A decade after blackface routines became popular, the minstrel show was born. The Virginia Minstrels are generally credited with putting on the first minstrel show, lining up four actor/musicians in a row, with "Bones" at one end and "Tambo" at the other. They first appeared on stage with this act in 1842. This group was an early imitator; the sheet music is dated 1844. It was common in pictures to show minstrels in both their "whiteface" and "blackface" identities. BACK TO MINSTRELSY PAGE