Spotlight Exhibit Series

	E.T. Paull. Circus Parade March Two-Step. New York: E.T. Paull Music Company, 1904. Newberry Library Driscoll Collection box 345
	Clarke Family Juggling. Newberry Library American Circus Collection Box 5, Folder 61.

Ballyhoo! A Peek Under the Big Top
June 8 - July 10, 2007

From wagon to rail, the American circus brought entertainment to the masses. At the same time, it created an insular community of artists, performers, and misfits. These nomads labored from town to town, at times working a one-day stand only to spirit away in the night and wake at their next destination. Although not an American creation, the circus as we know it today is steeped in American tradition, offering a fantastical blend of vaudeville, athleticism, and imagination.

Drawing primarily upon the Newberry’s American Circus Collection, acquired from Chicago architect Irving Kane Pond in 1939, this display honors the July birthdays of two legendary showmen, P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey, and celebrates the artistry of the American circus.

So step right up and take a peek under the big top!

Object List

Photograph of Irving Kane Pond with “Lita,” August 3, 1933.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 84

Birthday Telegram from the Clarke and Hanneford families
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 93

Pond, Irving Kane. Big Top Rhythms, a study in life and art. Chicago: Willett, Clark and Company, 1937.
Newberry Library V 176 .7

Photograph of Al Powell Jr., Contortionist.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 85

Pen & Ink drawing of Al Powell Jr., Contortionist.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 39

Dan Rice Old Time Circus Songster. New York: New York Publishing Co., 1882.
Newberry Library Case -VM 1628 .D16

Bulger, Harry. Hey Rube! Words by J. Sherrie Mathew. New York: M. Witmark. & Sons, 1891.
Newberry Library Driscoll Collection box 345

E.T. Paull. Circus Parade March Two-Step. New York: E.T. Paull Music Company, 1904.
Newberry Library Driscoll Collection box 345

Official Program of the Adam Forepaugh Shows, World’s First Edition, Lake Front, Chicago, IL, June 5th to 18th, 1893.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 6 folder 99

Hagenbeck-Wallace Magazine and Daily Review 1934.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 1 folder 9

Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Magazine and Daily Review 1923.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 2 folder 12

Cole Brothers-Clyde Beatty Circus Magazine and Daily Review 1934.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 1 folder 6

The Clarke Family juggling lamps ca. 1937 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 61

The Flying Harold's, Trapeze artists 1937 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 69

Bombayo, acrobat, photo inscribed to Mr. Pond April 25, 1934
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 46

Bombayo in robe, 1939 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 49

The Hanneford Riding Troop, headed by great equestrian clown, Edwin (Poodles) Hanneford, wearing fur coat, August 9, 1937 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 70

Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Circus, July 31, 1936[ photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 7 folder 108

Bertie, tattooed by Red Gibbons, ca. 1928 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 46

George Harmon and Wife (Opal Clark), 1933 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 71

Miss Lone Carl, Lion tamer ca. 1920 [photograph].
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 5 folder 55

Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, 1891 [herald]. 
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 6 folder 100

“Looking Back at the Circus.” The Milwaukee Journal. July 30, 1939.
Newberry Library American Circus Collection box 6 folder 97