SIX 1912–1918 Barnum & Bailey CIRCUS Annual ROUTE Sheets, STROBRIDGE LITHOGRAPHY

Description

- BARNUM & BAILEY Circus ANNUAL ROUTE Sheets -
- For SIX Different B&B Circus SHOW Years (SEASONS) -
- TOURING YEARS - 1912, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918 -
- Beautiful, Colorful, + Ornate, Presumably STROBRIDGE -
SUPERB collection or grouping of
SIX
different BARNUM & BAILEY Circus Annual ROUTE SHEETS for the following SHOW seasons
–
1912
,
1913
,
1915
,
1916
,
1917
, &
1918
.
This represents a RARE opportunity for a circus or ephemera collector to acquire an almost complete set of these COLORFUL Barnum & Bailey annual route sheets with the elaborate,
JUGATE image of Phineas T. Barnum + James A. Bailey along the top
surrounded by an ornate, gilt
design featuring an AFRICAN LION and a BENGAL TIGER
.
I am fairly certain
these SIX annual route sheets were produced by the renowned STROBRIDGE LITHOGRAPHING CO.
, given the high quality of the colors and design as well as Strobridge’s long business history with the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
These beautiful JUGATE image, annual route sheets were only produced between 1909 – 1918; and this particular grouping accounts for SIX of those TEN touring seasons.  The Barnum & Bailey Circus was combined with the Ringling Brothers Circus during the 1919 season, touring together thereafter as a single circus attraction.  It was my original intention to put together a complete set of these ten annual route sheets, but my interests have changed since then so I leave it up to a new collector to finish that task.  It should be a fun and rewarding pursuit.
CIRCUS ROUTE SHEETS
were typically produced by circuses as a form of souvenir or successful reminder of the season just past, to be distributed to the many circus performers and personnel in the show, as well as to their fans after the close of the season.   These ANNUAL route sheets list all the destinations (towns / states) where the circus performed in a particular year, along with the distances travelled between show dates, and the railroads utilized to transport the circus to their next stop.  In most cases, these efforts resulted in simple, inexpensive keepsakes.
In rare instances however, beautiful and elaborate examples were created such as these Barnum & Bailey route sheets
.
CONDITION:
the SIX route sheets are in SUPERB original condition, and it would be extremely difficult to improve on the condition of these annual route sheets.  The
1912 SHEET
measures about 9 x 15 inches in size, has a single horizontal fold and a small edge tear at top left about a half inch in length.  The
1913 SHEET
measures about 9 x 15 inches in size, has a single vertical fold and three horizontal folds but NO rips or tears.  The
1915 SHEET
measures about 8 ¼ x 15 ½ inches in size, has four horizontal folds but NO rips or tears.  The
1916 SHEET
measures about 9 x 16 inches in size, has one horizontal fold but NO rips or tears.  The
1917 SHEET
measures about 9 x 15 ¼ inches in size, has a single vertical and four horizontal folds but NO rips or tears.  The
1918 SHEET
measures about 9 x 15 ½ inches in size, has a single vertical fold and three horizontal folds but NO rips or tears (see SCANS).
Winning bidder to pay
for shipping, postage & INSURANCE
.   Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
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