A montage of early pantomime programmes which will be with performing arts ephemera dealer Sarah Wyatt at the Ephemera Society’s winter fair on December 3.
Back left, a c.1900 Dick Whittington poster by Stafford & Co, priced at £170, and bottom left, an 1850s pantomime music cover with an engraved illustration of traditional commedia dell’arte characters, ‘as sung by Sam Cowell’ (1819-64), available for £65.
Outlandish costumes, double entendres, ugly sisters, men in drag, custard-pie-throwing, celebrity turns and boo-hiss audience participation are all part of today’s classic Christmas panto.