Saturday, November 25, 2006

Sideshow Finland

optical


tumbling


Pony Riding 1834


Physika 1859


Piccolomini 1831


Gymnastics 1845


Hydo Oxygen Gas Mikroskop


more tumbling 1844


Tumbling yet again 1845


carriage 1834


Dog Acts 1857


Giant 1860


Fantasmagori 1859


Beasts woodcut 1835

[click to enlarge]


Loci points out the digital collections of the Finland-Sweden University Library [Åbo Akademis Bibliotek Åbo Akademi University {wikipedia}] in Turku, Finland (the site is in swedish but hosted in Finland : I guess that's fair).

The images above come from the section entitled 'Offentliga nöjen i Åbo på 1800-talet- en samling affischer'. They have numerous sideshow/circus/magic/charlatan-esque handbills and ephemera relating predominantly, as far as I can tell, to the local Åbo theatre from between 1830 and 1860. The print quality is obviously cheap, but that quaintly humorous era of stage carnival and visual theatrics comes through loud and clear, irrespective of any translational hurdles. Actually, I think the language disimiliarities are an additive twist.

And speaking of ye olde Victorian era, but not so much at the fringes, things links to a complete 1867 Harper's Bazar magazine.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

What a curious collection of curious images. It's intersting that these posters lack a certain zazz that American circuses and shows had in their posters. Not that these posters are quiet, but from the imagery, they don't scream the attraction

Marty (activitybook.org)

peacay said...

Heh. Thanks Supertyhmä!

Interestingly, the name Turku (in swedish it is Åbo) derives from the russian word or expression for 'market place'. That seems sensible given it's a major port.

Turku is nice enough to have their own website in 3 languages: finnish, swedish and the internet imperial language, for which we thank you.

So now I know..

paola_ said...

Åbo Academi is a Finnish university and the correct English name for the institution is Åbo Akademi University. It has no ties with Sweden except for the language used for tuitition.

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