Museum object · Toys and Games
Crank toy in the form of a minstrel banjo player and minstrel male dancer
mid 20th century
Smithsonian NMAAHC collection
Source catalog description
This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.
A handmade, wooden crank toy in the form of caricatures of a banjo player and male dancer. The toy has a wooden base, open at the front and back, with two (2) carved, wooden figures on top. Both figures have jointed arms and legs, white plastic hands and have a metal wire attaching them to the crank mechanism. The figure on the left is a male dancer. His head and body are primarily painted black. He has round white eyes and lip white lips. A white strip on plastic runs down the center of the torso representing a white shirt. The shirt has two (2) silver pins resembling buttons. The figure on the right is a banjo player seated on a wooden seat.
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Sources & collection details
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗
Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
Catalog reference: 2007.7.265
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