Before there was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and their Greatest Show on Earth there was just P.T. Barnum and the Ringling brothers each with their own traveling circus. Barnum’s circus was originally known as P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus, which was unveiled as the largest American circus in 1870 and quickly became a hit (Barnum’s Timeline). Then in 1881 Barnum, James Bailey, and James Hutchinson partnered up to create P.T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth & The Great London Circus, which later became Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth in 1888 (P.T. Barnum). Sixteen years after Barnum’s death in 1891, the Ringling brothers bought out their competition, but the two shows continued to tour independently until they were finally combined in 1919 as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, The Greatest Show on Earth (Bailey and the Ringlings).
Throughout the years of change for both of these famous American circuses, countless advertisements were designed to draw the public into the shows and many of them were created by the Strobridge Lithographing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cincinnati Art Museum houses a sizeable permanent collection of Strobridge circus posters among which are a few for the Ringling’s circus and also some from the many incarnations of Barnum’s circus. Despite being made by the same company, the posters created for the two circuses were overall very different in style, in the treatment of typography, and in the layout while still maintaining some basic similarities. The best example of this from the Cincinnati Art Museum’s collection can be seen through the comparison of two posters, one for the Ringling Bros. advertising The 9 Jordans and The Incomparable Cla...
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...P.T. Barnum." Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey: The Greatest Show on Earth. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. .
Strobridge Lithography Company. P.t. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth & The Great London Circus / The Only And Original Lulu: In His Original Gigantic Straight-up Jump. N.d. Circus Posters, Cincinnati. Cincinnati Art Museum. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
Strobridge Lithography Company. Ringling Bros / The 9 Jordans / The Incomparable Clarkonians. N.d. Circus Posters, Cincinnati. Cincinnati Art Museum. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
"The Gaylord Oscar Shepherd Collection of Strobridge Lithography Company Calendar Cards." The Gaylord Oscar Shepherd Collection of Strobridge Lithography Company Calendar Cards. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. .
For my research I decided to visit the Smithsonian art museum in Washington dc. The Smithsonian art museum has about 3299 art works on display for viewing. I was able to see many great works of art while the art museum. The trip was eye opening. I was exposed to different art techniques with varying use of contrast and depth. I noted the different brush strokes and drawing styles and how they varied between each artist. After viewing many works of art, I decided to compare Henry O Tanner’s painting “The head of a Jew in Palestine” with Alice Pike Barneys painting, “The head of a Negro Boy”
Buster, Larry Vincent. The Art and History of Black Memorabilia (New York: Clarkson Potter/ Publishers) 2000.
At the time, signboards were an early form of advertising, meant to attract attention, establish a mental-visual association between sign and place, and seduce customers. Signboards indicated specific commercial establishments and provided information about the nature of the goods and services to be found within. The iconography for certain guilds and shops were apparent to the society and would be immediately understood. People used these signboards to find their way around the city and therefore were an important part of their everyday life. However, signboards were part of a commercial culture, not of a high culture. The painters of such signboards were not seen as high-valued artist; nevertheless, favourable public reception surrounding a sign could be evoked as an indication of the imminent inception of a successful career. This shows that the lowest, most despised kind of painting could, and did, serve as an entrée into the world of high art.
Posters were used during World War II by the U.S. government to get a significant message across to their citizens. To analyze a poster it is important to think about the choice of color, placement of words and images, shapes, and emotional appeal ( Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz 91). All of these factor into the message the author is trying to explain to its viewers visually. In the poster “When You Ride Alone,” the message the author was trying to get across to Americans was the importance of carpooling. This poster successfully conveys the message through the words,color scheme and representation of objects.
held in what was called The Circus Maximus. The chariot races held in the Circus Maximus were
Southern Ohio Fair Association. Annual Southern Ohio Fair at Dayton, Ohio. Dayton: United Brethen Publishing House, 1878. Print.
It is difficult to make a clear statement of whether the sponsors were trying to advertise using the cows or just participate selflessly in this magnificent “parade”. Some cows, such as “Give the Lady what She Wants” with shopping bags on its back is obviously nothing other than advertising for the Marshall Field’s & Co., the cow’s sponsor. The same can be said for the “Mooving Eli”, near the Eli’s Cheesecake, which also doesn’t disguise its advertising nature. Some people are disgusted to call this form of advertising a public art program.
Mendelowitz, Daniel M. "Part IV Between Two Wars: 1865-1913." A History of American Art. Second ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970. 1-522. Print.
Andrist, Ralph K., and Edmund O. Stillman. The American Heritage History of the 1920s & 1930s. New York: American Heritage/Bonanza, 1987. Print.
The well-known comic The Family Circus by Bil Keane, which is run in over 1500 newspapers, shows the hectic life of an American family, giving meaning to the saying, "Kids will be kids." It is based on the actual life of Bil Keane’s family and his experiences as a child. The most commonly noted features of his comic are the circular shape he often encloses the pictures in, and the dotted line that follows the children around, giving away their every move. Many other cartoonists try to capture the Family Circus mood by incorporating these features into their own works.
Goodrum, Charles and Dalrymple, Helen, Advertising in America: The First 200 Years. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1990). 37.
"Big Time Stars Will Be Here for the Rodeo." The Chase County News 10 May 1939.
“How Advertising Has Changed Over The Years.” Locker Gnome, Bradley Bradwell. 6 January 2008. Web. 4 October 2009.
In the late nineteen- forties, Alex Osborn was a partner in the advertising agency B.B.D.O., which is where he decided to write a book where he shared all of his creative secrets. At the time the advertising agency was much known as the most innovative firm on Madison Avenue. Born in 1988, Osborn spent much of his career in Buffalo, where he started out working in newspapers, there he teamed up with and another man by the name of Adman who he met volunteering for the United War Work Campaign. By the forties, he was one of the industry’s grand old men, ready to pass on the lessons that he had learned over the years. His book “Your Creative Power” was published in 1948.
McFall, E. (2004). Advertising: A Cultural Economy, London: Sage, Page 3, Page 110, Page 111