Obviously, this is a big crowd gathered on Spruce Street in downtown Searcy AR. So what are they watching? Pate Pearson has shared this picture AND his research. He discovered that Buster Brown and Tige was a traveling show that visited towns and it was very popular. He furthermore magnified the signs posted on the building so that they can be read. It does appear to be a performance going on as the third picture, magnified, seems to show.
I copied the information below from the research Pate Pearson provided. It can be googled and additional information will pull up.
Buster Brown and his dog Tige paid visits to towns and lots of people turned out to watch. Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault. The name Buster came either directly or indirectly from the popularity of Buster Keaton, at that time a child star of vaudeville. Pete the Pup, who played Tige, was later associated with the popular Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedies. Buster Brown's association with shoes began with John Bush, a sales executive with the Brown Shoe Company. He persuaded his company to purchase rights to the Buster Brown name, and the brand was introduced to the public at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The logo is still used today. (My kids wore Buster Brown clothing when they were little!) Midgets were hired by the Brown Shoe Co. to play Buster in tours around the United States. These little people, who were each accompanied by a dog, performed in department stores, theaters, and shoe stores from 1904 until 1930.
So it is very possible that Buster Brown was visiting Searcy AR!! Thank you, Pate Pearson, for sharing this information for this blog! Go here to see Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man, who also visited Searcy!! Be sure to read the comments at that blog.
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