Description

Handbill promoting "The Annex" to P. T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, managed by the Bunnell Brothers. The date of the handbill is believed to be 1877, since it was that year the Bunnell Brothers managed this addition to Barnum's show. The long narrow paper is printed on both sides, and includes many bold headlines and several illustrations, including some that are racist, though not have been unusual in that time period. In the upper portion there is an illustations of a minstrel show on stage, advertised under the heading "Variety and Magic." Among the various attractions listed are Dick Sands, a champion clog dancer; Charles Young, a professional ventriloquist; Herr Schlam the great German wizard, the California Giantess, the Mammoth Woman of the World, described as a "living mountain of flesh" weighing 728 pounds; the Wonderful Wild People from Africa, illustrated in a cage and identified as Hiwanata, Yeppo, and Zenopia; Zoe Melike, a Circassian Beauty; Miss Ettie Rogers, an albino woman; and the $100,000 Reice Family of German Dwarfs. Admission is stated as 25 cents. No printer is named. According to the donor, this item was saved by a young man who attended the circus in the Bridgeport, Connecticut, area. ​​​​​​​Barnum is best known for his involvement with the circus that still bears his name, but his circus ventures came about in the early 1870s when he was in his 60s. The first show was called "P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus." Railroads propelled...

Record Contributed By

The Barnum Museum

Record Harvested From

Connecticut Digital Archive