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 201

MILLIE-CHRISTINE (Millie and Christine McKoy, 1851-1912). Cabinet Card Portrait. Circa 1880s.

Estimate: $300 - $500
Starting Bid
$150

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

MILLIE-CHRISTINE (Millie and Christine McKoy, 1851-1912). Cabinet Card Portrait. New York: Eisenmann, ca. 1880s. Cardstock mount with scalloped edges. Full-length portrait of the conjoined twins, also known as the Two-Headed Nightingale, The Eighth Wonder of the World, and The Carolina Twins, who were born into slavery in 1851 and sold to a showman before they were one year old. They were exhibited in the U.S. and abroad by several managers and owners. After the Emancipation Proclamation ended their slave status, they continued to perform, including in P.T. Barnum's American Museum. 6 1/2  4 1/4". 

Condition

Toning, staining, and bumped corners. Very good.

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