Potter & Potter Auctions
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Step Right Up: Circus and Sideshow Memorabilia

Thu, Sep 3, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-03 11:00:00 2026-09-03 11:00:00 America/New_York Potter & Potter Auctions Potter & Potter Auctions : Step Right Up: Circus and Sideshow Memorabilia https://auction.potterauctions.com/auctions/potter-potter/step-right-up-circus-and-sideshow-memorabilia-23625
Featuring the collection of lifelong circus collector John Diesso, this auction includes heralds, couriers, and posters advertising the "greatest shows" of yesteryear. Photographs, route books, scrapbooks, and circus costumes will be also be offered, spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A wide array of early European circus posters will be sold, along with a large library of circus books of several thousand volumes.
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Lot 152

Barnes Circus 28 Sheet Billboard Circus Poster. Color Lithograph, Seven Complete Sets. Dozens of extra sheets. Globe Poster Corp. Circa 1940.

Estimate: $1,000 - $2,000
Starting Bid
$500

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$30 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

Barnes Bros. Circus 28 Sheet Billboard Circus Posters. Globe Poster Corp, ca. 1940. Color lithograph billboard poster. Includes at least seven complete copies of this billboard, plus additional 60 x 44" sections (not fully counted). This was printed for a yearly Chicago Stadium show. When assembled size would be approximately 132 x 202". Most sheets are 44 x 60". One set of sheets get cut in two to complete the visual of the poster. Signed illegibly in plate by J. S. Homell(?). 

Condition

Some tears at edges throughout, but minor overall. Color is vibrant except for a few dozen sheets that have some toning, separate from the intact sets. 

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