Mae Wirth #1 (From Chris Berry)

Barnum & Bailey MAE WIRTH (1913) one-sheet flat, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. This is a great series of lithographs produced by the artists at Strobridge focusing on May Wirth - and the Wirth family. The Barnum and Bailey "Mae Wirth" one-sheet was used in 1913. At that time she was 17 years old - and had been with Barnum & Bailey for one season. When she moved to Ringling Bros the spelling of her name was changed to "May" and that is how it remained. By the time that she left Ringling-Barnum in 1928 the automobile had mostly replaced the horse in cities and rural areas - but people were still very familar with the difficulty of training horses and in awe by her ablity, especially when she executed the "back-backward somersault", performed backwards, starting in a position facing the rear of the horse. She also would somersault from one horse to another....