I found this elsewhere on the net. Apparently there were a lot of circus sideshow performers who, for one reason or another, weren't traveling but could make money by placing ads in the paper and either charging admission or selling photos or illustrations.
This particular piece is of unknown origin (we do not know who she was or what her circumstances were). There was a bit of a debate on what "Hoops can't shine alongside of her - at least whalebone and steel ones" means, but it appears to me to be saying that no corset fits her.
It may seem unusual that one paper wrote the ad and sent it off to another paper, but in those days news traveled poorly, if at all, and newspapers were a beacon of distribution of actual events. Slow news day? More like a slow world, given it was 1857!
View attachment take3.jpg
This particular piece is of unknown origin (we do not know who she was or what her circumstances were). There was a bit of a debate on what "Hoops can't shine alongside of her - at least whalebone and steel ones" means, but it appears to me to be saying that no corset fits her.
It may seem unusual that one paper wrote the ad and sent it off to another paper, but in those days news traveled poorly, if at all, and newspapers were a beacon of distribution of actual events. Slow news day? More like a slow world, given it was 1857!
View attachment take3.jpg
