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Reminiscences of a Showman

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The alliance of art, painting, amusements and literature has become so manifestly germane it seems pertinent that all of these callings should be mentioned in the same breath.

It is also within the range of the memory of the writer that the talent of the best artists and best printers have brought their greatest accomplishments to bear more directly upon modern amusement productions, while the best literature, since Shakespeare's time, has been a most potent power in the drama and all other forms of entertainment, from opera to the spectacular arena, both in the form of text, lyrics and the more commercial side of promotion and publicity.

The use of high-class printing, from sketches designed by noted artists, for advertising purposes is so modern as to remind the author that he was the first to use a lithographic poster with the W. W. Cole show in the early seventies. Previous to that time common wood engravings were in vogue and considered extravagant. Even the small window cards, if illustrated, were printed from wood blocks, and when one sheet or half-sheet lithographs or engravings were produced in three or four colors these prints were guarded with jealous care, and twenty-five or thirty copies were all that were allowed to advertise a given town.

Pioneers in Advertising Lithographs.

I am positive that W. C. Coup was the first man to use anything as large as a three-sheet lithograph bill for posting on the boards, and as this was something of a revelation to showmen, it excited a great deal of comment. Having always been a great admirer of fine printing and believing in its efficiency, I persuaded Mr. Cole to produce something larger if possible, and more attractive than anything we had yet seen, and we instructed Strobridge Lithograph Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, who were then making a specialty of lithographic show printing, to turn out nine one-sheet one three-sheet and one twelve-sheet lithographs, illustrating the principle features in the Cole show, which I then represented as general agent. By a combination of the nine one-sheets and the three-sheet, with a large streamer heading over them, we were thus enabled to create a twenty-four-sheet stand of lithographic paper, and this so impressed Mr. Cole, the first season of its use, we fully decided to increase this style of work, and several of the other circuses also enlarged upon the scheme to some purpose.

However, we not only continued our policy in using the best printing that could be turned out, but I again prevailed on Mr. Cole to allow me to get up a one-hundred-sheet lithograph which, as I have previously described, was, the largest piece of pictorial printing ever produced up to date. Since this innovation all shows, both circus and theatrical, have come to use lithographic work extensively, which calls for the employment of the best artists and printers to be found, and in point of finish and artistic effects no comparison can be made as between printing of the olden time and the present day.

As a patron of the printing establishments, with whom I have dealt for the last forty-five years in the interests of my various employers, who constituted the most extravagant advertisers in the world, I have become somewhat familiar with all the different lines of work, from the smallest letter press up to the largest posters, and I believe that I also have the distinction of using the first lithographed sixteen page courier ever thrown from the press for advertising purposes. Copies of this publication which are now retained will bear witness to this assertion.

Fortunes have been spent annually by the circus and theatrical companies for posters and of recent years the commercial advertisers have followed In their footsteps, until the latter almost monopolize the output of the printers and space on the bill boards. All of which has built up hundreds of large printing establishments where only a few existed in the early days.

Among the first printing houses to do large posters in any considerable quantities, I would mention such firms as Cleary & Reilly, Samuel Booth & Sons, of New York; Calhoun Printing Company, of Hartford, Conn.; the Ledger Job Printing, of Philadelphia; Russell-Morgan & Company, of Cincinati; the Courier company, of Buffalo, and a few years later, the National Printing Company, of Chicago, of which Charles H. McConnell was the originator; also the Inquirer Job Print, of Cincinnati, Ohio, of which H. J. Anderson was manager; the Journal Job Print, of Chicago, Ill., afterwards the John B. Jeffrey Printing Company; the Riverside Printing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., and the Richard K. Fox Printing Company, of New York city, all sprung into prominence and became universally first-class printers. Francis & Valentine, of San Francisco, Cal., attended to the wants of all patrons requiring printing on the Pacific coast up to the time of the earthquake and great disaster in that city, and even after the terrible conflagration that firm arose, Phoenix like, to fill the field.

Charles W. McCune.

I recall with particular pleasure the great personal friendship I enjoyed with Charles McCune, president and manager of the Courier Company of Buffalo up to the time of his death, and afterwards with George Bleistein, who joined the Courier forces as Mr. McCune's office boy, and filled the position so well that he eventually became Mr. McCune's successor as president of the company, and not only won but retained the enduring friendship of all with whom he came in contact.

