 The ticket to the left bears the likeness of "Carter The Great" (born Charles Joseph Carter, June 14, 1874 - died February 13, 1936). The exact age of this ticket is unknown, since there are no show dates, and no theater name is indicated. The lack of this information provides little help in trying to track down it's origin. However, judging by the Carter portrait used, it could be that this ticket dates back to sometime during the late 1910's or early 1920's.
After researching Carter's supposedly accurate touring schedule, possible dates could be as early as April of 1918, when Carter appeared on Broadway at New York's Belmont Theater on West 48th Street, or August of 1919, when Carter played in California, at the San Francisco Hippodrome. Perhaps another date could be 4 years later in June of 1923, when Carter returned from Japan to play the Curran Theatre, also in San Francisco.
Another possible scenario might be that the ticket was used during the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, when Carter's "Temple Of Mystery" pavilion opened on the midway in the Century Of Progress Exposition. Carter, then nearing 60 years of age, might have purposely used an older ticket which included an older portrait, in hopes to give himself (and his show) a more youthful appearance.
Although there is some doubt as to when this ticket was issued, there is little doubt as to how it was used. The fact that there is no address or date mentioned on the ticket, leads one to believe that this "complimentary pass" was most likely used at various times during Carter's career, and probably given out in close proximity to the theaters where Carter was performing. Perhaps to people just walking by in the street, in order to "pad" the audience during a particular performance.
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