As early as 1931, Dorothy Herbert was taking her horse Satan across burning hurdles while blindfolded, but each season she pushed herself harder with even more spectacular stunts. In 1935, she presented an act that she later said was the most difficult thing she ever...
George Nestel, seen here with his manager William Ellinger, was billed as “Commodore Foote” when he appeared in Washington, D.C. with James Nixon’s Cremorne Garden Circus in 1862. The owner of the circus claimed that the “Commodore” was stronger, smaller and...
Just spell my name right! This rather scarce and attractive window card was used to promote the double repeating cannon act on the Cole Bros Circus of 1949. The poster features the image of Donaldo and Silvana Zacchini – although they are billed (and incorrectly...
This iconic lithograph was used in 1925 to promote not only the magnitude of the circus, but also the fact that on the morning of circus day there would be a “free show” as the trains unloaded in the local railyards. This city on wheels usually traveled in four...
This is the story of “Princess Wenona,” a rival of Annie Oakley and one of the great trick shot artists of the Wild West era. First of all, despite the billing, she wasn’t a Sioux princess at all. Her real name was Lillian Smith and she began shooting competitively...
