Minstrel Playbills

These 6 playbills date from 1844 to 1854, and advertise performances in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and San Francisco. According to most accounts, minstrelsy was the most popular form of live entertainment in the America for which Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, but its audiences were composed largely of working class men. Illustrated playbills like these, however, posted every week across the cities of the North, made the images of minstrelsy familiar to almost everyone.
You can enlarge an entire playbill by clicking on it, or use the links under the bills to enlarge any of the images on them.

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*The first playbill above left* is from The Library Company, Philadelphia. The rest are from The Harvard Theatre Collection, The Houghton Library.**