Handbill: P.T. Barnum's and the London Circus [...] for Bath, Maine, June 15, 1881

Handbill for P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth and the Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and Grand International Allied Shows performing in Bath, Maine, on June 15, 1881. On one side, the handbill promotes colossal pavilions, three performances a day, and an avalanche of sensations, as well as a free street parade that includes 3 miles of glitter, gleam and gold. At the top of the advertisement are portraits of J.A. Bailey, P.T. Barnum, and J. L. Hutchins in ovals, and elaborate detailing around them. On the bottom third of the advertisement is a procession of elephants with elaborate costumes in a style meant to recall fantasized versions of India, which continues into the background of the illustration with the various domed buildings. The other side of the handbill advertises the various wonders of the circus. This includes Chang the Chinese Giant; giant animals that include a steer, a horse, giraffes, a sea lion named dick, a rhinoceros, and a giant ostrich; General Tom Thumb and Wife (Charles S. Stratton and M. Lavinia Warren); 20 elephants; and a gratuitous street procession. An extremely large illustration of Charles S. Stratton and M. Lavinia Warren dominate the top of the advertisement, where they are billed as General and Mrs. Tom Thumb. Charles and M. Lavinia are shown bowing in front of Queen Victoria and her court, while another man, likely P.T. Barnum himself, also bows. 1881 was well after Stratton and Warren had met Queen Victoria, but the image invokes them at an earlier point in their careers. Other illustrations include that of a giant horse towering over another horse and an entire crowd, a circus crowd watching a man try to control a giraffe who has been harnessed and given a bridle, six horses standing on their hind legs in front of their trainer, and a row of elephants standing still while acrobats vault over them. 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 and Bailey circus. The name remained until 1919 when it became the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It came to an end in May 2017 when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus ceased performances after 146 years.