Warfield & Weeks Model Minstrels and Brass Band

Warfield and Weeks fancy letterhead from 1887. “Model Minstrels and Brass Band.” This type of show featured white performers in blackface, and though considered politically incorrect today, it was the height of pop culture between the 1830’s and the late 1880’s. This letterhead is from a scrapbook kept by the Baum family– two brothers and two sons– who were all coronet players that appeared in everything from minstrel shows, to comedy troupes, to dime museums, to small orchestras and vaudeville. All of their scrapbook will be appearing soon in the Member section.