Promotional poster for an 1883 Hamburg Völkerschau, an “ethnographic exhibition” (of non-white people) or a “human zoo.” This poster was used to advertise one Carl Hagenbeck’s Völkerschauen, which had been immensely popular throughout Germany since their 1875 debut.

The text at bottom reads, in part: “Carl Hagenbeck’s newest Singhalese-troupe, men and women (from the Isle of Ceylon), including devil’s dancers, Udaky-dancers, stick-dancers, pot-dancers, and the Singhalese [female] ‘Verama,’ 25 years old and 90 centimeters tall. The Singhalese [Ceylonese] display themselves in their native costumes and offer their natives songs, customs, and fantastic dances.”