Balch Institute: Selections from the Museum Collections
Stereotypes
Image Archive

Rough on Rats advertising poster (l ate nineteenth century).
Library Transfer. (22" x 14-3/8"). C.75.166.
Here an extremely derogatory stereotype is used to advertise pesticide. The advertisement plays on the virulent anti-Chinese sentiment of the late nineteenth century when Chinese immigrant laborers were perceived as taking jobs from other Americans. The advertisement also perpetuates the rumor that the allegedly penurious Chinese immigrants ate rats and other vermin.

Embroidered cotton laundry bag (c. 1940s).
Museum Purchase. (26" x 16-7/8"). J.88.16.
Here is an interesting example of confused stereotypes. The embroidered scene on this laundry bag depicts two women wearing traditional Japanese clothes and hairstyles, although the ethnic group stereotypically associated with laundering is Chinese Americans. Because stereotypes develop through ignorance of a group's culture, mistakes are easily made.

Movie posters:
The Adventures of Jane Arden, Warner Bros. (1939). Source unknown. (12" x 15"). AA.88.99.
Arrow in the Dust, Allied Artists (1954). Source unknown. (12" x 15"). AI.88.73.
The Girl Said No, A Grand National Picture (1937). Museum Purchase. (11" x 14"). J.87.315.
Magazine advertisement:
Abie's Irish Rose, United Artists, Life Magazine (1946). Source unknown. (14" x 10-1/2"). ME.85.320.
In movies, ethnic stereotypes were used to convey humor, exoticism, and adventure. A shuffling, obsequious Black servant stereotype or the possibility of a romance between a stereotypically named Jewish man and Irish woman would be portrayed--and perceived by most--as humorous. Asian stereotypes were used to inject exoticism although the actors usually were white, and the thrill and adventure of westerns were heightened by stereotypes of savage American Indian warriors who also were routinely played by white actors. 

Neil O'Brien Great American Minstrels poster, T he Strobridge Litho. Co (1919).
Library Transfer. (40" x 30"). AA.72.42.
Stereotyped images of Blacks derived not from the real-life appearance of African Americans, but from caricatures created by the black-face whites of the minstrel stage. A tremendously popular entertainment form throughout the last half of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century, the minstrel show standardized the image of Blacks with round, coal-black faces, large bulging eyes, and oversized lips. The museum houses a collection of 45 full-color, lithographed minstrel posters. As do many of the posters, the example shown here depicts the performer both in and out of black-face.

Sambo Target Game (c. 1940s).
Museum Purchase. (23" x 14"). AA. 91.115.
Toys featuring ethnic characters as targets or victims were common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such toys reflected hostile attitudes toward ethnic groups and encouraged aggression against them. The target of this game is worn from extensive use.

Syracuse Orangemen T-shirt (1988).
Museum Purchase. (25" x 17"). AI.88.104.
American Indian stereotypes, especially the warrior image, abound in sports. Team names and the mascots that appear on T-shirts, pennants, uniforms, and playing fields perpetuate some of the worst stereotypes of Native Americans as tomahawk-wielding, crazed savages. The mascot for the Syracuse Orangemen is in actuality an orange; this image represents a black marketeer's misinterpretation of the team's name. Purchased from a sports souvenir shop in Washington, D.C., the t-shirt was made in Alabama.

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[Stereotypes: Introductory Essay]

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© 1996 The Balch Institute For Ethnic Studies

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