Circus poster for the Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth showing Parade Section 4, the Performing Wild Beast Division, with a crowd of onlookers. Interestingly, the word circus does not appear on the poster. Barnum preferred to call his attraction the Greatest Show on Earth since it included much more than circus acts. The poster shows eight horse-drawn cage wagons circling around a fenced park that features a tall fountain. A band wagon is on the far side of the parade circle. Multi-story buildings in the background indicate an urban location, perhaps New York City. The cage "chariots" carry various beasts that include lions, tigers, panthers, leopards, and bears, as well as hyenas and wolves, along with their tamers and trainers. Life-sized carved figures decorate the wagons, and very likely represent the work of a well-known wood carver named Samuel Robb (1851-1928) who made figures for Barnum's wagons in the 1880s. The poster was printed sometime between 1888 and 1892 by the Strobridge Lithograph Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio. This date is based on the style of women's clothing shown, as the sleeves in particular reflect fashions of the late 1880s to early 1890s. Prior to the 1870s, advertising posters and handbills were relatively simple in design, and were printed in black ink. Advances in printing technology allowed the production of colorful, pictorial posters that excited people's interest. The new and ever-growing railroad system also 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 on the trains. 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 and London. 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. This circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
