Photograph: "Lady Artists, Barnum & London Show, 1881"
Photograph
1881 (Date manufactured/created)
This photograph, entitled "Lady Artists, Barnum and London Show, 1881" features seven women in Victorian era clothing, separated into two rows. The back row has four women, the front has three. Each of the three women in the front holds a handbag or umbrella, and the four in the back either rest their hands on the women in front of them or hold one of their own hands with the other. Each woman has a hat on, and none of them look directly at the camera. They have on skirts, and primarily darker color clothing.
During the time that this photograph was produced, there was a great deal of controversy about women being a part of the circus. Show costumes were more revealing than the clothing most women at the time wore, and so showing the circus performers in more ordinary, respectable clothing was a way to respond to critique of the performers.
Create by Jones, Fort Wayne.
During the time that this photograph was produced, there was a great deal of controversy about women being a part of the circus. Show costumes were more revealing than the clothing most women at the time wore, and so showing the circus performers in more ordinary, respectable clothing was a way to respond to critique of the performers.
Create by Jones, Fort Wayne.
EL 1988.196.001