Music and Theater Posters > General Discussion
"Freakshow" posters, are there any?
Popculturefan:
Hello all,
I'm kinda interested in these freakshows, you know, tallest man, sword eaters, etc.
Are there any posters of these? I know there are some expensive photo's from the old days, but i've never found any posters.
Or just didn't look good enough.
If you got some in your collection, please show.
Bruce:
99% of what there was was homemade for the specific show, so what is left is super rare and expensive.
I have never seen a printed poster for one of these.
Threenero:
Some of my closest friends are freaks ;D
the early ones where handpainted on canvas or bedsheets using any old paint they could find and hung on the middway (public entrance to show) on large wooden frames or from ropes strung between trucks and tents. by the end of a long traveling season they would have been folded hundreds of times and most of the paint would have flaked of. so they would either be repainted or painted over with a new act. later on the painting was done directly onto the sides of truck bodies or large wooden/metal panels that would hinge onto the trucks and known as flash panels...again they would be painted over when the acts changed. Freaks where part of sideshows and usually only the top billing artistes where put on the posters for the main show. The days of handpainted panels ended about 20 years ago and most of the artists that painted them have long gone along with most of their work.
However there are some modern shows today that mainly feature freaks and they feature them on their posters. try http://www.circusofhorrors.co.uk/home.html and check the shop for posters. tell Doc haze Luke sent you ;)
Threenero:
OK.. i asked a friend in the states if he had any pics of the old side shows and if he had any info of the whereabouts of any old banners. There a few still knocking around but mostly rotting in old barns...He's looking into rescuing some... Mean while he sent me nearly 100 pics.
Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure 8)
Some of these go as far back as the '30s
That should do for now.
stewart boyle:
Those are great!
"Sealo-Man or Seal?"
Brilliant..Love the Barnum and Baileys pic too :D
There`s a van like that in The M.O.Transport here in GLW,It`s beautiful.
Stew
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