The Black Maid
(Mammy Two Shoes)

While Tom and Jerry developed quite rapidly, changing even the way they looked, Mammy Two Shoes kept the same accent and drawl and, for most of the time, the same clothes (slipped, flower-printed bathrobe, stockings with reinforced and darned heels).  She often called Tom "You no-good cat", and exclaimed:  "Thomas, if you're a mouse catcher, then I'm Lana Turner, which I'm not!"  Mammy Two Shoes made a wonderful foil for the devilish couple, appealing to Tom when Jerry frightened her to threatening to put Tom out if he continued to empty the refrigerator or sack the house.
The face of Mammy Two Shoes was deliberately hidden.  We usually saw only the lower half of her body; the black maid's chin appeared once, as an exception, in "Part Time Pal", and the film's last shot showed Mammy Two Shoes far in the distance, pursuing Tom without our being able to see her feature clearly.
Fred Quimby explained this in an article published in a 1951 edition of The Hollywood Reporter

"A young lady, after seeing a Tom and Jerry cartoon, inquired about the maid's face, which is never shown. To quote her (and we have it in writing lest there be any doubters among you):  'It gave me the impression that the operators in the booth must be having some sort of party, since every time the maid came on the screen, the only thing I could see was her feet.  My curiosity is killing me.  Before I go stark, raving mad, please tell me what she looks like.'  In this instance, we had an artist draw a special head of the maid to accompany the reply.  We also explained that since Tom and Jerry were the stars of the pictures, we did not wish to do anything that might distract attention from them."

The United States was increasingly torn by racial problems and -- in 1954 -- the Supreme Court declared racial segregation unconstitutional.  Hollywood had long been denouncing racism and antisemitism, and the Mammy Two Shoes character now became embarrassing.  In order to reuse the cartoons in which she appeared, MGM decided to make the black maid, dear to the first Tom and Jerry films, into an Irish maid, whose drawl was replaced by a new voice.  The cartoons were them freshly dubbed by June Foray, and the arms and black legs of Mammy Two Shoes were changed to white.  Finally, after twelve years of faithful service, the character of Mammy Two Shoes was discontinued in "Push-Button Kitty".

Episodes The Black Maid Starred In

1940
1941
1942


1943
1945
1947
1948

1949

1950

1951
1952
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 "Puss Gets the Boot"
"The Midnight Snack"
"Fraidy Cat"
"Dog Trouble"
"Puss 'n' Toots"
"The Lonesome Mouse"
"The Mouse Comes to Dinner"
"A Mouse in the House"
"Old Rockin' Chair Tom"
"Mouse Cleaning"
"Polka-Dot Puss"
"The Little Orphan"
"Saturday Evening Puss"
"Sleepy-Time Tom"
"Triplet Trouble"
"Push-Button Kitty"