Comedy Cake Walk - 1903

Five African-Americans (three men, two women) perform an exaggerated cake walk.

From the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

No sound.

You can download this video here: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/varsmp.0377

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• early
• motion
• pictures
• 1900s
• cake
• walk
• dance

[mpforman]

I hope this is what it's like in heaven after you die.

[uglyguido]

wow this is so old! Very cool to watch.

[finechico20]

@gotrawmilk In Latin America, they have many old dances that are still danced today that were created to make fun of the white Spanish masters that believed that anything not white was stupid.

[gotrawmilk]

Do you think this is satire? They are probably making fun of their white masters.

[davenoon]

I'd actually be surprised if this were genuine blackface (i.e., white performers in blackface). By this point, black performers like Bert Williams and George Walker had come to dominate vaudeville -- they were the ones who actually popularized the cakewalk. They still "corked up," though, as I think the performers here have -- but I don't think these folks are white.

[treemonisha2006]

@breakerofcodes

Well when your neighbor was born these people where full grown possibly middle aged. So more than likely THEY would be deceased.

[MelanieLouM]

They are not African-Americans...this is blackface! :(

[lilataubenei]

well people are born, then alive, then they die...

what s so sad about that?

what has that to do with cakewalk, a real fun thing?? if you really would love cakewalk and ragtime musick, you, sorry, would not sit and say, oh, how sad, that they are dead... you would keep ragtime and cakewalk alive! learn it, play it, post it.

that s sad, that you don t do it.

[Nuanceqwest]

Heres the funny thing. A lot of people look at this and think "how old and even boring"

But I bet that it invoked the same degree of emotion that your favourite song invokes today.

[breakerofcodes]

My neighbor, born 1902, is still alive

[treemonisha2006]

There is NO doubt that all of these people are deceased I mean come on this was filmed 106 yrs ago! And guess what? Television shows and videos of today will someday be the videos of yesteryear and someone over 100 years from now will probably say the same thing. This is a joyous video and the people are happy. I agree with you mpforeman!