Handbill: "Barnum and London, Barnum Returns No More"

Handbill promoting “The Great and Ever Growing” Barnum and London, 9 United Monster Shows, to be presented at Haverhill, [Massachusetts] on Saturday, June 27, [1885]. The title also announces, “Barnum Returns No More,” and in a sub-heading, states that this show will be his “Greeting and Farewell to his American Patrons.” A handbill is similar in concept to a modern day flyer, although in this case the tall, narrow proportion is quite different from today's usual 8.5 by 11-inch page. To entice people to purchase tickets, this promotional piece employs over-the-top, boastful descriptions--the kind of hyperbolic language that Barnum's circus promoter, R. F. "Tody" Hamilton, was known for, and possibly this is an example of his work. The heading at the top of characterizes the show as, “Beyond the Scope of Vision or Description.” The illustration at the top center is a portrait of P. T. Barnum, and to the right, a “message” from Barnum explaining that the “amusement seeking people of Europe DEMAND” an opportunity of seeing his show, by way of explaining why Barnum & London will no longer be seen on American soil. The main illustration depicts Jumbo the Elephant with his keeper Mathew Scott. The headline above the illustration announces that both Jumbo and “Toung Taloung,” also known as the Sacred White Elephant, will appear. Columns on either side of the Jumbo picture tout the show’s innumerable features and promote four performers in particular: Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Boy (Fedor Jeftichew); Arda; Miramba; and Moung-Bok. Other attractions (“100 Acts” and “1000 Wonders”) such as museums, parades, bands, and hippodromes are all promoted as bigger and better than ever. The handbill was printed by Morrell Brothers Show Printers, 212 to 224 Carter St. Philadelphia. The handbill is two-sided, however the information from the front side only is included in this record. 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.