|
“Hold your horses! Here come the elephants!” was a cry
heard down the main streets of American towns during the Golden Age of the
American circus. Children lined the streets as huge, gaily painted wagons
rolled by carrying ferocious lions. Ponderous pachyderms followed men and
women in glittering costumes. All marched to the toot-toot of the blaring
calliope pulled by a team of 40 horses. Through the early part of the 20th
Century, hundreds of circuses toured the United States, ahead of which
advance men pasted posters, which now are highly collectible.
What better way to relive the nostalgia of those bygone shows than to
collect bright, and often artistic, circus posters. Circuses played on the
fantasies of the common man. Posters advertised stupendous acts with words
like electrifying, d’equitation, noble, liliputian, amazon, kings and
queens. P.T. Barnum, always the master showman, knew that the circus
brought joy into the humdrum, and often sad lives of its patrons. And
circus posters reflected that in their bright, colorful illustrations and
myriad of type styles.
 The American circus has
left a legacy of collectibles–sequin-bedecked acrobatic costumes, floppy
clown hats, and paper items of all kinds. But it’s the latter, especially
posters, that have become the hottest items sought by collectors. Referred
to as bills, slang for “handbills,” they became an important element in
the success of any circus early on.
Advertising a circus was a challenge before radio, T.V. and the Internet.
To be successful, a circus owner had to market his show–which often ran
for only one day–from scratch just about every week. To stay ahead of the
competition from competing shows, an owner had to create a brand name (his
circus’ title) that would be so recognizable as to generate repeat patrons
for his circus. In addition, he had to advertise the features of his show
to set it apart from others. And, finally, he had to display the date of
the show prominently so patrons could plan to attend.
Poster Production
Early 19th-century printers used mahogany wood blocks to create woodcuts
or wood engravings for illustrations. Because these blocks were expensive
and hard to obtain, printers used them over and over again for different
show posters. Many early posters, printed on bright white, medium- weight
rag paper with oil-based inks, included the name of the show, with a date
added later by the circus’ advance crew.
The invention of the lithographic printing process in the 1840s
drastically changed poster production. Using this process, printers
applied a design using a greasy crayon or liquid onto a 28 x 42-inch block
of limestone. Then they would roll oil-based ink on to the stone which
would adhere to the greasy drawing or painting and run it through a press
to transfer the image onto dampened paper. Though sparingly used when it
appeared, it had become an indispensable tool for printers by the 1880s.
Printers enlisted the services of the finest artists to design circus
posters. However, few signed their work. While some specialized in
particular subjects, most worked in teams to create the posters in a more
or less assembly line process. Therefore, posters became known by the
companies that printed them and not by the artists who created them.
Just as in other industries, some printers supplied stock poster designs
featuring acrobats, clowns, elephants and other wild animals to printers
who then added the show title and date. Available through catalogs, these
cost less than specially designed editions.
Circus posters can be identified by their creases since all needed to be
folded for storage and shipment, and each show printer folded his posters
in a slightly different way. But they can also be dated by looking for
date sheets–smaller papers pasted onto posters indicating the day and date
of the show and only good for one day and town–as well as date tags, small
strips pasted along the bottoms of pictorial one and half-sheet posters by
advance billing crews.
The Market for Circus Posters
Generally speaking, circus posters can sell anywhere from $30 to $375.
With such a broad range, collectors must take the specific circus, date,
and condition into consideration. At the low end might be a mint (never
hung) Famous Cole 3 Ring Circus poster with black type on 44" x 28" yellow
stock, with show name and motto in type as much as 10 inches high for $30.
At the high end might be a rare Cole Bros. Circus 22½” x 42½” poster from
the Erie Litho. & Ptg Co., Erie PA., with the title, “Cole Bros. Circus
Presents Quarter- Million Pound Act of Performing Elephants–The Most
Colossal Train Animals Display Ever Presented” for $375 (Antique Carta,
Richardson, TX)
Circus placards sell for $25 to $60. For $25, a collector might find a
very good Shill Bros. Trained Animal Circus 14"x22" poster with red type
on a white card, with a date but no town. This was a "Here" poster, often
used by smaller “mud” or overland traveling shows with a one-man advance
who booked and placed advertising the same day. At the high end might be a
weathered Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. Circus four-color, 14"x22" poster
by the Acme Show Print Co., featuring a face-painted clown entering the
big top, from Wooster, Ohio with date for $60. All of the above items,
except where noted, are listed in the catalog of the Little Journeys
Bookshop, Mansfield, OH.
The circus is still a vital part of American culture, however, much of the
advertising is now handled by the media through T.V. and radio ads. The
days of bills plastered on the sides of buildings are long gone. |