YANKEE MASON ON A SHEFFIELD PLAYBILL
-- Introduction --

 

This is a woodcut from a Sheffield Saloon bill made in the mid-1840s. The craftsmanship is unsophisticated, and as a woodcut it most likely would have 'traveled' with the performer and been inserted into the local press for each venue's advertisement. Strangely, this lack of sophistication may allow for a more accurate and individually specific illustration of the 'look' of a working-class minstrel.

 

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