Scenes such as this were a common sight in rural America a century ago. This photo, of a nice daub outside of Evansville, Indiana, dates from 1921, probably taken a few weeks after The Greatest Show on Earth visited the town.
The billposters found enough space for a 12-sheet promoting the wild animal acts that were big that season, along with a six-sheet featuring Lillian Leitzel. Add to that a 12-sheet title promoting the consolidation of the two shows and a couple of three-sheet upright dates and the farmer who owned the barn could probably take his entire family to the show for free!
– C. Berry