In the middle of the 19th century American minstrels raised funds for individual players by holding benefits. The practice was widespread, with informal features that typified these special, dedicated performances: they were public, usually advertised in the newspapers; they appeared to arise spontaneously, and were not the contrivance of the player, him or herself; and they were often accompanied by a public exchange of correspondence that was then included in an advertisement for the benefit. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The written record of the benefit puffery is a fragment of the public face of minstrelsy. \u00a0But occasionally there were other opportunities to direct a public missive to a reading audience. \u00a0<\/p>","credits":"Eric Metcalf","featured":0,"public":1,"theme":"","theme_options":null,"slug":"cotton-letters","added":"2016-03-11 19:08:35","modified":"2016-08-26 02:51:13","owner_id":1,"use_summary_page":1,"cover_image_file_id":null},"item":{"id":1429,"item_type_id":1,"collection_id":null,"featured":0,"public":1,"added":"2016-08-26 02:43:53","modified":"2016-09-25 19:12:02","owner_id":1}}