In Chapter 5 titled “Patterns of Immigration”, this 2016 World Geography textbook from McGraw Hill says “The Atlantic Slave Trade between the 1500’s and 1800’s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”  It also says “One of the defining attributes of the United States is that it is largely a country of immigrants and their descendants.  About 13 percent of people in the United States are foreign born, while Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians make up about 2 percent of the population.  The remaining population is descended from immigrants.”  Here is the story of how everything “hit the fan” when an African-American mother looked carefully at her son’s Continue reading →

This stereo view of a black girl with watermelon continues the odd pairing of black folk with watermelon.  It states, “Did you say watermelon was no good?  Give me liberty and watermelon!  Let the pampered epicure rave over a French ragout, a Chinese bird’s nest soup, or lobster  a la Newburg, we piccaninnies believe in the simple life and watermelon.  Give us a Continue reading →

This 1915 postcard features a young black child holding a watermelon with a grin on his face (continuing the odd pairing of black folk with watermelon). The postcard states “Nigger Heben”.  It has a postal stamp from April 14, 1915 in Norfolk, Virginia. Continue reading →

These 1965 and 1966 Thunderbolt Newspapers are among the most severe of the racist material in this collection.  One article states, “If King comes marching through your town, get out in the streets with the old rebel yell and rebel flag.  He’ll go running out of town back to Atlanta.” Thunderbolt newspaper was mentioned during the trial of infamous Ku Klux Klansman Tommy Blanton.  Blanton was convicted Continue reading →

This 1892 stereo view of African-Americans picking cotton says “Away down among “de Cotton and de Coons” and appears to say that the photo is from Louisiana.   Continue reading →

This 1956 pamphlet titled “Interposition, the Barrier Against Tyranny” is a speech of Representative John Bell Williams (D-Miss.) in the United States House of Representatives on January 25, 1956.  Interposition refers to the right of the states to protect their interests from federal violation deemed by those states to be dangerous or unconstitutional. Citizens’ Councils (which were considered a more civilized version of the Ku Klux Klan) famously defended segregation (and before that slavery) by teaching “Interposition and Nullification”.

This brochure was printed by the Association of Citizens’ Councils of Mississippi in Greenwood, Mississippi.

This 1964 “National Rally” flyer advertises Gerald L.K. Smith speaking at the Large Embassy Auditorium at 9th and Grand in Los Angeles, California on April 30th, 1964.  On the flyer it states that he will discuss “The significance of Governor Wallace of Alabama, who is rapidly becoming a white man’s champion.  Will the Negro become America’s ‘sacred cow’? Will the Jewish politicians and their ilk be able to combine minorities for political victory in such a way as to enslave and abuse the great white Christian majority of America?

This postcard from Greenville, Texas shows the Flower Bed in City Park.  The back of the postcard states “Blackest Land” and “Whitest People”

This 1950’s anti-NAACP brochure contains four pages of fear-mongering designed to discredit the NAACP by associating the civil rights organization with communism.  It refers to “…its devious way to bring America down to stark mulattoism.  A negroid-nation is the aim of both–which is but another way of saying Negro-Supremacy.”

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This is a 1936 cancelled check from Lee Bank & Trust Company.  The check shows “Nigger Head Rock” in the corner.  Today, that area in Penington Gap, Virginia is referred to as “Stoneface” (changed in the 1970’s).

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Nigger Brand Sahara Dates, Oval, France
c.1915, 8 3/4 In.

This “Cotton Fluff” (by Olive Smith) sheet music from 1936 shows a racist depiction (face is almost a complete silhouette and exaggerated black lips) of a black child holding multiple cotton bolls.  Clayton F. Summy Co.

This 1906 postcard shows the stereotype of a black man with exaggerated features lamenting a broken watermelon with the caption “Life Ain’t Worth Living When Your Broke.”

This 382 page book is in good condition for being 115 years old.  The author is Charles Carroll who claimed that blacks are more akin to apes than to human beings, and theorized that blacks had been the “tempters of Eve.” Carroll said that mulatto brutes were the rapists and murderers of his time (pp. 167, 191, 290-202) and that they should be killed. You will notice (in the photo) a red cloth bookmark; I’m not sure if it’s original, but it matches perfectly. The rebuttal to this book Is the Negro A Beast? was published in 1901 and is also in this collection (see “Racism” category).

