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 429

P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth courier, 1885.

Estimate: $200 - $400
Starting Bid
$100

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

P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth courier. Philadelphia: Morrell Brothers, 1885. Fold-out courier advertising Barnum's Great 4 Ring London Circus, with illustrations of Jumbo, Jo-Jo the Dog Face Russian Boy, and bold descriptive text on both sides. 

19 7/8 x 26 3/4" (open). 

Condition

Date inked in margin; closed tear into vignette of Jo-Jo; some splits and tiny losses. 

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