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Description

Gang Shows are revue style perfomances put on by Scouts and Girl Guides and involved singing, dancing, and skits. There have been annual performances in New Zealand from the 1950s

This image depicts a scout in a dress sits on a moon suspended from above, while scouts in black body stockings and colourful stripped suits with white jackets performing as "Black & White Minstrels". They are performing a skit at the Gang Show 1963.

'Black face' or performing as 'Black and White Minstrels' was once a popular form of entertainment in western nations across the globe. With origins rooted in systemic racism, these performances of racial impersonation were usually conducted by Caucasian actors and tended to depict commonly held stereotypes of non-Caucasians as backward or unsophisticated for 'comic' effect.

Keith Roland Hamblyn was a photographer with the Palmerston North Hospital Board for many years. In a private capacity, he documented a wide variety of public events between 1958 and the early 1970s.

Identification

Object type
Image
Relation
2014-26
Date
August 1963
Digitisation ID
2024S_2014-26_042103_030
Format
Slide

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Taxonomy

Tags
black and white minstrels,
black face,
boy scouts,
cultural appropriation,
gang show,
performers,
Community Tags

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