# Those coachman statues **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410 "2010-02-10T10:39:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/21 "2011-07-31T17:00:56Z")
There was a Jewish family in my hometown growing up that had one that (I’m sure) came with their house. Every year at Christmas, they would dress him up as Santa Claus and have him holding the reins to a herd of [del]reindeer[/del] pink flamingos! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/22 "2011-07-31T17:11:25Z")
my grandparents cottage had one. The place was built back before 1920, so it was a classic negro jockey. As I vaguely remember it tended to get painted with the silks of whomever won that year at Belmont. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/23 "2011-07-31T17:45:00Z")
There’s a lawnjockey on our block and he’s black, and it’s at the house of the only black boy on the block. Well, his Mom’s white and his Dad’s black… so he’s just as white as he is black, but I guess if they call Obama the first black president, I suppose it’s not a misnomer. Don’t know what the story is behind the lawn jockey there, but it interested me the first time I saw it. I was curious- was it embracing black culture, irony, or something? Seems like a sense of humor, or something? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/24 "2011-08-02T01:27:15Z")
You can typically find many lawn jockey examples at the seasonal traveling antique shows in this area. I’ve only seen the black version at these events. I loudly pointed them out to my mother the first time I encountered them (“CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY’RE SELLING THOSE???”), and was glared at by the booth operator. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/25 "2011-08-02T02:10:59Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I could not BELIEVE that up in Pittsburgh it’s still socially acceptable to have a lawn jockey. I saw SEVERAL still in blackface! The first one I saw I just pointed out the car window and gibbered at my mom - I’d lost my English. Seriously, if you had one of those on your lawn down here your house would be set on fire. And you’d deserve it. Do you know the history of the lawn jockey or their role in the underground railroad? If you did, you wouldn’t have a pc knee jerk reaction when you see one. > **[Lawn jockey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_jockey)** > > A lawn jockey is a statue depicting a man in jockey clothes, intended to be placed in front yards as hitching posts, similar to those of footmen bearing lanterns near entrances and gnomes in gardens. The lawn ornament, popular in certain parts of the United States and Canada in years past, was a cast replica, usually about half-scale or smaller, generally of a man dressed in jockey's clothing and holding up one hand as though taking the reins of a horse. The hand sometimes carries a metal ring Or... ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/26 "2011-08-02T02:58:18Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > You can typically find many lawn jockey examples at the seasonal traveling antique shows in this area. I’ve only seen the black version at these events. I loudly pointed them out to my mother the first time I encountered them (“CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY’RE SELLING THOSE???”), and was glared at by the booth operator. They’re actually not outrageous to sell as a piece of Black Americana. A lot of African-Americans collect stuff like the lawn jockeys or Aunt Jemima figurines. If you saw them at an antique show, they weren’t being sold for exploitation purposes, but for collectible/heritage purposes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/27 "2011-08-02T03:17:51Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > Do you know the history of the lawn jockey or their role in the underground railroad? > > If you did, you wouldn’t have a pc knee jerk reaction when you see one. > > [Lawn jockey - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_jockey) 1.) The Underground Railway story falls into that class of Things Too Cute To Be Likely to Be True. My suspicion was instantly raised. 2.) Did you even read the article you cite? > [@](#): > > Moreover, stories about the Underground Railroad using lawn jockeys as signals are rendered suspect by the fact that red and green as signal colors meaning “stop” and “go” (or “danger” and “safe”) were standardized by railway signals during the World War I era. [3] 3.) Wikipedia also lnks to this skeptical article: > **[lawn jockey - Everything2.com](https://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1731660)** > > The story of Sambo|Jocko is touching, but several inconsistent|problems with the story make it likely that the legend of the lawn jockey is just that: a... In short, I think the “pc knee-jerk reaction” is justified. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/28 "2011-08-02T06:06:33Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > My ex-husband had one given to him by a friend as some kind of joke. It sat in our living room for about a year, until one day I accidentally smashed it with a hammer. I mean, vacuum cleaner! Accidentally smashed it with the vacuum cleaner! Nottafinga! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/29 "2011-08-02T12:25:57Z")
I remember driving down to Clarkton, NC from Raleigh growing up. On Highway 50 between Smithfield and Benson it seemed like every single house had a lawn jockey. My father theorized that some lawn jockey salesman had retired to Aruba recently. I wonder if they’re still there. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/30 "2011-08-02T12:42:59Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > There was a Jewish family in my hometown growing up that had one that (I’m sure) came with their house. Every year at Christmas, they would dress him up as Santa Claus and have him holding the reins to a herd of [del]reindeer[/del] pink flamingos! This is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/31 "2011-08-02T12:43:29Z")
> [@Pixiesnix](#): > > Nottafinga! Exactly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/32 "2011-08-02T17:32:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 1.) The Underground Railway story falls into that class of Things Too Cute To Be Likely to Be True. My suspicion was instantly raised. > > 2.) Did you even read the article you cite? > > 3.) Wikipedia also lnks to this skeptical article: > > [lawn jockey - Everything2.com](http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1731660) > > In short, I think the “pc knee-jerk reaction” is justified. Yes, I did read the article. Many historians agree that they were used to identify safe houses and even National Geographic has referenced specific instances of lawn jockeys being used as a signals on the unerground railroad. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/33 "2011-08-02T19:40:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, I did read the article. Then it seems odd that you would use wikipedia to buttress your argument, when it explicitly says that the use of those statues as Underground Railways markers is dubious. Could you cite those historians? To me, the story seems highly improbable. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/34 "2011-08-02T20:02:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > They’re actually not outrageous to sell as a piece of Black Americana. A lot of African-Americans collect stuff like the lawn jockeys or Aunt Jemima figurines. If you saw them at an antique show, they weren’t being sold for exploitation purposes, but for collectible/heritage purposes. Heh, reminds me of a time I went antiquing in the Niagara area (lots of antique stores there) and I went to a place with many individual booths all selling specialized antiques - and one sold nothing but various types of figurines depicting Blacks. There were all sorts - some large lawn jockeys, bottles, dolls, and even a chandelier with little Black boy & girl heads on it (very expensive!). Most, but not all, were “stereotype Black”, that is, with exaggerated lips & cartoon-negroid features. To my eyes it was the most offensive collection I could imagine. I was curious, so I asked the guy tending the booth (who was Black himself) about whether he ever got any negative reactions to his collection. He told me that he generally did not and that the majority of his clients were either Black themselves, or buying for people who were Black, as novelties. Most people were simply amazed that such stuff had been popular at one point, and saw the collection as interesting relics of the past. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410/35 "2011-08-02T21:52:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Then it seems odd that you would use wikipedia to buttress your argument, when it explicitly says that the use of those statues as Underground Railways markers is dubious. > Could you cite those historians? To me, the story seems highly improbable. [http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/underground-railroad-jockey-statues.htm](http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/underground-railroad-jockey-statues.htm) “These statues were used as markers on the Underground Railroad throughout the South into Canada,” **said historian/author Charles Blockson, curator of the Afro-American Collection at Temple University in Philadelphia**." And here is a fun page on the history of faithful groomsman statues from the 1700’s on > **[History of the Lawn Jockey Statue jocko graves faithful groomsman sambo...](http://www.lawnjock.com/lawn_jockey_history.html)** > > History of the lawn jockey statue 1776 to 1913 including origins, underground railroad placement, manufacturing, invented by George Washington during the revolutionary war [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-coachman-statues/528410.md?page=1)