About this Collection
Contains approximately 2,100 posters in the online Performing Arts Posters category represent the entire contents of three collections: the Magic Poster Collection, the Minstrel Poster Collection, and the Theatrical Poster Collection.
Background and Scope
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.
The bulk of the posters are color lithographs and woodcuts. Most came to the Library of Congress as copyright deposits. Individual artists are not generally identified on the posters, but many prominent printers of the time produced the posters. Among those well represented in the Performing Arts Posters are:
- The Strobridge Lithograph Company of Cincinnati [retrieve online records and images]
- Russell & Morgan Company of Cincinnati and New York [retrieve online records and images]
- A.S. Seer of New York [retrieve online records and images]
- W.J. Morgan and Company of Cleveland [retrieve online records and images]
The approximately 2,100 posters in the online Performing Arts Posters category represent the entire contents of three collections, which are discussed in further detail below:
Magic Poster Collection
Posters in the Magic Poster Collection feature Harry Houdini, Harry Kellar, Howard Thurston and 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. While minstrel shows were popular starting in the 1840s, most of the Library of Congress's minstrel posters date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with the exception of an 1847 poster featuring the New Orleans Ethiopian Serenaders [retrieve online record and image].
[ Retrieve more Minstrel posters]
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
[Retrieve more Burlesque posters]
Dance
[ Retrieve more Dance posters]
Music
[ Retrieve more Music posters]
Operetta
[ Retrieve more Operetta posters]
Specialty Acts
[ Retrieve more Specialty Acts posters]
Vaudeville
[ Retrieve more Vaudeville posters]
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.
[ Retrieve more Kiralty posters]
Portrait Posters
Portrait posters bring to life many contemporary stars of the stage.
[ Retrieve more Portrait posters]
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.
