Antique Racist Minstrel Show Player Piano Roll #1 Vocalstyle

Here is the 1st of 8 Player Piano Rolls that were issued by the Vocalstyle Music Roll Company in the early 1900's. They are called the Home Minstrel Series, and they were intended as family entertainment. The rolls contain then-popular songs that go back to the Civil War era, and they are arranged and played by 2 pianists in a 4 hand arrangement. Each roll came with a "joke sheet" where the guests would assume one of the 3 standard characters of Minstrel Shows, which were popular at the time. The roles are that of "Interlocutor" , who is a kind-of pompous Master of Ceremonies, and the other two characters are "Tambo" and "Bones" who are African-American men. These three characters would alternate in dancing and telling jokes to the people at the party, and then groups would gather around the Player Piano and sing the songs on the roll. Some of the lyrics are so horrible that I can get embarrassed even if I am the only one reading them. As awful as they are, they are a part of history and the only thing worse is censorship. Not all the songs are equally racist, but if you don't cringe a few times during each roll, you could use some Anger Management therapy. I am new to YouTube and I am not certain what is the best way to show the joke sheet, however I plan to put them on soon. Actually, the rolls are pretty self explanitory, so here is Roll#1