une énigme historique

Je fais remonter à la demande d'Altus !

Une illustration dans la même (mauvaise) vaine, faisant des gros Sheffield "americain" (made exrecially for america) plus des armes de combat que des instruments de rasage (en effet les esclaves nouvellement libérés n'aient pas droit de port d'armes, blanches ou à feu...ils étaient libres mais pas citoyens)

j'ai retouvé la chanson Zip Coon, qui parle de ces noirs de façon caricatural (les paroles sont bien en anglais, mais très argotique avec le rendu de l'accent des noirs du sud)




OLE ZIP COON

G.W. Dixon - ca. 1835
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts


(3x) O ole Zip Coon he is a larned skoler,
Sings posum up a gum tree an conny in a holler.
(3x) Posum up a gum tree, coonny on a stump,
Den over dubble trubble, Zip coon will jump.

Chorus:
O Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day.
O Zip a duden duden duden duden duden day.
O Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day.
Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day.

O ist old Suky blue skin, she is in lub wid me
I went the udder arter noon to take a dish ob tea;
What do you tink now, Suky hab for supper,
Why chicken foot an posum heel, widout any butter.

Chorus:

Did you eber see the wild goose, sailing on de ocean,
O de wild goose motion is a berry pretty notion;
Ebry time de wild goose, beckens to de swaller,
You hear him google google google google gollar.

Chorus:

I went down to Sandy Hollar t other arternoon
And the first man I chanced to meet war ole Zip Coon;
Ole Zip Coon he is a natty scholar,
For he plays upon de Banjo “Cooney in de hollar”.

Chorus:

My old Missus she’s mad wid me,
Kase I would’nt go wid her into Tennessee
Massa build him barn and put in de fodder
Twas dis ting and dat ting one ting or odder.

Chorus:

I pose you heard ob de battle New Orleans,
Whar ole Gineral Jackson gib de British beans;
Dare de Yankee boys do de job so slick, creek.
For dey cotch old Packenham an rowed him up de first.

Chorus:

I hab many tings to tork about, but dont know wich come
So here de toast to old Zip Coon before he gin to rust;
May he hab de pretty girls, like de King ob ole,
To sing dis song so many times, ’fore he turn to mole.

Chorus:

Dans le même genre



"These themes formed a staple in minstrel show depictions of African Americans, as the example below suggests. White people delighted in seeing African Americans as razor and gun-toting criminals who loved to drink and spend money in showy ways.

The lyrics to this song describe the figure on the left as he "drawed a razor from down his back; I aimed that gun an he gin' to squawk. Another example, from I Don't Allow No Coon to Hurt My Feelings:

I'm going to knock that coon's teeth out and stop him from his talk;
i'll shoot him in the feet and I guess that'll hold his walk
I've cleaned my revolver, honed my razor for the fight
I intend to give some nearbye undertaker work tonight"
une chanson de 1885

une autre explication que je viens de trouver : les rasoirs étaient utilisés pour "éplucher" (à l'instar des gitans avec les hérissons) les oppossums, dont les noirs semblaient friants (ou c'ètait la seule viande à disposition de leur bourse)



    Carve Dat Possum

   Cover of Carve Dat Possum De possum meat am good to eat,
   Carve him to de heart;
   You'll always find him good and sweet,
   Carve him to de heart;
   My dog did bark, and I went to see,
   Carve him to de heart;
   And dar was a possum up dat tree,
   Carve him to de heart.

   Carve dat possum, carve dat possum, children,
   Carve dat possum, carve him to de heart;
   Oh, carve dat possum, carve dat possum, children,
   Carve dat possum, carve him to de heart.

   I reached up for to pull him in,
   Carve him to de heart;
   De possum he begun to grin,
   Carve him to de heart;
   I carried him home and dressed him off,
   Carve him to de heart;
   I hung him dat night in de frost,
   Carve him to de heart.

   De way to cook de possum sound,
   Carve him to de heart;
   Fust parbile him, den bake him brown,
   Carve him to de heart;
   Lay sweet potatoes in de pan,
   Carve him to de heart;
   De sweetest eatin' in de lan',
   Carve him to de heart.

une version qui bouge un peu plus



et une autre que j'aime bien

Pour en revenir à la question initiale, n'y a-t-il pas eu en Grande-Bretagne des collectes de "vieux métaux" pour faire des armes et des avions durant la 2GM ? Comme les anglais sont très patriotes, les rasoirs des ancêtres ont du y passer.

Il reste beaucoup de cc en angleterre, mais les grosses lames etaient specifiquement produites pour le marche amercain, friants de ces grosses lames, vulgaires aux yeux des anglais.