Circus Poster, Forepaugh & Sells Brothers Present a "Magnificent Collection of Splendid Living Specimens of the Bears of the World," 1898

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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

1898

Subject Date

1898

Creator Notes

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

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

35.784.222

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

Circus poster printed at top: FOREPAUGH & SELLS BROTHERS / GREAT SHOWS / CONSOLIDATED Printed at bottom: MAGNIFICENT COLLECTION OF SPLENDID LIVING SPECIMENS OF THE BEARS OF THE WORLD, INCLUDING SNOW WHITE BEARS / FROM THE ICE FIELDS OF THE POLAR SEAS, SUN, POONAH AND ANT BEARS FROM THE JUNGLES OF ASIA AND THE INTERIOR / OF SOUTH AMERICA, GRIZZLY BEARS FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF AMERICA, AND MONSTER BROWN BEARS FROM SIBERIA RUSSIA. NO OTHER PRIVATE OF PUBLIC COLLECTION EMBRACES SUCH A VALUABLE VARIETY OF BEARS INCLUDING AN ANT EATER.
Circus Poster, Forepaugh & Sells Brothers Present a "Magnificent Collection of Splendid Living Specimens of the Bears of the World," 1898