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Vintage Circus Posters
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Published: August 17, 2006
"Lions, tigers, and bears,oh my!" A trip to the circus is much like an adventure into unknown - but pleasantly exciting - territory. The sights and sounds are enough to capture and stir the imagination, well after the experience has been had.
Uncannily, vintage circus posters briefly capture the festive circus aura. Looking at a circus poster from time gone by can transport one to a time and place where all the images inked on paper are alive and new.
Historically, vintage circus posters date back to the early 1800's, but were actually first mass produced during the turn-of-the-century. Because industrialization was such a big boom in the early twentieth century, most people were abundantly employed and had a little more money to spend on entertainment. And circuses were happy to oblige this demand.
Originally printed in dull black-and-white, circus posters were mass produced in full-sheets, half-sheets, and quarter-sheet placards. Half-sheets rarely featured images and relied mostly on very brief synopses to attract patrons. Around the 1910's, brightly colored posters came in vogue. The brightly colored ones were printed in all sizes, and circuses made sure they reached as many eyes as possible. Posters were plastered all over town; placards were placed in windows; everywhere the circus traveled was inundated with images and words of its presence - much like the marketing saturation of the current century. Because the posters were printed in stock quantity rather cheaply, various circuses were not opposed to using the same images as each other but changing the captions. Omnipresence is just proof that the best advertisement is economical - good use is re-use.
Stylistically, vintage circus posters run a gamut of displays, layouts, and illustrations. Some feature clowns, animal attractions, magic acts, and even side-show attractions or "freaks." However, the earliest style most typically was a columnized, newspaper layout that featured windows filled with some photographs (usually of animals), illustrations, and lots of text. The Kings Bros. Circus posters of the 1920's display this style and are vertically oblong with busy black-and-white texts and pictures that disorient and stir the viewer. Yet, the most highly recognized circus image printed is a 1914 print by Charles Livingston Bull and features a tiger in mid-leap. This particular image has been - and still is - used by Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Unbelievably, vintage circus posters have had the ability to influence more recent poster art of the latter twentieth century. For example, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival Series uses a lot of the festive, lively techniques found in more dated circus posters. The collection, mostly as far back as the late '30's, is eclectic, colorful, some cartoonish, others more refined and regal, surrealistic and realistic. The posters separately depict a theme that fits with the art. One poster in particular fits with a retro-20's theme, using aged, yellowed photographs encapsulated in arabesque bordered ovals; the lettering slightly scripted and antiquated; the color palette a simple golden yellow, red, and blue on aged off-white. Though the poster uses 1920's aesthetics, the unparalleled date of the event advertised is February 12-14, 1971 - some fifty years after the stylistic period used.
Despite early mass production and reprinting or influential appeal, vintage circus posters can capture a pretty penny. Starting in the whereabouts of $30, originals can run upwards of $400. Vintage placards can start at about $20 and end around $65. But, despite the price, vintage circus posters are a sure delight that awakens the child in all of us.
Uncannily, vintage circus posters briefly capture the festive circus aura. Looking at a circus poster from time gone by can transport one to a time and place where all the images inked on paper are alive and new.
Historically, vintage circus posters date back to the early 1800's, but were actually first mass produced during the turn-of-the-century. Because industrialization was such a big boom in the early twentieth century, most people were abundantly employed and had a little more money to spend on entertainment. And circuses were happy to oblige this demand.
Originally printed in dull black-and-white, circus posters were mass produced in full-sheets, half-sheets, and quarter-sheet placards. Half-sheets rarely featured images and relied mostly on very brief synopses to attract patrons. Around the 1910's, brightly colored posters came in vogue. The brightly colored ones were printed in all sizes, and circuses made sure they reached as many eyes as possible. Posters were plastered all over town; placards were placed in windows; everywhere the circus traveled was inundated with images and words of its presence - much like the marketing saturation of the current century. Because the posters were printed in stock quantity rather cheaply, various circuses were not opposed to using the same images as each other but changing the captions. Omnipresence is just proof that the best advertisement is economical - good use is re-use.
Stylistically, vintage circus posters run a gamut of displays, layouts, and illustrations. Some feature clowns, animal attractions, magic acts, and even side-show attractions or "freaks." However, the earliest style most typically was a columnized, newspaper layout that featured windows filled with some photographs (usually of animals), illustrations, and lots of text. The Kings Bros. Circus posters of the 1920's display this style and are vertically oblong with busy black-and-white texts and pictures that disorient and stir the viewer. Yet, the most highly recognized circus image printed is a 1914 print by Charles Livingston Bull and features a tiger in mid-leap. This particular image has been - and still is - used by Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Unbelievably, vintage circus posters have had the ability to influence more recent poster art of the latter twentieth century. For example, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival Series uses a lot of the festive, lively techniques found in more dated circus posters. The collection, mostly as far back as the late '30's, is eclectic, colorful, some cartoonish, others more refined and regal, surrealistic and realistic. The posters separately depict a theme that fits with the art. One poster in particular fits with a retro-20's theme, using aged, yellowed photographs encapsulated in arabesque bordered ovals; the lettering slightly scripted and antiquated; the color palette a simple golden yellow, red, and blue on aged off-white. Though the poster uses 1920's aesthetics, the unparalleled date of the event advertised is February 12-14, 1971 - some fifty years after the stylistic period used.
Despite early mass production and reprinting or influential appeal, vintage circus posters can capture a pretty penny. Starting in the whereabouts of $30, originals can run upwards of $400. Vintage placards can start at about $20 and end around $65. But, despite the price, vintage circus posters are a sure delight that awakens the child in all of us.
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