Color lithograph print titled "P. T. Barnum's New and Greatest Show on Earth coming by Four Special Trains," showing from an elevated view a scene of three trains curving around a body of water. The side panels of the train cars are painted with a variety of animals, including lions, rhinos, hippos, elephants, zebras and camels. This scene illustrates one of Barnum's successful promotional techniques, using the trains themselves as billboards. Two of the trains are headed towards a distant field of seven circus tents, and one train is headed toward the viewer. That locomotive has a sign on its side showing the date 1876. In the far distance, two towns with smoke stacks are visible, with mountains beyond. In the foreground, enthusiastic crowds are gathered alongside the train cars, excitedly waving hats. There are two wagons per flat car, and each flat car bears a sign reading "P. T. Barnum's Gondola" and underneath, a placard stating "La Mothe Mfg. Co., patented 1875." This print was produced sometime between 1875 and 1876 by H. A. Thomas & Co. lith.[lithographers], 29 Warren St., New York. Barnum had been involved in his circus enterprises for only about five years at this time; the use of the phrase "Greatest Show on Earth" in the title of this print predates the better known "Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth" by a dozen years. P. T. Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum & London. America's new and ever-growing railroad system propelled the circus to success, making it possible to add destinations and reach distant locations, as well as transport many more circus wagons, animals, equipment, tent canvas, performers and support staff. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling Brothers bought Barnum & Bailey and operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. That circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
