I live in Eau Claire. A friend said I should come with her to Durand. Durand? What’s in Durand? She smiled and just said,” Come with me to Durand. I have something to show you.

Okay, it’s a short trip, about 25 miles, so I’ll go. We drove to Durand. It’s a city of about 2,000 and is perched beautifully on the shore of the Chippewa River as it winds its way through Pepin County to the Mississippi. The city fathers say it’s the “Gateway to the lower Chippewa River.” 

Once we arrived in Durand, my friend told me to keep driving through downtown, and then she told me, “Pull in here.” I parked in front of the Corral Bar & Riverside Restaurant.  It had a beautiful location on the Chippewa, to be sure. We had a late lunch there, outside on a beautiful day. The Corral BLT was outstanding; it was real bacon, I thought.

My friend then walked me into what appeared to be an event room, suitable for weddings, special events, and the like. And then she said,

“Look at that!”

I did. The wall was covered with what looked like old-time art. Honestly, I had no idea what covered this wall. At first, I yawned and said, “Ho hum,” to myself. But the wall art absorbed my friend. She told me the wall was covered with an original lithograph poster advertising the Grand Anglo-American Circus that came to Durand in 1885.

Durand is the county seat and an old rail town like so many in the state. Evan Nicole Brown, writing for Atlas Obscura, said,

“In the early 19th century, when traveling circuses were emerging as a popular form of entertainment, trackside towns such as Durand made natural stops for menageries of train cars holding camels, tigers, elephant-riders, and more.

“But of course, this was all before television and radio (and before concerns about animal welfare penetrated the circus world), so the only way to get the word out about the coming extravaganza was through signs and billboards plastered up in each town.

“The company that printed the poster, Russell, Morgan & Co., was based in Cincinnati, which was, at the time, the lithograph capital of the world.”

Russell, Morgan & Co. changed names several times as it expanded its businesses. Initially, it printed theatrical and circus posters and expanded to manufacture playing cards.

Brigit Katz wrote about the discovery of this particular lithograph in Durand.  She said Ron Berger owns the Corral and decided to expand it. After cutting a hole in one of the walls, Berger was “surprised to see an illustration of a bison staring back at him. Over the following weeks, he gradually uncovered an entire circus scene: lions, giraffes, sea creatures, elephant riders and aerialists, all meant to entice locals to the Great Anglo-American Circus.”

The name “Miles Orton” shows up brilliantly at the top of the lithograph advertising that he, the circus owner, was “standing atop a galloping horse while holding two child acrobats, Allie and Bernard, on his shoulders.”

There is a summary of Miles Orton written by James A. Wagner, “The Circus in Iowa.” It’s worth a read. There are a raft of stories about the circus in Wisconsin, the most notable of which is the Ringlings’ rise in the American circus world. I did not know this, but the Ringling Brothers were born in Iowa!

While preparing this report, I found two fascinating studies about the circus. One is “Random Notes on the History of the Early Am, American Circus” by R.W.G. Vail. The second is “The Transnational History of the Early American Circus” by Matthew Wittman.  It is remarkable how much the circus is part of our culture and how many have written about it. 

I took some photos of the lithograph and didn’t think much more about it. However, a few days later, the lithographs popped to my attention. I had a rudimentary understanding of lithography and, as I would find out, not much of an understanding at all.

Lithography is far more technical than I had known. I decided to browse the Internet to learn what I could about it. It turns out there are several stories to tell. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an article that explains and shows how one prepares a lithograph. It says, 

“Lithography is a planographic printmaking process in which a design is drawn onto a flat stone (or prepared metal plate, usually zinc or aluminum) and affixed by means of a chemical reaction.” 

Man, oh man, I thought that was a mouthful. What are they talking about? But the Museum runs you through the process in an easy-to-understand way.

The Tate Britain Gallery in London tells us lithography is “A printing process based on the fact that grease and water don’t mix.” Incredibly, the process was developed in the late 18th century.

The Columbia Museum of Art explains, 

“Drawn from the ancient Greek word ‘lithos,’ which means ‘stone,’ lithography is a printmaking process.

“Unlike other printmaking processes like etching or block printing, which require cutting into the substrate's surface using acid or carving tools to develop an image, lithography involves drawing on the surface of a substrate (often a slab of limestone, hence the name ‘lithography’) with an oil-based medium like a special lithographic crayon or ink.”

I was amazed that Columbia said, “Artists can produce a lot of high-quality prints relatively quickly.” I suppose that’s true so long as you know what you’re doing!

I took some photos of the lithography at the Corral Bar & Riverside Restaurant. I recommend visiting. If you do, pick a nice day to sit back along the Chippewa River and get a BLT!