Yes, Sharon I agree on these ideas. You are so right about the exageration as part of the act. I should add that although hyperbole was second nature to Barlow, as to so many of the performers of the time, it has been possible to see behind the exageration in his case.   He did use his own rules and they are consistant. He carved his niche so cleverly that it's possible to spot him among hundreds of similar advertisments in old newspapers.

I also agree on your last point. The "Philadelphi" part of the name may be a double name-only connection from the Old World and the New. Barlow had been in America. He used Americanisms. He was keen to establish himself as being in the forefront of a new fashion in entertainment that was born in America. He did too.

Many years ago I wondered why he called himself "American Barlow" when he was born and raised in England. Now I believe it was in the sense that he'd conquered America -- a classical idea.
Onward and upward. Backward and further backward.
Cheers, Joy