The BBC has disowned the show and likes to pretend it never made them. they also used to erase a lot of tapes in those days and either the color master was erased or was discarded because it was damaged . This 'kinescope' survives as it was probably a private copy or export to a country that had an incompatible television standard.
An entirely fair question, my good man! Generally, the main effect of wearing blackface is that one's face appears black. Truly, I would prefer to give you a more serious answer, but I am afraid there is nothing serious about this show.
@MrTambo016 I get that the make up makes one's face brown. It seems seems to have roots in a cultural infatuation with appearing "black" whether be negative or positive. Is it to draw attention to something a that is happening in the lives of a "black" person? I ask because I'm ignorant of the roots of blackface. I do not see any value in this practice regardless of intention, but to each is own.
Very well, for once and only once in the life of this channel - just for you, since you are the first to ask twice - I will give you a genuine, bona fide, serious answer. Minstrel shows in the early to mid - Twentieth Century were a bit like Rock 'n Roll in the mid - 1960s or the Simpsons in the 2000s: originally edgy and cool, perhaps, but by then the most mainstream, milquetoast, thoroughly square form of entertainment imaginable. The only difference to the Simpsons was that minstrel music got better, not worse, over the decades. A minstrel show made today would be a political statement, (and indeed, even my posting this one today is a political statement of sorts;) but a minstrel show in the mid Twentieth Century was exactly the opposite. To try and analyse it and understand the purpose or value of its particular features is to look for meaning where none exists. You can keep digging forever and you will never find anything more convincing than the tripe in your Highschool textbook. The truth is simple: minstrel music was a genre of music, and blackface, top hat and white gloves was the uniform associated with that music -- like rock bands who all dress like KISS. It no more resembled any real person than clown makeup does, it was designed to look attractive rather than comical or realistic, and any additional meaning or purpose that might once have been attached to it had disappeared a very, very long time before. To ask "why" is like asking why clowns look the way they do: there literally _was_ no reason, and if there ever had been one, it was completely lost on both the performers and the audience. The only thing that blackface "represented" was minstrel shows themselves, the idea of which can best be described by the words "wholesome," "warm-and-fuzzy," etc. Hence traditional minstrel songs being generally remembered today as "children's songs." The only "political" idea which more or less persisted to the end was a general sense of patriotism, which I particularly appreciate.
@@MrTambo016 Thank you for this thorough explanation. Different times for sure 100 years ago. I agree that today race and politics are so intertwined and it's hard to separate oneself from this attitude. Your reference of The Simpsons show was a great point. It's hard to look outside of my own bias and emotions to put myself in another frame of mind to see a whole other culture and their values when I am looking at it from my own.
@@jeremybear573 In the late 1960s, with society rumbling, they had intentions of doing the shows without makeup anymore. They made a special called 'Masquerade' without blackface, just eye masks. The fans were not impressed. They tried again in 69 with no masks at all in a series called 'Music, Music. Music' This, too, was a flop. To the mainly the older generations that watched the shows, they were all characters that they didn't recognize anymore and their escape into a fantasy world had been breached. The kids alive today who sat with their grandmas watching the minstrels' shows remember them as a nostalgic singalong with granny and race was the last thing that ever came into it, as just like a clown a minstrel looked like nobody on Earth in real life.
Can someone help me please? Enjoying these shows and clips, most for me for the first time, can someone tell me the name of the lead minstrel singing Alexander's Ragtime Band? He has such a wonderful voice and he appears to be enjoying himself so much, I doubt anyone could not enjoy any of his performances.
Dai Francis, my good sir. In the same medley, the man who sings "That Mysterious Rag" is John Boulter, and the man who sings "Play a Simple Melody" is Tony Mercer. The woman who sings "Snookey Ookums" with Dai is Margaret Savage; those four are the main names you'll see on the albums.
Would anyone know if any of these wonderful shows are available on DVD 📀
I am afraid not, my good man, but you can download and burn it yourself if you so desire. A DVD burner only costs ~ $30.
Wonderful show as always but the show was not in color in 1968 👁️
In fact, even this episode was in color - Jester has a fragment of that version, and all the other 1968 episodes are in color alone.
