Thomas Dilward

Thomas Dilward (1840–1902), also known by the stage name Japanese Tommy, was an African-American dwarf who performed in the blackface minstrel show. He was also sometimes billed as "The African 'Tom Thumb'" and the "African Dwarf Tommy".

Dilwared is one of only two known Blacks to have performed with white minstrel companies before the American Civil War (the other being William Henry Lane). Dilward's size, between 23 and 36 inches in height, made him a "curious attraction" and allowed him to take to the stage with whites at a time when almost no black men did; in addition, his stage name may have been intended to hide his ethnic background. He was famous for his skills at singing, dancing, and playing the violin. He has also been credited in John Russell Bartlett’s 1877 Dictionary of Americanisms with having invented the word hunky-dory, meaning "everything is all right".

Dilward was born in Brooklyn, New York. He first performed with George Christy in 1853, possibly as a response to General Tom Thumb, a dwarf appearing in productions staged by P. T. Barnum. Into the late 1860s, Dilward performed with Dan Bryant's Minstrels, Wood's Minstrels, the Morris Brothers' Minstrels, and Kelly and Leon's Minstrels. Beginning in the 1860s, he appeared with a number of black minstrel troupes.

Modern writers, such as Mel Watkins, cite Dilward as possibly being one of the first black entertainers to present some element of authentic black dance on the white American stage. He would also have had opportunity to present some degree of black comedy and song, but he probably did not stray far from the traditional, white-defined material.

Dilward was around three feet tall. He quickly developed talents to entertain people because this was the most promising plan to support himself. He could sing, dance, act, and play violin. Dilward went on to perform in blackface minstrelsy, which was considered a low form of entertainment, even in the mid-19th century. Most of these shows featured white people using “blackface” to imitate African-Americans and consisted of comic skits, dancing, and music, but for most of the time relied on humor was at the expense of African Americans. Frederick Douglas, who was a contemporary social reformer, said of these minstrel shows that they comprised “filthy scum of white society, who have stolen from us a complexion denied to them by nature, in which to make money and pander to the corrupt taste of their fellow citizens.”(Kuntz).

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