Lawn jockey

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The "Jocko" style hitching post

A lawn jockey is a small statue of 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 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 (suitable for hitching a horse in the case of solid concrete or iron versions) and, in some cases, a lantern, which may or may not be operational.

Originally a welcoming symbol to guests and providing to those on horseback a practical and novel hitching post, later statues eventually became only decorative and not well suited for hitching a horse, often favored by those wishing to evoke an Old South or equestrian ambiance.

Historically, black jockeys were commonplace. Several styles have been produced, with the most prolific being a shorter version commonly known as "Jocko" and a taller version known as "cavalier spirit". The former is of stockier build, with a hunched posture; the latter generally is more slender. Typically these statues are made of concrete, but also are made of other materials such as iron, and may be found in polyresin and aluminum. Despite often being categorized as kitsch or racist, lawn jockeys are still in demand.^{[citation needed]} Both styles are still manufactured and sold.

Characteristics[]

Jocko[]

The earlier "Jocko" design usually depicts the "right arm" raised, and was styled as a racist caricature of a young black boy, often with exaggerated features, such as big eyes with the whites painted in; large lips painted red; a large, flat nose and curly hair. Typically, these pieces were painted in gaudy colors for the uniform as with racing colors, with the flesh of the statue a gloss black. As of the 20th century, these statues have been considered racist, and many remaining samples have now been repainted, using pink paint for the skin while the original sculpture's exaggerated features remain.

Cavalier spirit[]

The "cavalier spirit" style hitching post

Lawn jockey in front of a historic home in Galveston

The "cavalier spirit" design usually depicts the "left arm" raised and uses the likeness of a Caucasian young man, erasing the racist caricature features. These statues would also be painted in stark colors, with skin in either gloss black or pastel pink, red lips, etc., white breeches, black boots, and usually with the vest and cap of either bright red or dark green. Occasionally, the vest and cap might be painted in the bright shades of a jockey's racing silks. Several of the "cavalier spirit" jockey statues are prominently displayed at both the entrance of the 21 Club in Manhattan and the entrance of the Santa Anita Park clubhouse in Los Angeles.

A 1947 magazine advertisement uses two images of cavalier-style lawn jockeys to underscore the statue's use as a symbol of hospitality and the hospitality associated with Old Taylor Kentucky Bourbon, stating: "Jockey hitching posts that invited guests to tarry are an old Kentucky tradition – another sign of a good host."^[1]

Background[]

Underground Railroad communication tool[]

Charles L. Blockson, Curator Emeritus of the Afro-American Collection at Temple University in Philadelphia and author of "Hippocrene Guide to the Underground Railroad", claims the figures were used in the days of the Underground Railroad to guide escaping slaves to freedom: "Green ribbons were tied to the arms of the statue to indicate safety; red ribbons meant to keep going ... People who don't know the history of the jockey have feelings of humiliation and anger when they see the statue ...".^[2]

Patterns of and markings on the clothing of the statues also are said to have indicated messages understood by fleeing slaves.^{[citation needed]}

These claims have been disputed in Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints and Voices.^[3] The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia also notes that "there is very little, if any, primary source material for the claim that lawn jockeys were used as signaling devices for escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad."^[4]

Revolutionary War origin legend[]

An apocryphal and never substantiated account of the figure's origin portrays the statue as representing a hero of African American history and culture. According to the River Road African American Museum, the figure originated in commemoration of heroic dedication to duty: "It is said that the 'lawn jockey' has its roots in the tale of one Jocko Graves, an African-American youth who served with General George Washington at the time that he crossed the Delaware to carry out his surprise attack on Hessian forces at Trenton, NJ. The General thought him too young to take along on such a dangerous attack, so he left him on the Pennsylvania side to tend to the horses and to keep a light on the bank for their return. So the story goes, the boy, faithful to his post and his orders, froze to death on the river bank during the night, the lantern still in his hand. The General was so much moved by the boy's devotion to his duty that he had a statue sculpted and cast of him, holding the lantern, and had it installed at his Mount Vernon estate. He called the sculpture "The Faithful Groomsman"."

The most frequently cited source for the story is in "Mammy and Uncle Mose" (Indiana University Press, 1994), though he regards it as apocryphal. The story was told as well in a 32-page children's book by Sr., "Jocko: A Legend of the American Revolution" (1963). There is also a 13-page typescript titled "A Horse for the General: The Story of Jocko Graves" (1972), by Thomas William Halligan, in the archives of the University of Alaska Anchorage / Alaska Pacific University Consortium Library.^[5]

The Revolutionary War legend is not corroborated by historical records. Mount Vernon's librarian Ellen McCallister Clark wrote in a letter to Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library: "No record of anybody by the name of Jocko Graves, nor any account of somebody freezing to death holding Washington's horses, exists in the extensive historical record of the time."

In popular culture[]

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The entrance of the 21 Club in Manhattan uses 33 white jockeys to welcome its patrons

• Raymond Chandler's third Philip Marlowe 1942 novel "The High Window" features a lawn jockey decorating the Pasadena home of Marlowe's clients, the wealthy but dysfunctional Murdock family. Marlowe sardonically speaks to the statue several times, regarding it as the family's stablest member.
• A black lawn jockey plays a symbolic role (as well as providing the story's title, in the protagonist's southern vernacular) in Flannery O'Connor 's 1955 short story "The Artificial Nigger".
• A lawn jockey comes to life in the climactic chapters of Stephen King's 2008 novel Duma Key.^[6]
• The Negro (Le nèg'), a 2002 film by Québécois director Robert Morin, about a black adolescent who resents lawn jockeys as racist and destroys one, resulting in his murder.^[7]
• 33 lawn jockeys donated long ago by wealthy patrons adorn the balcony above the entrance of the 21 Club in Manhattan. They are painted to resemble famous jockeys.^[8]
• The first edition jacket of the 2016 Man Booker Prize winner "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty, a satirical novel about race, features a pattern of lawn jockeys.^[9]
• A lawn jockey and images of lawn jockeys appear in several episodes of "Dear White People". The head of the campus humor magazine tries to argue that they are not racially insensitive because he read on Wikipedia that they were used to help fleeing slaves.
• Theft of a lawn jockey named Eddie "Rochester" Anderson is the main driving action for the 2003 Comedy Central made for TV movie Knee High P.I.
• Lawn jockeys are featured in season 2, episode 1 of the IFC documentary parody show “Documentary Now!” Bill Hader ‘s character, in a parody of “The War Room,” called, “The Bunker,” places lawn jockeys in the yards of citizens who possess campaign signs for the “enemy” in an attempt to defame their campaign.

Photos[]

• 

  Example bearing a lantern in Guyton, Georgia

• 

  Example bearing a lantern in Perry, Georgia

• 

  In Darien, Georgia

See also[]

• Blackamoor
• Concrete Aboriginal
• Garden gnome
• Representation of African Americans in media
• Stereotypes of African Americans

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lawn jockeys.

• Signals of the Underground Railroad
• Article debunking story of lawn jockeys
• Newspaper article about the children's book author who wrote about the origin of lawn jockeys
• The Secret Life of the Black Lawn Jockey