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 Is the Negro a Beast?: A Reply to Chas. Carroll’s Book Entitled “The Negro A Beast”, Proving that the Negro is Human from Biblical, Scientific, and Historical Standpoints.  Written by William G. Schell, this book is a refutation of the scurrilous book The Negro A Beast or In the Image of God?, apparently popular in Southern US around the turn of the century, which attempted to justify the enslavement of those of African descent, since they “weren’t really human.”  The controversial book that this book is refuting is also available in this collection (see other post in the “Racism” category).

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Another disgusting example of an alligator eating, or trying to eat, black children (see other similar items in the collection).  The tale of the alligator is a letter opener; by pulling the head of the African-American child out of the alligator’s mouth, a pencil is revealed.  The tail advertises the “Los Angeles Alligator Farm”.  So much for the South having a monopoly on racism. Continue reading →

Large format sheet music for the song “Cannibal Love”.  “With kisses dear, I’ll greet you, love you so that I could eat you.”  Some small tears.  Bottom corners slightly faded. Condition is good.

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Made in Germany in the first quarter of the 20th century, it contains a black mask.  Instructions on the cover are in German, French, and English.  The English directions are as follows: “The Nigger Cap.  New.  Great surprise.  Wonderful effect.  It is possible to become a Nigger in half a minute, and then quickly a white man again.  The Nigger cap, which is made of light black tricot, is simply drawn over the head, the end pushed under the collar and the Nigger is ready.  If in company, one should bend down under the table a moment and draw the cap on, or one goes out of the room and comes back a Nigger, to the great astonishment of everyone present.  Great joke.  Patented.  Enormous success.”  Cap is in the package, unused.

This racist postcard from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (in England) says, “I aint a dirty nudist…I’m just a clean nigger!”  It is dated Aug 12, 1937.

This 1907 book The Negro, A Menace to American Civilization, was written by Robert Wilson Shufeldt who was a Major in the Medical Department of the U.S. Army. From the book:“It takes a negro to assault a pretty and winsome little girl less than four years of age….It is scarcely necessary for me to say, that I am morally opposed to all forms of lynch law, but the negro is with us ; savagery and barbarous acts beget savagery and barbarous acts….Lynchings, in spite of everything, will continue to occur in the United States of America just so long as there is a negro left here alive, and there is a white woman living for him to assault. He can no more help his instincts than he is responsible for the color of his skin.”  Note the lynching photos.   Continue reading →

Just like the weird connection American culture had in associating blacks with watermelon (see watermelon postcards in this collection), they also associated African-Americans as bait for alligators with a common theme of African-Americans running from alligators. Continue reading →

This is a 1927 advertisement from page 592 of the “Shure” catalogue.  It reads “Coon-in-Barrel” is a new, novel and unique device that is a whirl wind crowd gatherer.  The barrel is the same size as an ordinary barrel, flat front with a large on the outside.  Hit the target and up comes the coon, hit the coon and knock him back in the barrel… Continue reading →

This alarmist book by Kenneth Goth concludes that “…the colored races of the whole world are being united under the banner of atheistic hell-inspired Communism“.  It also notes that “In schools our young white girls are being forced to dance with Negro boys.”  Note the photo of “wild jungle sex orgies that go on each night…between Negroes and Whites”.

Book is published by Soldiers of the Cross and is 76 pages. Continue reading →

“Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland” by Olive Schreiner.  Published in 1897, this book starts with the frontispiece photo of 3 black individuals hanging from a tree surrounded by white men.

The book appears to be about the travels of Trooper Peter Halket on his way through South Africa.  There are constant references to the “N” word, Continue reading →

This advertisement is not dated, but it is VERY old.  It shows racist caricatures of African-Americans stealing and shooting each other.  Text at the bottom describes the scene and in one portion says “…(he) was drowned in tears at the thought of not being able to shoot two darkey thieves.  But as the well filled with tears he came to the top and discovered one dead nigger…”  The ad suggests Barker’s Liniment for the aches and pains of the farmer after the incident.  Browned, a few small tears and chips to the edges, printing on rear, fragile.  Overall size is approximately 9″ x 6″.

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This sheet music from 1916 has a racist title and racist lyrics.  Note the line “Go to sleep, my little pickaninnies, Cuddle up to mammy’s breast“.

This article from the November 1907 issue of “The Metropolitan Magazine” is written by a Senator from Mississippi, John Sharp Williams.  The article is 15 pages (about 8″ x 10″ in size) and has several full page photos.  In the article titled “The Negro and the South” Williams writes “The darky complains a good deal…They are here, and they are going to remain here so long as there is  a cotton-field in sight…Some people talk as if the repeal of the fifteenth amendment would get rid of darkies…Negro women are poor mothers–careless and unintelligent.”

