Content note: Advertisement for a film that presents the Ku Klux Klan as heroic rescuers; the ad promotes the 'wild ride of the Ku Klux Klans' as a spectacle. This object is shown as it was published. Why
'The Great American Play at Last!' The Birth of a Nation, Lyric Theatre advertisement (Allentown, 1916)
A newspaper advertisement for D. W. Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation lists its audience in numbers: '830 consecutive performances in N. Y.', '400 times in Chicago', '300 times in Boston', and '20 Million People Have Seen It Without Adverse Criticism'. The tell is the stacked attendance figures standing in for argument; the ad also advertises the 'wild ride of the Ku Klux Klans' as a spectacle.
- Date
- March 18, 1916
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Lyric Theatre, Allentown, Pennsylvania (W. D. Fitzgerald, manager)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Advertisement
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Techniques
- Bandwagon
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (US newspaper advertisement published 1916; Commons PD-US)
The Allentown Leader, 18 March 1916, via Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
Back By Pop- ular Demand. Last Chance to See It LYRIC THEATRE W. D. FITZGERALD, Manager. Last Times In This Vicinity Week Starting Monday Matinee, March 27---Matinee Every Day The Great American Play at Last! D. W. GRIFFITH'S EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD 18,000 People 3,000 Horses 8 Months to Produce Cost $500,000 Symphony Orchestra of 30 830 Consecutive Performances in N. Y. 400 Times in Chicago 300 Times in Boston 200 Times in Philadelphia THE BIRTH OF A NATION Production Exactly the Same as the One at Liberty Theatre, N.Y. SEE BIGGEST BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTED. CITIES BUILT UP ONLY TO BE DESTROYED BY FIRE. FORD'S THEATRE RE-PRODUCED FOR THE LINCOLN TRAGEDY. WILD RIDE OF THE KU KLUX KLANS. 20 Million People Have Seen It Without Adverse Criticism EVENING PRICES:---Entire Lower Floor, $1.00; First 3 Rows in Balcony, 75c; Balance, 50c; Gallery, 25c. MATINEE PRICES:---First 7 Rows, 75c; Balance, 50c; First 3 Rows Balcony, 50c; Balance, 25c; Gallery, 25c. Seats for any performance now on sale.