The BBC has disowned the show and likes to pretend it never made them. they also used to erase a lot of tapes in those days and either the color master was erased or was discarded because it was damaged . This 'kinescope' survives as it was probably a private copy or export to a country that had an incompatible television standard.
❤
What is the main effect of painting their face black? Serious question
An entirely fair question, my good man! Generally, the main effect of wearing blackface is that one's face appears black. Truly, I would prefer to give you a more serious answer, but I am afraid there is nothing serious about this show.
@MrTambo016 I get that the make up makes one's face brown. It seems seems to have roots in a cultural infatuation with appearing "black" whether be negative or positive. Is it to draw attention to something a that is happening in the lives of a "black" person? I ask because I'm ignorant of the roots of blackface.
I do not see any value in this practice regardless of intention, but to each is own.
Very well, for once and only once in the life of this channel - just for you, since you are the first to ask twice - I will give you a genuine, bona fide, serious answer.
Minstrel shows in the early to mid - Twentieth Century were a bit like Rock 'n Roll in the mid - 1960s or the Simpsons in the 2000s: originally edgy and cool, perhaps, but by then the most mainstream, milquetoast, thoroughly square form of entertainment imaginable. The only difference to the Simpsons was that minstrel music got better, not worse, over the decades. A minstrel show made today would be a political statement, (and indeed, even my posting this one today is a political statement of sorts;) but a minstrel show in the mid Twentieth Century was exactly the opposite.
To try and analyse it and understand the purpose or value of its particular features is to look for meaning where none exists. You can keep digging forever and you will never find anything more convincing than the tripe in your Highschool textbook. The truth is simple: minstrel music was a genre of music, and blackface, top hat and white gloves was the uniform associated with that music -- like rock bands who all dress like KISS. It no more resembled any real person than clown makeup does, it was designed to look attractive rather than comical or realistic, and any additional meaning or purpose that might once have been attached to it had disappeared a very, very long time before. To ask "why" is like asking why clowns look the way they do: there literally _was_ no reason, and if there ever had been one, it was completely lost on both the performers and the audience.
The only thing that blackface "represented" was minstrel shows themselves, the idea of which can best be described by the words "wholesome," "warm-and-fuzzy," etc. Hence traditional minstrel songs being generally remembered today as "children's songs." The only "political" idea which more or less persisted to the end was a general sense of patriotism, which I particularly appreciate.
@@MrTambo016 Thank you for this thorough explanation. Different times for sure 100 years ago. I agree that today race and politics are so intertwined and it's hard to separate oneself from this attitude. Your reference of The Simpsons show was a great point. It's hard to look outside of my own bias and emotions to put myself in another frame of mind to see a whole other culture and their values when I am looking at it from my own.
@@jeremybear573 In the late 1960s, with society rumbling, they had intentions of doing the shows without makeup anymore. They made a special called 'Masquerade' without blackface, just eye masks. The fans were not impressed. They tried again in 69 with no masks at all in a series called 'Music, Music. Music' This, too, was a flop. To the mainly the older generations that watched the shows, they were all characters that they didn't recognize anymore and their escape into a fantasy world had been breached. The kids alive today who sat with their grandmas watching the minstrels' shows remember them as a nostalgic singalong with granny and race was the last thing that ever came into it, as just like a clown a minstrel looked like nobody on Earth in real life.
Can someone help me please? Enjoying these shows and clips, most for me for the first time, can someone tell me the name of the lead minstrel singing Alexander's Ragtime Band? He has such a wonderful voice and he appears to be enjoying himself so much, I doubt anyone could not enjoy any of his performances.
Dai Francis, my good sir. In the same medley, the man who sings "That Mysterious Rag" is John Boulter, and the man who sings "Play a Simple Melody" is Tony Mercer. The woman who sings "Snookey Ookums" with Dai is Margaret Savage; those four are the main names you'll see on the albums.
@@MrTambo016 Thank you so much. Much appreciated for the very full answer.
@@nickeden4418 My favorite gang of minstrels and girls, most went around 71.
, uUCHO PLAYBACKUN PLOMO😮IVO
I will take that as a compliment!