Image:1829-philadelphia-black-bourgeoisie-flesh-coloured.jpg

[edit] Summary

"Life in Philadelphia", a May 1829 caricature showing an African-American woman shopping while dressed in the very latest of high fashions; her similarly-attired friend waits in the doorway for her to finish her purchase. As caricaturists often did, the size of the woman's hat is exaggerated, and the skirts are shown a little shorter than they would have been in real life (see Image:Waist-and-Extravagance-ca-1830-fashion-satire-Heath.jpg for another typical example of these standard caricaturists' tricks from the same period).

• Dialogue in image:

Fashionably-attired African-American woman

"Have you any flesh-coloured silk stockings, young man?"

French shop-attendant (who knows exactly what to do to please the customer)

"Oui, Madame! Here is von pair of de first qualité."

This caricature is not really racist in itself (and could even be considered to be subtly anti-racist in pointing out the relative meaning of the term "flesh-colored"), but much of the humor which white Americans of 1829 would have perceived in it would have arisen from the racist preconceptions which they held. Many white Americans would have found the very idea of a "black bourgeoisie" (as it was later called), or Black attempts to imitate White high-society, to be inherently at least slightly ridiculous.

Artist's or engraver's signature in lower right is the initial "C".

Edited from the image http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g02000/3g02400/3g02441u.tif at the Library of Crongress website:

Bibliographic information found at the LoC site:

TITLE: Life in Philadelphia

CALL NUMBER: PGA - Clay, Edward W.--Life in Philadelphia (A size) [P&P]

REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-2441 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZ62-119316 (b&w film copy neg.)

SUMMARY: Satiric view of African American woman shopping for pair of stockings.

MEDIUM: 1 print : etching, color.

CREATED/PUBLISHED: Philada. : Published by W. Simpson, 1829 May.

CREATOR: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist.

NOTES: Plate XI.

SUBJECTS:

• Shopping--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--1820-1830.
• African Americans--Women--1820-1830.

FORMAT: Ethnic stereotypes 1820-1830. Etchings Color 1820-1830.

REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGITAL ID: (color film copy transparency) cph 3g02441 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g02441 (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3c19316 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c19316

CARD #: 93503166

[edit] Licensing

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years. Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement that rule of the shorter term. العربية | Asturianu | Български | Català | Česky | Dansk | Deutsch | English | Ελληνικά | Esperanto | Español | Euskara | فارسی | Français | Gaeilge | Galego | עברית | हिन्दी | Bahasa Indonesia | Italiano | 日本語 | 한국어 | Kurdî / كوردی | Lietuvių | Magyar | Nederlands | ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬ | Македонски | Bahasa Melayu | Polski | Português | Română | Русский | Slovenčina | Slovenščina | Shqip | Suomi | Sámegiella | Türkçe | ‪中文(简体)‬ | ‪中文(繁體)‬ | 粵語 | +/-

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• 1829