Handbill: "Barnum and London 9 United Monster Shows in Haverhill, July 7"

Handbill promoting Barnum and London 9 United Monster Shows, performing in Haverhill [Massachusetts], on [Monday,] July 7, [1884]. 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. This handbill advertises the extraordinary variety and sheer quantity of performers, acts, and attractions that made Barnum’s circuses so famous. 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 show itself is described as “the most elaborate, stupendous and marvelous array of Circus Sensation, Arenic and Extraordinary Talent ever gathered in one mighty combination.” In addition to highlighting the Ethnological Congress of Savage Tribes, the handbill describes “a mazy net-work of Silvery Wires, Waving Ropes, Trapeze Bars, Flying Rings and Glittering Trappings for Mid-Air Acts [in the] Lofty Dome of the Great Tent.” Performers included jugglers, gymnasts, clowns, tumblers, bareback riders and others. Also featured in the show were chariot races, “ludicrous, comical obstacle races,” wrestling matches, boxing bouts, and “Gladiatorial Feats of Strength.” In addition to a variety of horse races there were ostrich races, and even pelican races. Human curiosities named as part of the Museum of Strange and Living Curiosities include Chang, the Chinese Giant, the Tallest, Largest, and most phenomenal big man since the days of Goliath; Major Atom, the Smallest Man Alive; Admiral Dot, the Midget Actor, Elfin Orator and Pantomimist; Living Skeletons; Fat Women; Armless Men; Men without Legs; White Moors; Tattooed Martyrs; and Wild Men. The illustrations depict the “savage tribes;” Leopold S. Kahn, a little person billed as Admiral Dot in various characters; a horse race; a battle in which warriors are astride giraffes rather than horses; and most notably in the center of the handbill, a scene in a park, in which people in a horse-drawn carriage are transported underneath a monumental “arch” which is a very large African elephant. Presumably this is meant to be Jumbo the elephant, although his name does not appear on the handbill. The handbill is two-sided, however the content from the front only is included in this record. The handbill was produced by James Reilley, Printer and Engraver, 12, 14, and 16 Spruce Street, New York. The date was determined by researching circus route books to find the year when Barnum & London was in Haverhill, Mass. on July 7. 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.