Saturday, August 16, 2008

B&B Post Card #2

Some general comments have been made about other post card series from
the 1898-1902 B&B European tour and I thought I would clarify that
there are a total of four series, two in color with either German
(some years ago I recall seeing some in a middle-European language) or
English titles and two in black-and-white, both with French labeling.
The several illustrated here all carried a series title that I am
using to help differentiate one from the other unlike the group first
shown yesterday that has no series title.

Quite scarce is the magnificent group all titled "Souvenir from the
Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth." They are a color
lithographed series of upright postcards of single images, faintly
numbered near the printer's imprint along the left edge. They were
printed in Munich by Franzl. I am showing two of the several I have
though I believe there may possibly be 8 or more in the series.

Most commonly seen are the cards from the "Souvenir de Barnum et
Bailey," a numbered black-and-white set of at least 11 cards in
French—counting card 3 that exists in two different views of unloading
the train (at different rail yards) even though the variant does not
carry the series title but is otherwise similar. Postal mailing
information on the back is in French only, unlike the German cards.
These were printed in Paris by Courmont Frères and I am sending a scan
of the side show interior card. The titles printed on the complete
series of cards are:
1 - Un des groupes d'Éléphants
2 - Performance de 70 chevaux [horses]
3 - Déchargement des trains spéciaux (2 different images, one does not
state "Souvenir de Barnum et Bailey" but is numbered the same)
4 - Course de Chars romains (chariot race)
5 - Vue Intérieure de la Tente-Hippodrome
6 - Cité des Tentes
7 - Les artistes gigantesques [elephants sitting up in ring]
8 - Les Phénomènes
9 - Les Rigolos
10 - Un groupe de Femmes-Artistes [women artists]

Finally, there is another black-and-white set titled "Le cirque Barnum
& Bailey." It is a set of at least two cards with postal mailing
information on the back in French only though it was printed in
Dresden, Germany, by Wilhelm & Hoffmann. In my sample from this set,
note the fellow sitting on the runs!

I do not believe that these cards were ever issued with hand-coloring.
Any cards found like this were probably done by their owner or a
later dealer. In an age where cheap, quality lithographing was easily
and cheaply available, it makes little sense to hire someone to color
them.

Dick Flint
Baltimore

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