Birch, Wambold & Backus San Francisco Minstrels
{"id": "ld1-1643398853934-1643398866067-1", "version": "", "unitCode": "NMAH", "linkedId": "", "type": "edanmdm", "content": {"descriptiveNonRepeating": {"record_ID": "nmah_325295", "online_media": {"mediaCount": 1, "media": [{"thumbnail": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=NMAH-2003-24456&max=150", "idsId": "NMAH-2003-24456", "usage": {"access": "CC0"}, "caption": "Birch, Wambold & Backus", "guid": "http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bq99ca746b5-5581-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa", "type": "Images", "content": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=NMAH-2003-24456", "resources": [{"label": "High-resolution TIFF", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=NMAH-2003-24456.tif", "width": 2720, "height": 2156}, {"width": 2720, "height": 2156, "label": "High-resolution JPEG", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=NMAH-2003-24456.jpg", "dimensions": "2720x2156"}, {"label": "Screen Image", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=NMAH-2003-24456_screen"}, {"label": "Thumbnail Image", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=NMAH-2003-24456_thumb"}]}]}, "unit_code": "NMAH", "title_sort": "BIRCH, WAMBOLD & BACKUS SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS", "guid": "http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-3215-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa", "title": {"label": "Title", "content": "Birch, Wambold & Backus San Francisco Minstrels"}, "metadata_usage": {"access": "CC0"}, "data_source": "National Museum of American History"}, "indexedStructured": {"geoLocation": [{"Other": {"type": "Place", "content": "United States"}}, {"Other": {"type": "Place", "content": "New York"}}, {"Other": {"type": "Place", "content": "New York City"}}, {"points": {"point": {"latitude": {"type": "decimal", "content": "40.7"}, "longitude": {"type": "decimal", "content": "-74"}}}}], "object_type": ["Lithographs"], "culture": ["Blacks"], "name": ["Wambold, David", "Backus, Charles", "San Francisco Minstrels", "Birch, William", "Thomas, Henry Atwell"], "topic": ["Theater", "Art", "Music", "Peters Prints", "Advertising", "Furnishings", "Musicians"], "place": ["New York City", "New York", "United States"], "online_media_type": ["Images"]}, "freetext": {"setName": [{"label": "See more items in", "content": "Home and Community Life: Domestic Life"}, {"label": "See more items in", "content": "Advertising"}, {"label": "See more items in", "content": "Art"}, {"label": "See more items in", "content": "Peters Prints"}, {"label": "See more items in", "content": "Domestic Furnishings"}], "date": [{"label": "Date made", "content": "n.d."}], "identifier": [{"label": "ID Number", "content": "DL.60.3027"}, {"label": "catalog number", "content": "60.3027"}, {"label": "accession number", "content": "228146"}], "notes": [{"label": "Description", "content": "This black and white print contains oval bust portraits of three men, along with three smaller heads of black cherubs with wings, a pan flute, and a lyre. Overprinted directly onto the poster in blue ink is the advertisement of the location and dates of some performances. The notification printed on top in blue reads: \u00e2\u0080\u009cNewark Opera House, Saturday, June 1st / Birch, Wambold & Backus.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Below the portraits is the statement \u00e2\u0080\u009cSan Francisco Minstrels from their / Opera House Broadway & 29th Street, New York, \u00e2\u0080\u009d which was designed to convey Broadway legitimacy on a trio from New York and New Jersey that first established themselves on the west coast."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "Charles Backus (1831-1883), Billy Birch (1831-1897), and D. S. Wambold (1836-1889) belonged to a performing group called the San Francisco Minstrels that was founded in San Francisco in the mid-1860s, in part to make fun of what they viewed as the elitist tastes of San Francisco opera and serious drama fans. They went on to appear on New York-area stages for the next two decades, becoming one of the highest paid minstrel groups of their time. Like other minstrel performers, they performed in blackface and parodied what was considered in the period stereotypical African-American mannerisms and behavior, but they also poked fun at the social and political mores of white society. These performers were said to be a favorite of American author Mark Twain."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "Charles Backus was born in Rochester, New York, and moved to San Francisco, California, in 1852. He performed with minstrel groups and circuses in countries around the world, including England, Australia, Egypt, India, and China, before helping form the San Francisco Minstrels with Birch and Wambold in 1864. Known as a talented mimic, his specialties included social parody and imitations of popular actors."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "William Birch was a comedian born in Utica, New York, who began appearing in small town minstrel shows in his early teens. He crisscrossed the United States performing with various minstrel groups before helping establish the San Francisco Minstrels, where he was celebrated for his originality and clever word play."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "David S. Wambold was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He joined a small minstrel group when he was just 13 years old and toured with other shows in the United States and Europe before helping form the San Francisco Minstrels. His tenor voice made him one of the most highly praised ballad singers of his time."}, {"label": "Description", "content": "This lithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas. Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904) was an artist, portrait painter, and lithographer especially well known for his theatrical portraits. His New York firm was called H. A. Thomas Lith. Studio until 1887, when it became H. A. Thomas & Wylie Lithographic (sometimes cited as Lithography or Lithographing) Company."}, {"label": "Location", "content": "Currently not on view"}], "creditLine": [{"label": "Credit Line", "content": "Harry T. Peters \"America on Stone\" Lithography Collection"}], "name": [{"label": "depicted", "content": "Birch, William"}, {"label": "depicted", "content": "Wambold, David"}, {"label": "depicted", "content": "Backus, Charles"}, {"label": "referenced", "content": "San Francisco Minstrels"}, {"label": "maker", "content": "Thomas, Henry Atwell"}], "topic": [{"label": "subject", "content": "Blacks"}, {"label": "subject", "content": "Theater"}, {"label": "subject", "content": "Music"}, {"label": "subject", "content": "Minstrels"}], "place": [{"label": "place made", "content": "United States: New York, New York City"}], "physicalDescription": [{"label": "Physical Description", "content": "paper (overall material)"}, {"label": "Physical Description", "content": "ink (overall material)"}, {"label": "Measurements", "content": "image: 17 in x 20 in; 43.18 cm x 50.8 cm"}], "dataSource": [{"label": "Data Source", "content": "National Museum of American History"}], "objectType": [{"label": "Object Name", "content": "lithograph"}, {"label": "Object Type", "content": "Lithograph"}]}}, "url": "edanmdm:nmah_325295", "hash": "5325a032655a70841c84f7be4b44bedeb82c2945", "docSignature": "70daa9b9d42909ec312b94f524e269ee", "timestamp": 1664882628, "lastTimeUpdated": 1664882561, "title": "Birch, Wambold & Backus San Francisco Minstrels"}