Promotional newspaper titled "Advance Courier of PT Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, & the Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and Grand International Allied Shows At New Haven, [Connecticut], Wednesday, May 18th.” The 16-page newsprint publication was printed for the 1881 circus season with a blank space along the bottom edge where the various venues and dates could be added in. The elaborately designed black and white cover features portraits of Barnum, Bailey, and Hutchinson, ringed by numerous embellishments. Barnum is featured in the center, above the others, in a larger oval. Ribbon banners promote the partners' $3,000,000 investment, and the daily expense of $4500, and proclaim the four combined shows to be the best. Inside, the courier contains dense text promoting all of the acts and wonders presented at the circus. Illustrations include Chang the "Chinese Giant" towering over a crowd while holding a normal-sized person in one hand and a pocket watch in the other; elephants against a backdrop of Southeast Asian inspired buildings; Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb) and M. Lavinia Warren meeting Queen Victoria; a giant steer; a giant horse; twenty "educated" stallions performing tricks in a circus ring; racing camels; a cage of large snakes; two giant black camels; Madame Dockrill and her horses; chariots; several elephants performing tricks while acrobats leap and tumble over them; a giant rhinoceros in the process of being captured; a giraffe in a harness; and Miss Emma Lake on the back of a rearing horse. The back cover also features Chang, along with illustrations of a steer, a horse, sea lion, camels, a rhinoceros, and an ostrich, also all billed as "giant." Barnum is best known for his involvement with the circus that bore his name, but his circus ventures came about when he was in his 60s. The first show was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Railroads propelled the circus to success, making it easier to reach a number of locations, and the intake was significant. Barnum then opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, he encountered competition from other circuses. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the Barnum and London Circus. Negotiations in 1887 formed the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. purchased Barnum & Bailey following Bailey's death in 1906 and operated the two circuses separately until 1919. The two were combined to become Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. The last performance was on May 21, 2017.
