Broadsides (single sheets of paper usually printed on one side) served as public announcements or advertisements soon after the beginning of printing. Originally issued primarily by governmental, religious and political bodies, broadsides were later used for advertisements, programs, notices, ballad verses, elegies and comments on contemporary events. They were read, handed out or posted in prominent locations and were an inexpensive way to reach a wide audience. Broadsides are documents created for a specific purpose and usually discarded once that initial purpose was accomplished. Broadsides are an important resource for many disciplines because the images and slogans provide snapshots of the events, ideas and attitudes of their era.

The Broadside Collection of The Connecticut Historical Society includes materials ranging in date from the late 17th century through the present day. Printing techniques present in the collection include woodcuts, wood engraving, engraving, and lithography. The collection focuses primarily on Connecticut history and culture but also documents national events such as wars and presidential elections.

These broadsides announced the arrival of new products and businesses and promoted the sale of countless forms of merchandise. The bulk of the collection dates after the Civil War, with advances in printing technologies and color lithography, as well as increased competition.

Advertisement for G.C. Clark Co. of New Haven Patent Medicines, ca. 1880.

Hand-colored advertisement for George W. Merchants celebrated gargling oil for horses by Hartford lithographers E.C. Kellogg & Co., ca. 1852.

Broadsides were an inexpensive method of selling poetry, ballads and satire. The Connecticut Historical Society’s collection includes carrier’s addresses, elegies, and patriotic, popular and satirical ballads.

Poem and song satirizing the leghorn bonnet and corset, printed between 1793 and 1826, with hand-colored wood cut showing exaggerated leghorn bonnet.

The Broadside Collection is especially strong in 19th- and early 20th-century playbills and programs that give a glimpse of popular culture and entertainment in Connecticut. The collection includes programs for the theatre, lectures, concerts, exhibitions, the circus and other amusements.

Connecticut WPA poster announcing the WPA Theatre’s production of “A Touch of Brimstone,” ca. 1930.

This part of the collection includes registers, memorials, recruitment posters, songs, and poems covering the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I.

Civil War recruiting notice for the Company of Connecticut Cavalry, Hartford, CT.

Included in this part of the collection are official notices of laws and regulations, proclamations, political election notices, political party materials, voter registration material, reports of town meeting and newspaper extras documenting Connecticut and United States history.

Detail of proclamation by Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, for a day of public fasting and prayer, dated 1774.