Charles W. McCune was originally connected with the firm of A. T. Stewart, the merchant king of New York, principally as his foreign purchasing agent, and afterwards became the son-in-law of Mr. Fargo, of the well-known firm of Wells, Fargo Express Company. Mr. Fargo was the principal owner of the Buffalo Courier Company, which was not at that time any too prosperous as a newspaper or printing concern, and in an effort to revive its waning fortunes he appointed Mr. McCune as its manager. Although he had never had any printing experience, he at once adopted a good business system and soon had the establishment on its feet, while his personality was such as to create an entirely new order of things, until he had built up one of the best printing plants in the country and numbered his patrons by the hundreds.

With the Buffalo Courier, a Democratic newspaper of great power at his back, he became still more prominent and, in all probability, had more to do with the nomination and election of Grover Cleveland than any other man of that period. In fact, his work was so arduous that it had much to do with his ill health and death, which followed soon after Governor Cleveland was elected President of the United States.

Charles H. McConnell.

Charles H. McConnell was the founder of the National Printing Company of Chicago, which is still in existence under the ownership and direction of Earle McCoy, whose father, like Mr. McConnell, had long been a great personal friend of mine. Mr. McConnell was originally connected with the Detroit Post Job Printing Company, where I first met him, and after establishing the National Printing Company in Chicago, he became one of the foremost printers in the country, supplying the leading theatrical attractions with the best of work and commanding an extensive patronage. I believe I was one of the first circus managers to give him an opportunity to turn out some of his fine pictorial bills and letter press work, which he continued to do until two disastrous fires caused him to discontinue the printing business, as he had become deeply involved in the affairs of "Jack" Haverly, the famous minstrel king, who had numerous amusement enterprises on his hands at that time.

After several discouraging experiences in different lines of business, McConnell organized the first "cut-rate" drug store in Chicago under the title of the "Economical Drug Company," which became an immediate success and he has since made a fortune in that business, being the president of the company.

It may also be related that like all other new projects or innovations there were thousands of unknown things to contend with, and after Mr. McConnell had launched this new undertaking, which has since turned out to be one of the best money making enterprises in this country, he was confronted with the opposition of all other druggists and found it extremely difficult to obtain supplies from the wholesalers and jobbers through the regular channel on account of what we would now term a boycott, but with the persistence born of his race in Ireland, he managed to meet all obstacles thrown in his way by making his drayman, or carter, the consignee of all shipments, which were delivered direct to the Economical Drug Company, and even to this day he has to do battle with many opposition houses. But as he handles nothing but the highest class goods and gives the public the best in the world for the money his trade is constantly increasing.

Samuel Booth, one of the oldest and best known printers in New York, of whom Josh Billings spoke as the man who "sculuped his bills," was considered foremost among all the printers of the East in the early days, and although he did not keep up with the march of progress in the matter of lithography and fine work, he was the inventor of some ingenious methods of producing good effects from pine blocks and zinc at low prices.

Dr. James Reilly, of the firm of Cleary & Reilly, as I have previously noted, was one of the very best show printers in America up to the time of his death. He was also the personal friend and champion of J. A. Bailey, and it was due to his individual efforts and persuasion that Mr. Bailey was enabled to purchase the famous Howes-London shows, in connection with J. E. Cooper, which was the means of laying the foundation of a fortune for these gentlemen because of the birth of the first baby elephant in America, as, I have outlined in another chapter.

Growth of the Lithograph Concerns.

Within recent years all the old lithograph firms have grown into vast proportions and many new companies have been formed, notably, the United States Lithograph Company, Russell-Morgan Print, of Cincinnati, and the Strobridge Lithograph Company and the Inquirer Job Printing Company, H. J. Anderson, manager, of that city; also the Donaldson Lithograph Company, of Newport, Ky. All have greatly increased their plans, giving to Cincinnati and its immediate vicinity four of the largest printing establishments in the world.

The National Printing Company, with extensive plants in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Niles, Mich,, and St. Paul, Minn., are likewise at the head of the list of high-class printers, with R. M. Bickerstaff as the New York manager.

