| Summary: | Broadside promoting the attractions at Barnum's American Museum in New York City, as well as P. T. Barnum's successes in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Broadsides were a common format for advertising events and performances in the 1700s and early 1800s. They were typically printed in black ink (in this case there is also red lettering in the margins), and predate the colorful lithograph posters produced in the latter part of the 1800s. Lacking the bold graphic designs of most posters, this broadside was intended to be viewed at close range. This poster can be dated between 1864 and 1865 based on the attractions included among the many vignettes. Although the broadside includes some of the long ago attractions that made Barnum famous, like opera singer Jenny Lind who toured in 1850-1851, the inclusion of female Union Army spy Pauline Cushman tells us that this broadside was not printed before 1864, the year she spoke at the museum. She was one of hundreds of "newsmakers," people whom Barnum brought in short term to speak to audiences in his lecture hall. Flanking the central image of the American Museum, a portrait of Jenny Lind appears on the left and one of P. T. Barnum on the right, with an eagle above. Included in the vignettes surrounding the museum are: Grizzly Adams and performing bears; a living Rhinoceros; the "Fairy Wedding" group featuring Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren; a living hippopotamus; Miss Hannah Crouse, the largest woman in the world with tiny Miss Reid; a group of North American Indians dancing; the automaton writer; an infant drummer; the dog show; the mammoth fat girl; Vantage Mack the giant baby; the baby show; a Tyrollean whistler; performing dogs; a double-voiced vocalist; a living white whale in the ocean; a negro turning white; a living sea horse; a learned seal [known by the name Ned]; the "What Is It?" [William Henry Johnson]; a lady with long hair; a living sea lion; Miss Major Pauline Cushman; the Circassian Family Group; the Highland fat boys; the Swiss bearded lady; shaking Quakers; ...
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