Minstrel show
（重定向自Minstrelry）
![Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843](/Images/godic/202501/27/Virginia_Minstrels,_18433338.jpg")
![Thomas D. Rice from sheet music cover of](/Images/godic/202501/27/Sich_a_Getting_Up_Stairs,_T._D._Rice3338.jpg")
![Sheet music cover for](/Images/godic/202501/27/Dandy_Jim_from_Caroline3338.jpg")
![Poster for Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels](/Images/godic/202501/27/Haverly's_United_Mastodon_Minstrels3338.jpg")
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the 19th century. It was a form of entertainment that required payment to attend. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of black people.