The American minstrel Edwin P. Christy (1815-1862) was not the originator of the minstrel show, but the Christy Minstrels set the pattern which almost all other companies followed.

Little is known about Edwin P. Christy's early life. He was born in Philadelphia in 1815 and worked for a time as an office boy in New York. He was subsequently a hotel clerk and a traveling salesman. It is known that about 1840 "Ned" Christy gave performances on the banjo and tambourine in the hotels and barrooms in Buffalo and a short time later blackened his face, dressed himself in old "plantation" clothes, and performed as a minstrel in Harry Meech's Museum in Buffalo. He was expert on the banjo, the instrument which was to provide the minstrel show its special musical character.

Christy's original company was formed in 1842. At first they called themselves the Virginia Minstrels, probably in imitation of...