Circus Poster

サーカスポスター / 1870s–1930s / Style / Advertising Posters

Show bills that mustered chromolithography and wood type to announce the spectacle in overloaded scenes and the largest words available. Pasted up until they occupied whole walls, they were advertising that turned the city into a theater.

Circus Poster — Barnum & Bailey poster 1899 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Barnum & Bailey poster 1899 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Circus Poster — "Jungle Zoo" 1897 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — "Jungle Zoo" 1897 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Circus Poster — Clown poster — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Clown poster — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Saturated chromolithography
Exaggerated animals and acrobats
Superlative slogans
Dense composition

Best used for

Posting a festival or show bill with enough force to pull a crowd
Packing many acts onto one sheet so the abundance itself sells

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Dictionary entry

Type: Wood type headlines changing face line by line, set tight without spacing
Composition: Slogans top and bottom, scenes of the acts packed solid between
Material: Saturated lithographic color led by red and yellow, sized for repeated posting
Caution: Chasing density without building a hierarchy buries the date and place, and the sheet becomes something people look at and then forget.
Further study: the Strobridge Lithographing Company / billposting wars / wood-type show typography

Related entries

Victorian Ornament (ヴィクトリアン装飾)Shared effects: Nostalgia / Exhilaration.Compare Circus Poster and Victorian Ornament
Ghost Signs (ゴーストサイン)Shared effects: Nostalgia.Compare Circus Poster and Ghost Signs

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