Poster: "Barnum's American Museum, Performance Three Times Daily, [Sun]rise till 10"

From Barnum Museum

Unknown creator, American (associated with)
Barnum's American Museum (associated with)

1864 – 1865 (Date manufactured/created)

Broadside promoting the attractions at Barnum's American Museum in New York City, as well as P. T. Barnum's successes in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Broadsides were a common format for advertising events and performances in the 1700s and early 1800s. They were typically printed in black ink (in this case there is also red lettering in the margins), and predate the colorful lithograph posters produced in the latter part of the 1800s. Lacking the bold graphic designs of most posters, this broadside was intended to be viewed at close range. This poster can be dated between 1864 and 1865 based on the attractions included among the many vignettes. Although the broadside includes some of the long ago attractions that made Barnum famous, like opera singer Jenny Lind who toured in 1850-1851, the inclusion of female Union Army spy Pauline Cushman tells us that this broadside was not printed before 1864, the year she spoke at the museum. She was one of hundreds of "newsmakers," people whom Barnum brought in short term to speak to audiences in his lecture hall.

Flanking the central image of the American Museum, a portrait of Jenny Lind appears on the left and one of P. T. Barnum on the right, with an eagle above. Included in the vignettes surrounding the museum are: Grizzly Adams and performing bears; a living Rhinoceros; the "Fairy Wedding" group featuring Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren; a living hippopotamus; Miss Hannah Crouse, the largest woman in the world with tiny Miss Reid; a group of North American Indians dancing; the automaton writer; an infant drummer; the dog show; the mammoth fat girl; Vantage Mack the giant baby; the baby show; a Tyrollean whistler; performing dogs; a double-voiced vocalist; a living white whale in the ocean; a negro turning white; a living sea horse; a learned seal [known by the name Ned]; the "What Is It?" [William Henry Johnson]; a lady with long hair; a living sea lion; Miss Major Pauline Cushman; the Circassian Family Group; the Highland fat boys; the Swiss bearded lady; shaking Quakers; tropical fish; a menagerie featuring elephants; the Living Skeleton; a Chinese family; a living sea serpent; an Eskimo family; a living orange outang, an elephant plowing; the Happy Family of prey and predators; a maskin hog; Jane Campbell the Connecticut Giantess; a living giraffe; Arabian Giant Col. Goshen and Giant Boy James Murphy with the Lilliputian King; a prismatic fountain; the Albino family; an aquarium; French Giant Mons. Josef, and Nova Scotia giantess Anna Swan; little person Gen. Grant June; a living monster python; Siamese twins Chang and Eng; the so-called cherry-colored cat; and the Irishman's Trick, the same man shown drunk and sober. (Barnum was a proponent of Temperance.) There are a few unidentified images among the vignettes. Not all the performers and exhibits are contemporaneous; for example, Jenny Lind toured with Barnum in 1850 and 1851, and the Fairy Wedding took place in 1863. Since the American Museum burned in July of 1865, it is presumed the broadside was published sometime between 1864, when Pauline Cushman was at the museum, and the first half of 1865, before the fire. Under the Living Monster Python in the lower right area, the artist's signature is tucked into the vignette: "Drawn by Edmund S. Hall."

In addition to performers and animal attractions, several places of special importance to P. T. Barnum are also depicted on the broadside. These locations include: in the upper center, a view of East Bridgeport, Connecticut, an area that Barnum developed; in the center, a view of Barnum's American Museum, and beneath it a view of the museum's lecture room; in the lower right, an image of Barnum's second Bridgeport home, Lindencroft. There were probably two or three additional views in the lower left corner where there is loss of original paper. Portions of text are visible along the sides and bottom. Along the left edge, only a few letters are discernible. At the right, a notice in red lettering arranged vertically states, "Performance three times daily." Along the lower edge, a partial announcement reads, "[Sun]rise til 10."

According to a label adhered at lower left, the broadside was found outside the Circus Winter Quarters in Bridgeport after the fire of November 20, 1887. The broadside was significantly damaged with losses around the perimeter, and was mounted on paper to help preserve it. It was donated to the Barnum Museum by Mrs. William Taylor of Norwalk, Connecticut. Drawn by Edward S. Hall. No printer is named.

Accession/ID Number T 2014.025.001

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