Outer cover of the sheet music for Why did yer slope wide de yaller man, Susie? written by J.P.Harrington, composed by George Le Brunn and sung by Tom Birchmore of 'The Moore & Burgess Minstrels'. This was an important minstrel troupe, established at St. James' Hall, Piccadilly in 1865, which later amalgamated with the 'Mohawk Minstrels', their final performance being June 16th 1900.

The back sheet is printed with a list of Francis, Day & Hunter's 'Newest Comic Songs', its inner cover is printed with the lyrics for the song and music and words for the first verse and chorus.

Half of the front sheet is painted with a pale grey wash. In the bottom left hand corner is the sketch of an elderly gentleman, his mouth downcast, raises a spiked staff as if threatening to strike. At its centre is an illustration on a pale peach background. This consists of a head and shoulders illustration of a man in a white shirt, brown waistcoat and red spotted neckerchief. The man's makeup is characteristic of that associated with a form of entertainment known as 'Blackface minstrelsy'. The minstrel performance tradition originated in the United States around 1830 and featured theatrical makeup which was based on racist stereotypes of African Americans. White performers (and sometimes black) used burnt cork, greasepaint or shoe polish to blacken their skin and exaggerate their lips. The look was completed with 'woolly' wigs, gloves, tailcoats and/or ragged clothes. Blackface was a performance tradition in American theatre for over 100 years and was also popular overseas. Stereotypes embodied in the stock characters of blackface minstrelsy played a significant role in cementing and proliferating racist attitudes.