King Bros Circus Showgirl & Horse c. 1950

                     Printed by The Enquirer Printing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio

This vintage the King Brothers Circus half-sheet poster (21 inches tall by 28 inches wide) in 4 colors (yellow, red, blue, black) with Chico, California date strip features a female bareback rider is dated from 1950. A smiling female performer with short, wavy, yellow hair appears  to burst towards the viewer from behind a sheet of paper, leaping onto a bridled white horse. One bracelet is on her left arm, three on her right; she carries a riding crop in her right hand and wears a sleeveless yellow skirted top, yellow leggings, and white shoes with ballet-style lacing. NOTE: Although the artwork is unsigned on this poster, another poster with a nearly identical rendering of a horse with female bareback rider is signed “Roland Butler”.

This circus and many others like it drove to and set up on a multi-acre empty lot called Hahn Field.  The poster mis-spelled the name Hahn.  I know because I went to school with Mark Hahn for many years.  The site is now a Chico State College apartment complex called “The Zoo” in honor of it’s circus history.