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
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