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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Minstrels at the Three Jolly Butchers, Wood Green, c 1890

A man posing by a horse-drawn trap whist behind him stand five people, three of whom appear to be white men with blackened faces. At least two of these black faced men appear to wearing stripey trousers, typical of the 'minstrel' costume worn by performers of the time.


The name above the door, presumably the landlord's, reads 'C.' or 'G.' 'ASHBY'. The Pub's lantern reads 'THE THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS'. 'DUNVILLE' is painted on the window to the right (Probably Dunville & Company - tea & spirit merchants).

You can compare this scene a photo of the pub from 1895

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Tags (All lower case. Use " " for multiple word tags): three jolly butchers
Albums: Historical Images of Wood Green | 1 of 2 (F)

Comment by Tim Fennell on April 7, 2021 at 10:00

What a fascinating picture, I'm surprised it has not received any comments. The existence of minstrels is totally baffling today, and indeed they were on primetime television into the 70s. Recently, there was a television programme about the history of minstrels in North America, where it was recounted that they were so popular that even black people dressed as minstrels and made a good living from it! Even more shocking to me now is that my mother took me to the West End in the 60s to see them live, unbelievable!

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