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Head from a Ball Toss Game
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Props like this carved head were used until the 1930s at Coney Island's Steeplechase Park for a game known as "African Dodger." Originally, players threw balls at a black man and were rewarded for direct hits. Wooden heads eventually replaced live targets.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionCredit lineHead from a Ball Toss Game. after 1878. C. W. F. Dare Company, active New York City ca. 1870-ca. 1879. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson. CC0.
