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The Atkinson's Comedy Company and other
producers printed quite a number of large multi-colored
posters which undoubtedly were posted to attract the
attention of potential theatre goers. I personally have a
number and have seen a few others. These are shown below
for interest. Most likely they were published in the
1880's-1890's.
This 14" x 31" Atkinson's Comedy Co. poster is interesting
because it actually includes the theatre name and the date
for the play. Unfortunately there are a number of
Uniontown Opera Houses.Thus I am unable to determine
exactly where this play took place and in what year it was
performed.
It is unclear whether this poster was used to advertise a
play or the books or something else. Forbes and Co. from
Boston produced this poster. This company also did a
number of the Atkinson Comedy Co. posters. The picture of
the Bad Boy however differs substantially from the other
posters I have seen.
This poster is 6'10" square. Interestingly
I have seen a trade card published by Forbes Co. with the
same basic picture. See below. Forbes was a Boston
lithography firm active from the late 19th century into at
least the teens. It published a number of Atkinson's
Comedy Co. trade cards.
Geo. W. Heath managed the Atkinson Comedy Comedy troupe
that produced the Peck's Bad Boy plays in the 1890's. Each
poster is 41" x 28".
Dot Karroll played Peck's Bad Boy in the mid 1890's and
early 1900's
J. L. Harvey was most likely not authorized to produce
Peck's Bad Boy. This poster was published by the Quigley
Lithograph Co. in Kansas City. It appears that the
predecessor to Quigley was Ackerman-Quigley. The latter
company ceased to exist in the late 1910's to early
1920's. Thus, the approximate date of this poster and
production.
Posters of non-Atkinson production companies are much
scarcer than the Atkinson posters (which are also quite
uncommon). This piece is 26.5 x 21.
This poster in 8 feet by 12.5 feet and clearly the largest
I have seen.
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