In my earlier post,
The Real Alfred E., I traced the history of Alfred E. Neuman's image back to a poster for the stage play,
The New Boy, by Arthur Law and directed by Gustave Frohmann, which debuted at the Standard Theater in New York City, on September 17, 1894, after a successful run in London.
In that post, I was only able to provide black-and-white images from newspaper advertisements, a black-and-white parody of the original poster, and a severely faded image of the poster for a later touring company. I was unable to find any images of the original poster.
Here, in living color, is the original, full-color poster, from Gustave Frohmann's 1894 production of
The New Boy; courtesy of the
New York Public Library Digital Collections and
Anthony Balducci's Journal (with a slight bit of reconstructive surgery to restore the gap in his two front teeth, which is missing from the original, archived image):
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| "The New Boy" - Original New York Production Poster. |
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| Before reconstructive surgery. |
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| Poster for Bert Coote's Touring Company - no earlier than 1895. |
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| New Boy Ad - Los Angeles Herald, December 2, 1894. |
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| Political Cartoon - The Evening Telegram (New York), September 22, 1894. |
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| James T. Powers - as "The New Boy". |
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| James T. Powers - as "The New Boy" |
