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Forepaugh’s Bugle Call…The Original, Wonderful and Earth-Renowned Wild West and Great 4-Pw Shows…
Philadelphia: Morreli Show Print; Buffalo, New York, Courier Co., [ca. 1887]. Illustrated circular, 28.25” x 20.25” (when unfolded). Numerous wood engravings, some credited to Courier Co. of Buffalo. CONDITION: Very good, minor losses along margins, a few minor punctures. A large illustrated circular promoting a Wild West show-cum-circus produced by Adam Forepaugh and held in Manchester, New Hampshire on July 28th, 1888. Adam Forepaugh (1831–1890) was one of the great circus organizers of 19th century America from immediately after the Civil War until his death in 1890. He is generally credited with the invention of the “Wild West” exhibition as part of his 1869 show, although he did not create a separate show until after Buffalo Bill launched his own show in 1883. This large circular, advertising the coming season of 1888, was probably printed in 1887. Forepaugh’s son, Adam Forepaugh Jr., performed an “electrifying and soul-thrilling 30-horse bareback act” in this show, and Forepaugh Sr. notes here that he recently sent his son with a score of trusted agents to Europe “in search of new-born arenic wonders and rare specimens of prolific creation.” A rival of P. T. Barnum, Forepaugh Sr. once remarked that he would prevail over Barnum because “I have a boy and Mr. Barnum has none. My show will outlast his.” However, while Forepaugh Jr. worked for his father, he did not succeed him in the circus business. At the time of publication, Forepaugh had staged some 153 exhibitions of his Great Wild West Show in New York City. The production advertised here blends western entertainments with more conventional circus fare. The features described include a reenactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn (embracing “200 genuine Indians, soldiers and horses”); a herd of performing elephants; a drove of long-horn buffalos; the Mountain Meadows Massacre; European and Japanese circuses; “Frontier Life in the Far West”; “the largest menagerie…in any part of the world”; “curious freaks” (dog-men, cannibals, giants, “monstrosities,” “dwarfs,” et al.); a troupe of “recently imported desert-born heroes”; “10 bewitchingly graceful lady riders”; a “huge, full-grown” hippo from Egypt, and a “realistic portrayal of the Perils of the Wild West.” Wood engravings depict a number of the show’s personalities and acts, including ‘Eclipse,’ The Trapeze Horse; Forepaugh Sr. and Jr.; “General Custer”; Dr. W. F. Carver (“the world-famed champion rifle shot”); the Cow-Boy Brass Band; Forepaugh Jr.’s Blondin Horse; and riders on horseback racing on a canvas enclosed race track. No copies recorded in OCLC. REFERENCES: “A Great Showman Dead.” Philadelphia Times, 24 Jan. 1890.
Item #8870
Price: $1,250.00
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