page_title: The Drunkard
hierarchical_section_title: The Drunkard
caption_attribution_description: Theatrical poster for The Drunkard Title: Federal Theatre Project presents "The drunkard or the fallen saved" Originally produced by P.T. Barnum in his museum: A rip-roaring melodrama with thrills &amp; laughter! Related Names:Federal Theatre Project (U.S.) , sponsor Date Created/Published: [Massachusetts&#160;: Federal Art Project, 1938] Medium: 1 print (poster)&#160;: screen print, color. Summary: Poster for Federal Theatre Project presentation of "The Drunkard or the Fallen Saved" at Mt. Park Casino, Holyoke, Mass., showing two liquor bottles. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC2-5473 (color film copy slide) LC-USZ62-112626 (b&amp;w film copy neg.) Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication. Call Number: POS - WPA - MASS .01 .D76, no. 1 (D size) [P&amp;P] Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Notes: Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Alcoholic beverages--1930-1940. Bottles--1930-1940. Format: Screen prints--Color--1930-1940. Theatrical posters--1930-1940. Collections: Posters: WPA Posters
context_page_description: The Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved is an American temperance play first performed on February 12, 1844. A drama in five acts, it was perhaps the most popular play produced in the United States until the dramatization of Uncle Tom's Cabin premiered in 1853. In New York City, P.T. Barnum presented it at his American Museum in a run of over 100 performances. It was among the first of the American temperance plays, and remained the most popular of them until it was eclipsed in 1858 by T. S. Arthur's Ten Nights in a Bar-Room.
  The primary writer of the play was William H. Smith, who also directed and starred in the original production in Boston in the 1844–45 season. Smith was the stage manager at Moses Kimball's Boston Museum, where the play was originally produced. An anonymous collaborator co-wrote the script. A commonly held theory identifies Unitarian minister John Pierpont as the unnamed collaborator. Pierpont's motive to remain anonymous may have been rooted in the desire to avoid affiliation with the theatre, which was considered a taboo subject in the Christian community.
context_section_description: The Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved is an American temperance play first performed on February 12, 1844. A drama in five acts, it was perhaps the most popular play produced in the United States until the dramatization of Uncle Tom's Cabin  premiered in 1853. In New York City, P.T. Barnum presented it at his American Museum in a run of over 100 performances. It was among the first of the American temperance plays, and remained the most popular of them until it was eclipsed in 1858 by T. S. Arthur's Ten Nights in a Bar-Room.
  The primary writer of the play was William H. Smith, who also directed and starred in the original production in Boston in the 1844–45 season. Smith was the stage manager at Moses Kimball's Boston Museum, where the play was originally produced. An anonymous collaborator co-wrote the script. A commonly held theory identifies Unitarian minister John Pierpont as the unnamed collaborator. Pierpont's motive to remain anonymous may have been rooted in the desire to avoid affiliation with the theatre, which was considered a taboo subject in the Christian community.
  The play ran for an unprecedented 140 performances in the Boston Museums' 1844–45 season, sometimes running three times a day. This was astonishing at the time. The success of the play led to the beginning of the temperance movement's success.
caption: Poster for a 1938 production by the Federal Theatre Project
exif: {"Image XPComment": "[76, 0, 105, 0, 98, 0, 114, 0, 97, 0, 114, 0, 121, 0, 32, 0, 111, 0, 102, 0, 32, 0, 67, 0, 111, 0, 110, 0, 103, 0, 114, 0, 101, 0, 115, 0, 115, 0, 0, 0]"}