(MUSIC--MINSTRELSY.) Coming Soon! J. W. Johnson's Old Reliable Virginia Minstrels. Extra long double-sided theatre broadside, 43 x 9-1/2 inches; elaborately printed with engraved scenes on each side; using a variety of fonts; neatly parted in the center (approximately 21 inches from the bottom) where previously folded; paper showing some light toning. Erie, PA, circa 1920
A remarkable survival, this nearly four foot long poster was printed on very thin, post-war pulp paper. The original Virginia Minstrels was the first blackface troupe to play in New York (1843), and was then headlined by Dan Emmet the man that made Jump Jim Crow and Dixie famous. The Minstrels continued with different personnel and management into the 20th century. This poster states that they had been in business for 15 years, which suggests they might have simply adopted the name.
