Thursday, February 11, 2010

Ringling Barnum FELIX ADLER One Sheet Flat (1943) w Hartford Date

From Chris Berry:

This is a another in the series of posters produced by the Norman Bel Geddes studios under the direction of John Ringling North during the early 1940s (note the Geddes "G" logo above the word "Greatest"). This original design of Felix Adler and his parasol was produced in both an "upright" and "flat" format and was used throughout the 1940s and into the 50s with only slight changes in design - most notably the font used on the title. This one-sheet dates from 1943 - a time when North had been replaced at the helm by his cousin Robert Ringling and promotes an appearance at Hartford's Barbour Street Showgrounds - the same lot where fire would consume the big top one year later.

Posted by Buckles at 2/11/2010 06:04:00 AM

4 comments:

Pat Cashin said...

One of the very best circus posters of all time, IMHO.

11 February, 2010 17:47
Anonymous said...

Chris: Isn't the flat much harder to come by than the upright? I rarely ever see the flat available, but see the upright much more often. Would the upright have been printed in much larger numbers and would the reason be that for store windows an upright allowed more room to show merchandise than a flat would have? Just wondering... Thanks!
Neil Cockerline
Minneapolis

12 February, 2010 12:08
Chris Berry said...

Neil, I'm sure that someone like Ole Whitey would have a better perspective on that - since he spent years scouting appropriate windows where he could stick a poster or two...but I think you may be on to something. As window space became more valuable to retailers in the later part of the 20th Century it probably did make sense to use an "upright" or vertical poster in hopes of limiting the amount of space taken. Still Kelly-Miller, Beatty Cole and Carson & Barnes posted thousands of smaller flat HALF-SHEETS during the 60s, 70s, and 1980s. Interestingly, many of the circus lithos from the late 1800s up through about 1940 were indeed "flat" or horizontal. I suspect the "landscape" nature of that format allowed artists to better depict the attractions that were coming - and ultimately create images that are suitable for framing today.

12 February, 2010 14:27
Anonymous said...

Before electric lights, store fronts had glass going all the way to the ceiling. Even after most locations had lights, stores where built to allow natural sunshine to light up their stores and showrooms. If you study older photos of lithos, you will see "flats" at the top of their windows.
With the flats at the top of the window, they didn't block the store's wares.
Older lithos (1 and 2 sheet) from the 1870's to 1910's will almost always be flats.p.j.holmes

12 February, 2010 15:18

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