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“Darkie Toothpaste” shows one of the more obvious caricatures of the grinning, wide-eyed African-American.  Toothpaste bottle and box are from Japan.

Darkie is a toothpaste brand of Hawley & Hazel Chemical Company. Established in Shanghai in 1933 and later based in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Hawley & Hazel was acquired in 1985 by the US corporation Colgate-Palmolive, although the product is not marketed by Colgate-Palmolive Continue reading →

This racist brochure from the 1960’s shows a Confederate flag on the cover and contains a list of 19 inflammatory race-based events that are intended as a “call to action” for the white man with an invitation May 1st to attend a meeting.  It mentions that “War has been declared upon an entire generation of little white children who are fighting for their lives, their right to decency, and their heritage of Christian civilization.  Little white girls are bearing the brunt of this savage assault.  Their existence or destruction depends upon the manhood of their race.  That is you.”  Continue reading →

This item, dated 1925, shows a racist caricature of a black man sitting on top of a watermelon.  1st lines say “I’s like a lil’ niggah wiv heaps ob time to kill.  Been doin’ nothin’ all day long but settin’ mahty still.”

Says “G.L. Salisbury” and “A Buzza Motto 1925” at bottom.

This is a Frank G. Abell calling card for his famous photography business.  It shows a black man stealing watermelons with a dog attached to his rear, while a white man with a shotgun chases him.  It says, “Which will let go first, the dog or the darkey?” Born in Illinois in 1844, Frank G. Abell opened his first gallery on his own, Abell’s Star Gallery, in Stockton in 1866. Moving back to San Francisco the following year, he then gradually worked his way north, through Grass Valley, Red Bluff, and and Yreka, arriving in Roseburg, Oregon in 1877.  From 1878 to 1888 he was based in Portland, and after a few years back in San Francisco, he continued in Portland from 1897 to 1907. Known primarily for his studio portraits, his gallery in Continue reading →

This 1931 large pamphlet is from “The Catholic Board for Mission Work Among the Colored People” and is titled “OUR COLORED MISSIONS” with the subtitle “JESUS DIED FOR ALL”.  It pictures a white Jesus holding a black child.  The section “Negro Laughs” (see photo) perpetuates the stereotype of the ignorant African-American who cannot speak well nor reason well (hence the butt of every joke).  To the credit of the brochure is a section titled “Gleanings” (see photo) where the publication acknowledges “Humility and kindness are lovable virtues among the colored race; therefore they are surely much loved by Jesus Christ…Civilization is far older than the science of anthropology, and in the olden days it was not considered necessary to weigh the brain of the individual in order to find whether he merited equality of opportunity.  Anthropology has now as its chief reason for existing the lamentable fact that it furnishes a justification for the exploitation of the darker races.–J.A. Rogers Continue reading →

White Citizens’ Council brochure from the Birmingham, Alabama chapter….the Ku Klux Klan for all intents and purposes. Continue reading →

Color illustration of a black man dressed as a Kentucky colonel and sitting on a front porch rocker while holding a mint julep.  I purchased this poster (on thick card stock) from an antiques dealer from the South. 1963 Twinkle Press, Roanoke Virginia.  Measures 14 x 11 inches.

This 1901 minstrel play “Coon Creek Courtship” is published by T.S. Denison & Company. Continue reading →

This colorful cover of the September 1924 issue of Pictorial Review furthers the very strange American stereotype of African-Americans going crazy over watermelon.  This is just the cover; you can see the edges have been eaten by insects over the last 90 years.  Note the large size of the cover as compared to the quarter to the right.

In 1995, Radio Shack manufactured a translating device (model 63-797) that made headlines when someone noticed that it translates the word “black” to “nigger”.  Radio Shack recalled this specific model and issued a written apology.  Upon hearing this, I went to Radio Shack to attempt to purchase the device for my collection.  When I arrived, all of the units had long-since been pulled from the shelves…except a demo.  I successfully talked the young cashier (unaware of the controversy) into selling me the demo.

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“Mammy’s Little Pumpkin Colored Coons” Sheet music.  With the subtitle: “Plantation Slumber Song“.

Hillman/Perrin, from the play “The Good Mr. Best”, copyright 1897.  Fair condition, spine mostly split with small pieces missing.  RH edge somewhat ragged.

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