Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Admiral Dot & the Bearded Girl



This is a small Victorian pitch book featuring two of P.T. Barnum's acts. The front side is Admiral Dot, a little person, and the back side is a young, bearded girl, probably Barnum's most famous one, Annie Jones. Old pitch books are some of my favorite finds, because I love the lithographic illustrations on the covers. I've dug through piles and piles of old paper ephemera at antique stores all over the country but never found one. Unfortunately, it's always an eBay bidding war to get one.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, these are great. I'm sure they sell for a lot when you can find one.

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  2. Yep, pretty hefty price tag but the occasional good deal if something is listed without good key words. Most of 'em didn't survive because of the poor quality of the paper. Many that did survive are pretty crumbly. We've been lucky to find some nice intact pieces at "fair" prices.

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