In memory of Bob

This nine-second AI animation brings to life one of my favorite vintage posters: a 1909 broadsheet promoting Consul Patsy, a circus monkey who toured Europe in the early twentieth century (pictured at the end of this post). People flocked from far and wide when he came to town because he could do almost anything—ride a bicycle, swing from a trapeze, eat with a knife and fork, and, unlike yours truly, solve basic math problems.

Printed in Hamburg, the poster depicts Consul riding his bike down a bustling boulevard. I particularly love the pencil-rendered reactions of the crowd, especially the kid on the far right throwing his hands up in amazement. You can almost imagine what he’s saying: “OMG, a monkey on a bike!”

I found the poster on eBay in the late nineties. The seller was asking $700, but it failed to sell and wasn't re-listed when the auction ended. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I messaged her, explained I was a collector, and promised that if she sold it to me, I would proudly hang it in the lobby of my marketing agency. I assumed she would reply she wanted $700, and I was prepared to pay that much for it.

She wrote back explaining that she was elderly, facing a terminal illness, and just wanted to make sure the poster went to someone who would love it as much as she had. She agreed that a creative agency lobby sounded like the perfect home—and, without me even asking, offered to sell it for half her original price.

When it arrived, one of my employees remarked that Consul looked the spitting image of a former colleague we all detested. So I had the poster framed with a custom plaque at the bottom that reads: "In memory of Bob."

It was proudly displayed in the agency’s lobby and hangs in our den today.  I smile every time I see it—not just for the incredible graphics, but for Consul’s uncanny, eternal resemblance to Bob.