Gus Williams by Strobridge Lithographing Company
date: label: Date made
content: n.d.
name: label: depicted
content: Williams, Gus
label: maker
content: Strobridge Lithographing Company
notes: label: Description
content: .This colored print is a bust portrait of a young man, Gus Williams, surrounded by a star. The star is set inside another frame with a v-shaped red, pink, blue and gold design in each corner. His signature is printed below the image and serves as the title. At the bottom of the print are the remnants of a date bill or label that had been pasted on with the location of the performance. A faint impression remains with the words New Park Theatre.
label: Description
content: Gus Williams (1848-1915) was an American comedian and songwriter. He was born Gustave Wilhelm Leweck, Jr., in New York City, the son of a German American furrier. Leweck set out for the American West in his early teens but got only as far as Indiana, where he went to work as a farmhand. In 1862, Leweck joined Union troops fighting the Civil War as part of the 48th Indiana Infantry. He apparently got his start as an entertainer putting on shows as a drummer boy for his fellow soldiers. He first appeared on stage in 1864 during the Union Army’s occupation of Huntsville, Alabama, where he performed in <i> The Pirate’s Legacy: The Wrecker’s Fate</i> by Charles H. Saunders. After the war, Leweck toured with Tony Pastor's vaudeville group and became known for singing and performing comic skits with a German accent. He appeared in a number of German farce comedies, including <i> Our German Senator </i> and <i> One of the Finest</i>. He was known for writing his own songs, both comic and sentimental. In 1885, Leweck took the stage name Gus Williams. He also worked to secure better wages for vaudeville performers and was said to have been the first to earn $500 a week for doing stage monologues. Williams committed suicide in his sixties, possibly because of health concerns and his declining career.
label: Description
content: This chromolithograph was produced by Strobridge Lithographing Company. The Strobridge firm was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, ca 1847 by lithographer Elijah J. Middleton (cited in some sources as Elijah C. Middleton). Middleton was known as one of the pioneers of chromolithography in the United States. By 1854 another lithographer, W. R. Wallace, along with the bookseller Hines Strobridge (1823-1909), had joined the firm as partners. After the Civil War, Strobridge acquired sole ownership of the business and renamed it after himself. Strobridge and Company became especially well known for circus, theater, and movie posters. After leaving the company, Elijah Middleton established a reputation as a portrait publisher, producing prints of George and Martha Washington, Daniel Webster, and other American historical figures.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio, Cincinnati
topic: label: Subject
content: Theater
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Advertising
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3058
label: catalog number
content: 60.3058
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: chromolithograph
label: Object Type
content: Chromolithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 18 1/2 in x 16 1/4 in; 46.99 cm x 41.275 cm