According to the ragtime musician Shepherd Edmonds, who described the stories of his freed slave parents, “They did a take-off on the high manners of the white folks in the ‘big-house,’ but their masters, who gathered around to watch the fun, missed the point.” Often the whites even assumed the role of presenting the cake instead of the slaves choosing amongst themselves, therefore once again demonstrating their authority over the slaves. In fact, whites became so enthralled with cakewalks that by the end of the Civil War, it became a regular routine in minstrel shows, a type of variety show where white people performed in blackface. During these performances, the cakewalk became a grotesque event, where the costumes became outrageously colorful and gaudy. The blackface performance presented the dance as a ridiculous and an unsuccessful attempt to parallel white culture. Cakewalk imaginary was also used on sheet music, advertising, prints, and toys, with African Americans being depicted as
According to the ragtime musician Shepherd Edmonds, who described the stories of his freed slave parents, “They did a take-off on the high manners of the white folks in the ‘big-house,’ but their masters, who gathered around to watch the fun, missed the point.” Often the whites even assumed the role of presenting the cake instead of the slaves choosing amongst themselves, therefore once again demonstrating their authority over the slaves. In fact, whites became so enthralled with cakewalks that by the end of the Civil War, it became a regular routine in minstrel shows, a type of variety show where white people performed in blackface. During these performances, the cakewalk became a grotesque event, where the costumes became outrageously colorful and gaudy. The blackface performance presented the dance as a ridiculous and an unsuccessful attempt to parallel white culture. Cakewalk imaginary was also used on sheet music, advertising, prints, and toys, with African Americans being depicted as