minstrel show

Form of entertainment in which performers, some with blackened faces, sing, dance, and tell jokes. Minstrel shows were popular in the USA about 1850–1930 and later in the UK.

They date from the 18th century in America as sporadic entertainments; the first professional touring company was the Virginia Minstrels (formed 1843). Songs made popular by minstrel shows include ‘Turkey in the Straw’ (1834) and ‘Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight?’ (1844). Minstrel shows were gradually superseded by vaudeville in the cities and by travelling medicine shows (free performances to drum up customers for patent remedies) in the rural US South. Despite the obvious racism, there were minstrel shows on radio and, in the UK until the 1960s, on television.