Snapshots of the Past

Swell negro banjo player – Historic Reproduction

Swell negro banjo player, [Buffalo] : Courier Co., c1875. — vintage poster
Swell negro banjo player, [Buffalo] : Courier Co., c1875.. Vintage poster from the African American History collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with Swell negro banjo player, a vintage poster rich in period detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Swell negro banjo player

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Printed in Buffalo, New York, around 1875, this color lithograph is titled "Swell" followed by a racial slur for a Black banjo player, and the wording shows how the poster was meant to sell a stock caricature. Posters like it advertised minstrel shows, in which mostly white performers in blackface mocked Black life through song, dance and comic routines, and the banjo was a central prop of the form. The instrument itself has roots in West African lutes and reached the Americas with enslaved people, so its place on this poster hides a complicated history. Researchers use such prints to study how racist imagery was marketed to popular audiences.

Created / published[Buffalo] : Courier Co., c1875.
Medium1 print (poster) : lithograph, color ; 50 x 33 cm.
GenreTheatrical posters American.Lithographs Color.
NotesF9877 U.S. Copyright Office Created and copyright 1875 by Courier Co.
SubjectsBanjos. Minstrel shows. African Americans--Music. African Americans--Performances & portrayals.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,816 × 4,652 px · prints to 13 × 16 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-220365

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