Christy's Minstrels

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Sheet music cover for a collection of songs by Christy's Minstrels, 1844. George Christy appears in the circle at top.

Christy's Minstrels, sometimes referred to as the Christy Minstrels, were a blackface group formed by Edwin Pearce Christy in 1843, in Buffalo, New York, USA. They were instrumental in the solidification of the minstrel show into a fixed three-act form. Their career included a seven-year stint at New York City's Mechanics' Hall (March 1847–July 1854).

Besides Christy himself, the troupe originally included Christy's stepson George Christy, often considered the greatest blackface comic of the era. Their commercial success was phenomenal: Christy, at one point paid Stephen Foster $15,000 for the exclusive rights to the song Old Folks at Home. ([1], Lott, 1993, 267)

The New Christy Minstrels, a folk group from the 1960s, were named with reference to this group.

[edit] References

• Edwin Pearce Christy, at the University of Pennsylvania site. Accessed 6 Sept 2005.
• Lott, Eric (1993). Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509641-X.

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