5TH ANNUAL TOUR : B. A. BAMBER’S GREAT DIME SHOW : NEW ATTRACTIONS AND BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE : TRAVELS , ART, HISTORY. ASTRONOMY, FUN, ELECTRICITY. … GRAND STEREOTYPICAL DISSOLVING VIEWS : SCENES IN MANY LANDS FROM GREENLAND’S ICY MOUNT, TO INDIA’S CORAL STRAND. THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD. THE BEAUTIES OF THE WORLD… de [Bamber, B. A.] - 1880

[S.l.: s.n., 1880. First Edition. Broadside. Very good. [ca. 1880s] Broadside, approximately 28 x 6 3/4 inches. Small closed tears and moderate chipping at upper right edge, not affecting text. Very good.

Attractive broadside for B. A. Bamber's traveling magic lantern and electric-battery/quack-medicine dime show, which toured in the Midwest and Northeast during the late 1800s. The show represents a bridge between the great American dime museums of the 19th century (one of the final iterations of cabinets of curiosities, now assembled by showmen, rather than princes and apothecaries) and the cinema of 20th century. The typical style and subjects of the quasi-educational dime museum and its 10-cent price remain in the magic lantern show, but the objects and tableaux have lost their materiality and begun to set the stage for new forms of popular spectacle. With lively 19th-century wood type, a portrait of Mr. Bamber, and an enchanting view of the flight of the god Mercury through a moonlit night. While this broadside advertises Bamber's "5th Annual Tour," no materials for previous or subsequent tours are recorded.