Baker & Co. (Boston (page images at HathiTrust)
• Ebony flats and black sharps : a nonsensical black-face melange in one act and various situations / (Boston : W.H. Baker, c1897), by George W. Goode (page images at HathiTrust)
• A rustic minstrel show : an entertainment in one act / (New York : Dick & Fitzgerald, c1912), by Willis Newton Bugbee (page images at HathiTrust)
• "Othello;" : a burlesque, / (New York : Happy Hours Company, No. 1 Chambers Street, [188-?]), by G. W. H. Griffin, Happy Hours Co, N. Orr & Co, and Griffin & Christy's Minstrels (page images at HathiTrust)
• 16,000 years ago: an Ethiopian act as performed by Buckley's Serenaders. (New York : Dick & Fitzgerald, [1870?]), by Henry Llewellyn Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Christy's panorama songster : (New York : W.H. Murphy, [1840?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• The Mohawk minstrels' "nigger" dramas, dialogues, and drolleries, (London, Francis Bros. & Day, [1878]), by Charles Townley and Mohawk Minstrels (page images at HathiTrust)
• The mischievous nigger : a negro farce, in one act and one scene. (New York : F. A. Brandy, [1856]), by Charles White (page images at HathiTrust)
• Wehman's minstrel sketches, conundrums, and jokes. (New York : H. J. Wehman, c1890) (page images at HathiTrust)
• The complete minstrel guide, containing gags, jokes, parodies, speeches, farces, and full directions for a complete minstrel show, (Chicago, The Dramatic Pub. Co., 1901), by William Courtright (page images at HathiTrust)
• The St. James Christy Minstrels' Christmas annual / (London : Printed by J. E. Adlard, 1868), by Alfred Crowquill, England) St. James Hall (London, and Christy Minstrels (page images at HathiTrust)
• The coming man: an Ethiopian sketch in two scenes / (New York : Dramatic Pub. Co., c1877), by Charles White and A. J. Leavitt (page images at HathiTrust)
• Christy's Panorama songster : containing the songs as sung by the Christy, Campbell, Pierce's minstrels, and Sable brothers. (New York : W. H. Murphy, [185-?]), by Edwin Pearce Christy (page images at HathiTrust)
• Coon jokes and felicitations / (Cleveland, Ohio : Arthur Westbrook, [1910?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Dick's stump speeches and minstrel jokes : containing an immense collection of original and selected negro acts and farces, eccentric sketches, stump speeches, funny conversations, burlesque sermons and lectures, end men's jokes, Bones' gags and Tambo's witticisms; especially adapted for first class minstrel entertainments / (New York : Fitzgerald Publishing Corporation, c1889), by William B. Dick (page images at HathiTrust)
• George Christy's essence of old Kentucky : containing a choice collection of new and popular songs, interludes, dialogues, funny speeches, darkey jokes and plantation wit / (New York : Dick & Fitzgerald, [1862]), by George Christy (page images at HathiTrust)
• Negro sketches, end-men's gags and conundrums. (Chicago, Regan Pub. Corp., 1924 [c1889]), by William De Vere (page images at HathiTrust)
• Hooley's opera house songster : containing a choice collection of sentimental, comic, and Ethiopian songs /, by Dance and Music Fredric Woodbridge Wilson Collection of Theater and Hooley's Minstrels. the (page images at HathiTrust)
• Christy's panorama songster : containing the songs as sung / (New York : William H. Murphy, [18--?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Old cabin home minstrels : a minstrel entertainment in three acts made up of old plantation songs, for the use of church, lodge, club, school, or community choruses / (Dayton, Ohio : Lorenz Pub. Co., c1921), by Carrie B. Adams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Vagabond adventures. (Boston, Fields, Osgood, 1870), by Ralph Keeler (page images at HathiTrust)
• De Vere's negro sketches : end-men's gags and conundrums, adapted to the use of amateurs or professionals / (Chicago : The Charles T. Powner Company, 1946), by William De Vere (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• In for it, or, Uncle Tony's mistake: an Ethiopian farce in one act / (Clyde, Ohio : Ames, c1893), by Dave E. Allyn (page images at HathiTrust)
• Meeting of the Darktown Literary Society. A black-face "Debate" with plenty of action. (Franklin, Ohio, Eldridge Entertainment House, c1922), by Edward B. Warren (page images at HathiTrust)
• Negro wit and humor : also containing folk lore, folk songs, race peculiarities, race history / (Louisville, Kentucky : Harmon Publishing Company, 1914), by Marion F. Harmon (page images at HathiTrust)
• A symphony in black and white [performed by the] Lady Minstrels at Baird's. Wednesday Evening, Feb. 6, 1895. ([n.p., 1895?]), by Lansing Industrial Aid Society (page images at HathiTrust)
• The Minstrel festival [electronic resource] : the Victoria Amateur Minstrels, J.M. Finn, director, Victoria Theatre, Friday and Saturday evenings, May 8th and 9th, 1896. ([Victoria, B.C.? : s.n., 1896?]), by Victoria Amateur Minstrels (B.C.) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Grand Opera House, London, Ont., programme [electronic resource] : Wednesday, Nov. 27 Guy Bros. Minstrels. ([London, Ont.? : s.n., 1896?]), by Ont.) Grand Opera House (London (page images at HathiTrust)
• Grand Opera House, London, Ont., programme [electronic resource] : Tuesday, Feb. 18th Al. G. Field's Minstrels and Utopia. ([London, Ont.? : s.n., 1896?]), by Ont.) Grand Opera House (London (page images at HathiTrust)
• Monarchs of minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to date, (New York city, N.Y. : Kenny publishing company, [c1911]), by Edw. Le Roy Rice (page images at HathiTrust)
• Mohawk minstrels' book of dramas, dialogues & drolleries. (London, Francis, Day & Hunter.) (page images at HathiTrust)
• The minstrel encyclopedia / (Boston : W.H. Baker, c1926), by Walter Ben Hare (page images at HathiTrust)
• The world's best book of minstrelsy / (Philadelphia : The Penn Pub. Co., 1926), by Preston Powell (page images at HathiTrust)
• Tambo and bones; a history of the American minstrel stage, (Duke university press, 1930), by Carl Frederick Wittke and Duke University Press (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• Christy's new songster and black joker : containing all the most popular and original songs, choruses, stump speeches, witticisms, jokes, conundrums, etc., etc., as sung and delivered by the world-renowned Christy's Minstrels at their opera houses / (New York : Dick & Fitzgerald, c1868), by William E. Christy, E. Byron Christy, and Christy Minstrels (page images at HathiTrust)
• Vagabond Adventures, by Ralph Keeler (Gutenberg ebook)

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