Circus Poster, Sells Brothers Circus Presents "The Wonderful Silbons, Greatest Aerial Artists on Earth," circa 1892

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Artifact Overview

In the late nineteenth century, printers developed a lithograph method that produced brightly colored posters. In advance of a circus coming to town, general agents glued these eye-catching generic posters to building walls, fences, and in window displays. To announce when and where the performances would happen, local printers sometimes provided letterpress paper date strips to paste onto the posters' lower margin.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Poster

Date Made

circa 1892

Subject Date

circa 1892

Creator Notes

Printed by Strobridge & Co. Lith., Cincinnati, Ohio.

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

35.784.244

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Strobridge Lithographing Co.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Lithography

Color

Multicolored

Dimensions

Height: 40.25 in
Width: 30.25 in

Inscriptions

Printed at top: JUST RETURNED FROM AUSTRALIA / SELLS /BROTHERS Printed at bottom: THE WONDERFUL SILBONS, GREATEST AERIAL ARTISTS ON EARTH, / Who After A Tour of South and Central America, China, Japan and Australia Return to American With The / Greatest and Largest Show in the World. Walter Silbon, The Meteoric Marvel in Mid-Air Over Forty Feet, Alighting in His Brothers Hands. Inscribed at lower left: THE STROBRIDGE Lith-Co. Cin'ti-NY-Lon. Printed on upper right of image: 30