Under the Marquee
Under the Marquee is your best source for the latest developments in circus history! Circus history is the focus of our blog and our e-newsletter, the Advance Car. Content is curated and vetted by knowledgeable circus historians.
Join our blog. Leave a comment, and join in the discussion. Subscribe below to our e-newsletter, the Advance Car.
M.L. Clark’s Herd of Performing Elephants (c.1910)
M.L. Clark and Son's Combined Shows M.L. Clark's Herd of Performing Elephants (c.1910) Donaldson Litho Co. - One Sheet Mack Loren (M.L.) Clark and his brother Wylie (W.C.) first started in the mud show business about 1885. Their circus - The Clark Bros. Shows -...
Sells-Floto Circus – 1915
"Country Roads - Take Me Home...." Imagine traveling on this dirt road in about 1915 and seeing a spectacular daub for Sells-Floto brightening up an otherwise drab scene. The posters are not clear enough to identify - except for the title sheet promoting "Captain...
Snap Wyatt – Sideshow Banners
Snap Wyatt Sideshow Banners - Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus This view of the 1961 Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. midway shows not only the big top in the distance, but also the bannerline painted by the best known of sideshow artists, David “Snap” Wyatt. Originally from...
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – 1933 – Boston
Photographer Leslie Jones had a tremendous vantage point for this picture taken at Boston's North Station yards in 1933. Note how many camels were with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey that season - no doubt a featured part of THE DURBAR OF DELHI spec. -Chris...
Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Wild West – 1926
Before there was a 101 Ranch Wild West there was a 110,000 acre farm and ranch owned by the Miller family near what is now Ponca City, Oklahoma. The Millers lived not far from Gordon Lillie, who had his own show known as Pawnee Bill's Wild West. When the Miller...
Denmark’s Circus Beneweiss – 1950
Circus fans in the United States often tend to focus on American circuses of our youth rather than the impact of Circuses internationally. In the immediate years following World War II, European circuses became a major form of entertainment on a continent still...