Barnum & Bailey
Hippodrome Race (1902)
Courmont Freres (Henri Gray) Two Sheet
During the Barnum & Bailey European tour of 1898-1902, the people of Great Britain and the continent were exposed to a massive advertising campaign unlike anything ever seen.
Enormous lithographs printed by Strobridge and Courier were shipped to Europe by the ton to be posted on walls and put into store windows in advance of the show’s arrival.
By the time the circus reached France in 1902 a number of the American designs were re-worked and printed by French firms including Courmont Freres in Paris.
Interestingly James A. Bailey commissioned the well-known French poster artist Henri Gray to create a handful of posters for the 1902 season which have a more avant-garde flair than the traditional American lithographs of the time. This is one of them.
It is rare to see a poster with a date tail from the turn of the century – especially one from France. This poster promotes a one day stand on July 3, 1902 when The Greatest Show on Earth played the town of Alencon, about 100 miles west of Paris in Normandy.
It is amazing that this poster survived the past 117 years – which includes two World Wars along with the normal course of events which happen during several generations. -Chris Berry
