City - New Bedford, MA - The circus brings a town together 1885 - Side by Side
by Mike Savad
Title
City - New Bedford, MA - The circus brings a town together 1885 - Side by Side
Artist
Mike Savad
Medium
Photograph - Hand Colorized Photo
Description
Hand colored photo from 1885
Original title: Circus Parade, looking north on Purchase from Union
Photographer: Earle D. Wilson
Location: 737 Purchase St, New Bedford, MA
The whole town buzzed with excitement, the circus was coming. Word had spread like wildfire, and everyone had turned out to see it. Children hung out of windows, families gathered on porches, and shopkeepers hung colorful banners to match the spectacle everyone had heard about.
The parade began with a fanfare of music, the brassy notes spilling into the streets. Painted wagons rolled by, each more dazzling than the last, pulled by horses adorned with plumes and bells. Then came the elephants massive, swaying creatures that seemed almost too grand for such a small place. The crowd hushed, children wide-eyed, as the animals passed, their trunks curling and swaying like dancers.
Color notes:
The original was dull and sepia toned, looks like it was scanned in as a print. Both a simple and a complex scene, it still had a remarkable amount of detail. They had a date range of 1880-1895, I believe its more Victorian because there is at least one person wearing a huge Victorian butt dress, I'm sure it has a more accurate name but when its big in the back... If you look carefully you'll see people hanging off rooftop edges, out windows. There is another image of this same procession, and there are people standing out on the 4th floor window edge, just to see what's going on. People feared death less in those days, I guess.
Uploaded
November 25th, 2024
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