Broadside

Printed lyrics of folk songs were extremely popular from the 16th century until the early 20th century. They were commonly known as broadsides or broadsheets. Over time, the name came to refer to any printed matter confined to one side of a single sheet of paper, such as handbills, advertisements, posters, etc.

Broadsides were generally printed on one side of a single sheet of paper, and included only the lyrics and a note designating the tune. Since folk tunes were used and reused, people generally only needed to learn the words. It was a common practice to paste the sheets to a wall, and consult them until the song was learned, after which they were torn down or pasted over with another broadside.

One of the first known broadsides was A Lytel Geste of Robyne Hood, printed in 1506. They became immensely popular through most of western Europe, England and the United States. After a brief burst of popularity in the late 19th century, broadsides fell into decline and were completely supplanted by other media in the early 20th century.