Originally
used to attract the public to performances and performers,
the posters available through this online assemblage of performing
arts posters illustrate the wide range of popular, live entertainment
in America from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth
century.
Over
2100 Theatrical Posters.
Click
here for a sample in posters' size.
Magic
Poster Collection
Posters
in the Magic Poster Collection feature Harry Houdini, Harry
Kellar, Howard Thurston and many other masters of illusion.
Minstrel
Poster Collection
The
Minstrel Poster Collection highlights individual minstrels
and minstrel companies, who usually performed programs of
African-American music, broad comedy, and African-American
impersonations. The posters feature potraits as well as depictions
of the minstrel performances.
Theatrical
Poster Collection
The Theatrical
Poster Collection has been organized into a series of subsets
based on the:
* genre of variety
stage theater
* production company
* poster style or format.
Burlesque
Dance
and Music
Operetta
Specialty
Acts
Vaudeville
Kiralfy
Brothers
The
productions of the Kiralfy Brothers, Bolossy and Imre, were
the epitome of the stage spectaculars. They incorporated dance,
pantomime, and special effects, including one of the earliest
uses of electricity on the American stage, into their lavish
interpretations of fairy tales, Bible stories, and Jules Verne
adventures.
Portrait
Posters
Portrait
posters bring to life many contemporary stars of the stage.
Stock
Posters
Stock posters were
designed without a particular show in mind. Generic images
of stage scenes were used for the pictorial portion of the
poster. Information pertaining to a specific performance could
be added to the poster as needed.
Theatrical Posters
from other prominent printers at the time, Among those well
represented in the Performing Arts Posters are:
* The Strobridge
Lithograph Company of Cincinnati
* Russell & Morgan Company of Cincinnati and New York
* A.S. Seer of New York
* W.J. Morgan and Company of Cleveland