Strobridge Lithographing Company
Description
Full-color poster titled "Scenes from a Long and Busy Life” featuring a portrait of P. T. Barnum in the center, surrounded by vignettes illustrating highlights of his life and career. The subtitle of the poster describes Barnum as, “The Sun of the Amusement World from which all Lesser Luminaries Borrow Light." The poster is dated to about 1881, since in that year Barnum gave a fountain to his hometown of Bethel, Connecticut, which is a scene shown in the top right corner. In April of 1882, Barnum brought Jumbo the elephant to America, an event that is absent from the vignettes and surely would have been included had the poster been produced after that time. Below Barnum's portrait is a brief description of his life and career. The vignettes on the left side of the poster include scenes of the American Museum; an elephant plowing a field; Barnum's first grand mansion in Bridgeport, Iranistan; Barnum lecturing in England; a view of Barnum's adopted city of Bridgeport, which he was instrumental in developing; Barnum as Mayor of Bridgeport; and Barnum meeting President Garfield and Secretary Blaine. The vignettes on the right side include scenes of Barnum and young Charles S. Stratton ("General Tom Thumb") meeting crowned heads of Europe; a bronze fountain Barnum gave to his native town; Barnum giving a speech before the Connecticut State Legislature; Jenny Lind's arrival in America; a dinner given in Barnum's honor; Barnum riding through the New York Hippodrome with King Kalakaua of Hawaii; and...
Text
Posters
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![Poster: "Barnum's American Museum, Performance Three Times Daily, [Sun]rise till 10"](https://d2l9jrtx1kk04i.cloudfront.net/d99b07d79013711af119bc9bea70b43a36b56d7c.png "Poster: \"Barnum's American Museum, Performance Three Times Daily, [Sun]rise till 10\"")
