Potter & Potter Auctions
Live Auction

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 559

Kittie Smith Armless Wonder signed postcard.

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$50

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

Kittie Smith Armless Wonder signed postcard. Circa 1900s. Postcard depicting Smith seated in a chair, typing with her toes, and signed below "Kittie M. Smith / 210 N. Paulina / Chicago, Ill." Printed, undivided back; not postally used.

Kittie Smith (1882 - 1967) lost her arms at age 10 after her alcoholic father severely burned her on a stove. She learned to write, draw, type, and do other tasks allowing her to live independently, while also becoming a disability advocate who occasionally appeared in circuses as an "armless wonder." In 1903, she was the first woman to vote in Chicago, casting her ballot with her toes.

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