I have no problem with selling the positive images as collectibles, but I cringe at most of what I see online and at auction. It seems to make what’s ugly sound palatable, as if it’s okay to sell this stuff on Ebay and other sites because, you know, it’s part of American history, no matter what it represents. The term “Black Americana” feels like a misnomer to me. What images did game-makers like Whitman, Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley and Russell use to show black people as ignorant and that people now sell as “Black Americana” collectibles? (Did you know that Old Maid was derived from a drinking game where the loser bought the next round of drinks. Seeing these cards got me to wondering about what other derogatory figures were in the Old Maid decks. The worst was Jazzbo Jackson, a man in a green suit, red-rose corsage and some missing teeth. The two black figures in the most recent deck were named Agonizing Sue, a woman in a pink dress with pink lips. The first deck I found was all white characters with caricatured names and poses, but not caricatures themselves.

The cards were made by Whitman Publishing Co., and although neither deck had a date on it, they appeared to be from the 1940s or 1950s. Unfortunately, they were in stereotypical poses, which shouldn’t have been surprising. At an auction recently, I came across a deck of Old Maid cards, 45 in a box. This was the second time in the last six months or so that I’d found a deck of the cards, but this time, I uncovered a pair of black figures.

Old maid cards from 1940s iva lipstick