Thread by @RzstProgramming

A 1930’s NBC radio print ad illustrated by Dr. Seuss shows a brutal, racist carnival game of "Hit the N*gger Baby” to sell advertising time.

The racist carnival game was also called “African Dodger,” and “Hit the Coon” according to the Jim Crow museum. Those who hit the “dodger” could win a cigar or other prize.
📲: ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jim…

“African Dodger” baseballs (like the one depicted in the Dr. Seuss ad) were used and resulted in severe injuries.

NBC radio and Dr. Seuss believed the popular “African dodger” carnival game would be a comedic way to appeal to sell radio spots to advertisers in Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, San Francisco, and DC.

This carnival game of throwing baseballs at the faces of Black people was so popular in America that “African Dodger” children’s toys were made so parents could buy them for their kids to play at home.

Close up of the children’s “African Dodger” toy replicating the brutal carnival attraction.

The African Dodger carnival game appeared in cartoons including Disney.

Superman, Batman, and Robin replaced the African Dodger with axis leaders on this comic book cover.

African Dodger in a Popeye the Sailor man cartoon.

The game “African Dodger” morphed into dunk tanks called “African Drip.”

The contestants were still white and the targets were still Black.

Another form became “hit the dolls.”

State Fair of Texas 1946 & 1965.

Nov. 1910 Popular Mechanics article says “African Dodger” started to become “too old and common place,” so the Chicago amusement park installed a double dunk tank named “Drop the Chocolate Drop.”

In 1911, MLB Hall of Fame player Ty Cobb, a fan of the brutal “African Dodger” carnival game, struck a Black victim multiple times with a baseball, drawing a crowd. A Washington Times sports columnist was “amused.”