Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

Circus, Sideshow & Oddities

Sat, Jul 29, 2023 12:00PM EDT
Lot 440

[BOWEN, Eli (1844 – 1924)]. Great Side Show! This Day, with...

Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$30 $10
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$1,000 $100
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$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000
[BOWEN, Eli (1844 ? 1924)]. Great Side Show! This Day, with the Circus! / The Wild Man. N.p., ca. 1860s-70s. Letterpress broadside on pale yellow paper, printed in various types, with a large central woodcut. 17 ? x 5?. Linen backed. Neatly restored along three horizontal folds and separations. While not explicitly named, the central attraction on this bill appears to be a young Eli Bowen, exhibited by sideshow operator Ham Norman. Bowen, billed as the ?Legless Wonder? and ?Legless Acrobat,? performed from the age of 13 and spent most of the next 50 years in show business, including with Barnum & Bailey.