Friday, January 08, 2016

#1 Barnum Show


2 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Was this in Bridgeport

Dick Flint said...

When Bailey joined Barnum for the upcoming 1881 season, a new complex to house their great circus had to be built. Barnum, a large land owner in Bridgeport, utilized a plot he owned on the west edge of Bridgeport; only a few years before a small but very long and narrow shed was a lonely occupant in the middle of the block. Scattered homes dotted the area just north and east toward downtown; today, it is a residential area fully engulfed by the city. On a city block nearly 500 wide by approximately 760 deep Barnum erected two large wooden buildings, seen here in this marvelous 1882 poster (there was an edition in 1881as well but it lacks the three portraits). The view fairly represents the main structures and what they housed but the artist suggests barns that seem larger and longer than reality.