The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-31
BIG SHOW BILLS.
a CHAT WITH THE FATHER ~
PINE WOOD ENGRAVING.
The Old Fashioned Circus Picture, Sum.
planted by LIthography--A Famo,.
Hundred sheet BilI"-The Cost OF Poi,
ers-s"periority Of the Lithograph.


!" Just as the numerous 'processo.
IA have crowded lockwood engraving 10 N
wall, said an old show printer the otlD
= day, photography is steadily supplanfi,,.
pine wood engraving. Already the ho.
theatrical and circus orders are for Inn,
- graphs, and wood work has come ~ D.
= looked upon as cheap, second rate a,a
;, consequently undesirable OF course
- not being photographer, and hayipo
- good deal invested in the old fashion n.
;, piore the change, but | cannot shut nm,
eyes to 1t, and do not try to do so n. n,
some OF my friends among the old encr.,,
: ers ana printers. In fact pine wood WORK
I. mas reached lower position Telatiy.l,
than lockwood work has"
Mr.. James w. Morse the father Of MIN.
wood engraving, now - years Of ace. ~
! DONG little work any longer, though he
still retains his old time skill He doc.
not however, attribute the lack of de.
mand for his work 10 decline in the
business, but 10 other causes that. upon
analyzation, in themselves demonstrate
that decline. tie says: Il was the first
man To use the pine board for show cut,
and began doing So abont thirty-Iiye wears
ago. Before that time these large pictures
were all cut on mahogany, using the end
OF the wood as lockwood is used. and only
printing in black was done. | first intrn.
duced the use Of colors. and cut the tint
blocks for them on Hat, smooth pine
boards Very soon | found that | could
use the pine for the black print also. and
That being q softer wood, il was much
more easily worked. with proper tools
| fhA har
went out OF Use altogether. | do not
recognize that there is any less pine wood
| ehBrNlhS now than there used To be; bur
u Is no longer the business 1t used 10 be
i""' Is because the printers, greedy 10
i'o"opoi'Ie the whole work, got TO con
| tracing to furnish pictures by artists and
ehgr'Vers IN their employ, and then. by
competition with each other. ran prices
DOWN so that the compensation of artists
ana engravers was reduced 10 the lowest
possible point. The demand 10 longer IA
ioE men OF exceptional ability, but for
cheap mediocrity"
10 Is somewhat curious fact that the
American makers OF fine large litbo-
graphic pictures, after importing The
artists 10 do their drawing aud the stone,
To print from, and the inks To print
with, and the pulp for the paper To print
upon, still are able to compete with En-
ropean photographers on their own ground
and to I'LL extensive orders in Europc.
Australia and India They cannot do 80
III the production Of small photographic
work, such as one two and three sheet
bills, for the cheapuess OF skilled labor
gives the European photographer the nd
'antage, but when it comes To the making
# huge bills, Of say twenty, thirty or
orty sheets, then the field is practically
by American enterprise.
The largest show bill made prior to 1872
consisted OF no more than eighteen sheets.
n that year, however James Torrey. the
Id pine wood engraver and printer. got
ut Tor Barnum's show, i'm its second
ear, thirty-two sheet bill that made "A
ensation throughout the country. Whcr-
yer II appeared the small shows infesting
ne land He'd before 1t In dismay. Subse-
uently many larger posters, printed
rom wood, made their appearance, but
one had such startling effect as that
Coles circus was the first TO employ
thographed posters, In 1881, and in 1852
OF out It's famous "hundred sheet bill -
'hich covered space twelve feet high by
lnety-six feet long, the largest poster of
ais Kind ever produced. There were
nly 200 OF those huge posters produced.
nj their cost was 80 each although the
company, their makers are
nd to have made them without profit
n the sake OF demonstrating what they
'uld achieve. Nobody has since at
mpted 10 rival that mammoth produc-
On. Very probably autographed poster
equal size could he made now at less
st, for since then the expense Of this
Drk has been greatly reduced. but when
is remembered that for each individual
e Of the hundred sheets composing IL
average Of say four separate color
intings would be required, making 400
all, it will readily be understood that
would still be very expensive show
Barnum q Bailey, who are the largest
stomers for photographic printing in the
rid, are now using no posters Of more
IN twenty-eight sheets, and nobody
e has any so large. But their orders
the season Of 1883 amount u 100000
|, 4S0 900 sheets.
The expense OF Autographed show bills
been vastly reduced since they first
re introduced Then the Strob.idge
III Sudi ecu sIAty cents sHctt worked
five colors) for 5000 sheet lots, took
e months TO All one such order and lost
ney on it. Now such lave been the
proyements in production that notwith-
nding large augmentation ia wages aud
er expenses, the same sort of work is
ne for eight cents sheet, in forty eight
IRIS, and money Is, presumably az least,
de on 1t. Pine wood pictures cost only
cents sheet, and are still clung to b.
repaugh, most Of the small circuses,
the class OF theatrical troupes known
barn stormers" and "1y by nights"
showmen generally affirm that the
ographed posters, aside from tnel
erior beauty anf.~,iectiyeness, are more
nomical, mainly because OF the weather
sting ability Of the much better sort OF
er upon which they are printed The
er Tor Autograph posters is made Of "A
III pulp imported from Sweden-b.
phide hemlock pulp, a. il is technically
ed. The wood pulp made here is from
grinding OF the timber into small
ticles, but in Sweden Il process is en-
ied that tears the wood into fragments,
serving longer fiber and Welding 4