The Courier Company, of Buffalo, N. Y., is still turning out most excellent work of every description, while the W. J. Morgan & Co. and the Otis Lithograph Company, of Cleveland, O.; the Erie Printing Company, of Erie Pa., and the Detroit Free Press, of Detroit, Mich., complete a great chain of printing houses along the lakes which are strong competitors of all others on account of cheap water rates and shipping facilities. All of these establishments are noted for their excellent work and prompt deliveries.

The establishments above enumerated practically control the output of all the best artists, engravers and designers in this country, the names and reputations of some of whom I will now recall.

The Artists.

Incidental, and I might say primary, to all finished products of the printing houses above mentioned, it has been a source of great satisfaction to the raconteur, to have personally known and enjoyed the friendship and genius of many of the greatest artists of the century, whose works he has reproduced in abundance. Many of the original sketches of these artists are now in my private collection, treasured beyond value. To sit beside them, watch their pencils and see your ideas grow into definite shape and form is consummation to be desired.

Among these masters of the pen, crayon and pigments, were such artists as Matt Morgan, the greatest of his time, and Harry Ogden, both of whom were connected with the Strobridge Lithograph Company. Mr. Ogden, who still remains in that employ, is recognized as the highest authority on military and national costumes and character throughout the world. It was he who designed the famous 100-sheet lithograph, and it is safe to say, that if all the show bills he has sketched were placed end to end, they would make a pictorial panorama reaching across the American continent.

Matthew Morgan.

Mathew, popularly known as "Matt" Morgan, was an Englishman by birth, and a genius in every sense of the word, equally proficient in design, color, caricature, sketch and finer execution. As a scenic artist he had no equal, working rapidly and with great effect, upon broad stretches of canvas laid flat upon the floor, with no frames or paint bridges, and a huge palette on castors, to wheel about as he walked from point to point, laying in his colors or outlining the design as he went along. When it came to lithographic work he was so sure of his subjects he would draw them directly on the stones, thus obviating the necessity of any transfers or re-drawing. Heroic paintings on canvas or quaint cartoons all came within the range of his ability, and like Harry Ogden, he was for a long time on the art staff of Leslie’s Weekly, previous to making amusement illustrations a speciality.

An Illustrious List.

Numerous other artists of great renown, such an Frederick Remington, Charles Schreyvogle, Joseph Scheurle, Charles Russell and Irving Bacon, who have made the Indian, western wilds and military life their greatest masterpieces, have all contributed largely to the artistic productions which I have distributed freely throughout the land. Most of these delineators stand high on the pinnacle of fame and have lived in camp and on the trail of those whom they have so aptly portrayed.

Even the best efforts of Rosa Bonheur have been transferred from her easle to artistic panels and posters. The deft hand of Charles Bryson, H. H. Cross, A. D. M. Cooper, E. W. Linders, E. W. Deming, Charles Stevens, Homer Davenport and other equally famous artists, whose creations are not usually turned over to commercial purposes, have all been induced to contribute to the "art preservative" in connection with the finished pictures of the circus and wild west which I have always tried to depict true to life.

In addition to these illustrious names may well be added a long list of adroit talent more closely identified with the establishments which they have represented while executing unlimited designs under my direction. Many of them are intimate friends of long standing, including such all-round artists as A. J. Maerz, who for many years was chief of staff and a partner in the Courier Lithograph Company, of Buffalo, from the time that company first became interested in lithographic work, and who has since sketched and produced numerous portfolios of portraits, landscapes and views for which he is particularly noted.

Wilbur F. Crane is also one of the foremost artists of this generation. His color schemes are full of fascinating effects and blended beauty, while there is always a dash of vigorous, heroic measure in his subjects that make them both pronounced and captivating.

Other notables of distinction at the palette and easle, whom I shall always remember with pleasure, are such geniuses as Vic Arnold, Charles Huldtquist, Stanley Hart, Asa Cassidy, Gus Hartman, Tom Tooley, Gus Utaf, C. F. Johnson, Robert Elwell, Rimanosky, A. Bandelo, Edward Volkert and others of equal merit whose names and particular ability do not come to me as I write, yet all of their works will live after them and endure much longer than the memory of the writer shall last. The types and characters of their studies and the wonderful realism of their masterly compositions, true to nature, or the fantastic form of some poetic vision transposed to canvas with all the blending of colors of the rainbow, will give them continuous fame when all else fades away.

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