Ringling Barnum ALFRED COURT Half-sheet (1941)

Ringling Barnum ALFRED COURT Half-sheet (1941), originally uploaded by bucklesw1. From Chris Berry This poster is one of several produced at the studios of designer Norman Bel Geddes during the time that he was under contract with Ringling-Barnum in the early 1940s. John Ringling North hired Bel Geddes and his team to rework the midway, the interior of the bigtop and some of the outdoor advertising following the tremendous success that he had with the "Futurama" exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The bold colors and contemporary design were a departure from the traditional works of Strobridge and Erie and were not immediately embraced by traditionalists. Although this particular poster does not carry any signature other than the Bel Geddes logo, during the 1940s several posters for Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey were executed by famed avant garde poster artist E. McKnight Kauffer who returned to New York from London following the outbreak of World War II. There are some who believe that this artwork was executed anonymously by Kauffer.