Snapshots of the Past

Mathews & Bulger presenting rag time opera By the sad sea waves – Historic Poster Reproduction

Mathews & Bulger presenting rag time opera By the sad sea waves, 1898 — vintage poster
Mathews & Bulger presenting rag time opera By the sad sea waves, 1898. Vintage poster from the Vintage Theater Posters collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this vintage poster of Mathews & Bulger presenting rag time opera By the sad sea waves. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Mathews & Bulger presenting rag time opera By the sad sea waves

Order a print

Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal

Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.

Sign up for our newsletter

Sent securely. No purchase needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ask about licensing or this print

Few posters from 1898 advertise a "rag time opera," and this one puts the comedy team of Mathews & Bulger front and center under the title *By the Sad Sea Waves*. The color lithograph was produced by the Strobridge Lithographing Company of Cincinnati and New York, one of the leading American poster printers of the period, and the show was directed by Dunne & Ryley. Ragtime was then at the height of its popularity, and the production shows how theatrical managers borrowed the syncopated style to sell comic entertainment. The caption, "Playing to beat the band!", points to the lively, crowd-pleasing tone the advertisers hoped to convey.

Created / published1898
Medium1 print (poster) : lithograph color ; 72 x 48 cm.
Notes45216 U.S. Copyright Office Created and copyright 1898 by The Strobridge Lith. Co. Cincinnati & New York. Direction of Dunne & Ryley. Caption: Playing to beat the band! N.Y. no. 8165. · Mathews & Bulger. Dunne & Ryley.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Performing Arts Posters
Original scan2,005 × 3,019 px · prints to 7 × 10 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-THR-272933

More from the Vintage Theater Posters collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.