Poster: "Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth"
1897 (Date manufactured/created)
Color poster advertising "Barnum and Bailey['s] Greatest Show on Earth", featuring the portraits of P. T. Barnum and James A. Bailey, who were business partners in the circus enterprise of that name. Their partnership began in 1887. This poster was created in 1897, six years after P. T. Barnum's death, but his name and image were so well-known that they were essential part of the advertising and promotion. The image of Barnum shows him as an older man with white, curly hair, a receding hairline, and deepset eyes. Bailey, who was 37 years his junior, is shown in profile, with brown hair and a full beard.
The text appears on bright red banners in the upper left and lower right quarters of the poster, while the portraits in oval frames are in the opposite corners. The deep blue background, which comprises only a small area of the poster, has a red, bright blue, and yellow border. The 40-inch x 32-inch poster was produced by the Strobridge Lithographing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.
P. T. Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum & London. America's new and ever-growing railroad system propelled the circus to success, making it possible to add destinations and reach distant locations, as well as transport many more circus wagons, animals, equipment, tent canvas, performers and support staff. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling Brothers bought Barnum & Bailey and operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. That circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
The text appears on bright red banners in the upper left and lower right quarters of the poster, while the portraits in oval frames are in the opposite corners. The deep blue background, which comprises only a small area of the poster, has a red, bright blue, and yellow border. The 40-inch x 32-inch poster was produced by the Strobridge Lithographing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.
P. T. Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum & London. America's new and ever-growing railroad system propelled the circus to success, making it possible to add destinations and reach distant locations, as well as transport many more circus wagons, animals, equipment, tent canvas, performers and support staff. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling Brothers bought Barnum & Bailey and operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. That circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
1990.037.001