Not on display

Hanging card advertising the ten-year old El Nino Eddie on the tightrope

Poster
1865 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The tightrope walker and rope-dancer El Nino Eddie (1855-1923), the son of the American equestrian and circus director Richard (Dick) Rivers Eddie Rivers (1855-1923), was born in New York City. He made his circus debut in 1863 aged eight as a tightrope performer at Chiarini’s in Havana, Cuba, where he was called El Nino. On his return to the States in 1865 his father advertised him as ‘the Infant Blondin’, capitalising on the success of Blondin, Jean-Francois Gravelot, who had first crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope in 1859.

El Nino Eddie was also an excellent equestrian performer, appearing with his father in Lewis B. Lent and Nat Austin’s Lent’s New-York Circus. In 1865 the British agent F. Strange brought ten-year-old El Nino to London, Bristol, and Kent, advertising him as ‘the American Child Wonder’ for appearances including those at the Canterbury Hall, April1865 and the Royal Alhambra Palace, July 1866

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleHanging card advertising the ten-year old El Nino Eddie on the tightrope
Materials and techniques
Printed ink on paper
Brief description
Hanging card advertising the tightrope walker and equestrian acrobat El Nino Eddie, 'The American Wonder (1855-1923). Colour lithograph by Ledger Job Printing, Philadelphia, 1865.
Physical description
Pictorial and typographic.
Dimensions
  • Poster height: 38.8cm
  • Poster width: 31.8cm
Object history
Associated Production: El Nino Edde. Performers: El Nino Eddie (highwire act). Performance category: circus, highwire act. Production type: tour. El Nino Eddie was billed as 'The American Wonder, aged ten years'.
Subject depicted
Summary
The tightrope walker and rope-dancer El Nino Eddie (1855-1923), the son of the American equestrian and circus director Richard (Dick) Rivers Eddie Rivers (1855-1923), was born in New York City. He made his circus debut in 1863 aged eight as a tightrope performer at Chiarini’s in Havana, Cuba, where he was called El Nino. On his return to the States in 1865 his father advertised him as ‘the Infant Blondin’, capitalising on the success of Blondin, Jean-Francois Gravelot, who had first crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope in 1859.

El Nino Eddie was also an excellent equestrian performer, appearing with his father in Lewis B. Lent and Nat Austin’s Lent’s New-York Circus. In 1865 the British agent F. Strange brought ten-year-old El Nino to London, Bristol, and Kent, advertising him as ‘the American Child Wonder’ for appearances including those at the Canterbury Hall, April1865 and the Royal Alhambra Palace, July 1866
Collection
Accession number
S.5122-1995

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Record createdAugust 3, 2010
Record URL
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