Collecting trade cards was a popular hobby in the late 19th Century, and although it wasn’t the primary method of advertising, circuses did respond to the craze by issuing a number of fine cards to promote their shows. This particular card was printed by the...
This photograph of the Barnum & Bailey midway shows “Zip The Whatisit?” playing his violin. Zip is believed to have first started working for P.T. Barnum in 1857 – and continued to perform as a sideshow attraction until his death in 1926. The...
Although this photo appears in the Al G. Barnes Sells-Floto program of 1938, it is older than that and could have been taken on Ringling-Barnum or any of the “Corporation Shows” that were purchased by John Ringling in 1929. -Chris Berry...
This photograph of the Sells-Floto train prior to being unloaded dates from late May 1922. This image is among the thousands of negatives in the Leslie Jones Photo Archives at the Boston Public Library. From 1917-56 Leslie Jones took many photos of circuses in Boston...
Leslie Jones was a prolific photographer for the Boston Herald-Traveler newspaper. Thousands of his negatives are now at the Boston Public Library including hundreds of never before published circus photos. This photograph was taken on the Boston lot of the...
On April 17, 1914 the Sells Floto Circus featuring Buffalo Bill paraded through San Luis Obispo, California. Fortunately for us, a snapshot of the event was captured on film. No one then could have imagined that this moment in time would be visible more than 100 years...
