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 188

Panoramic photograph of a street fair or carnival with sideshow attractions.

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

Panoramic photograph of a street fair or carnival with sideshow attractions. American, ca. 1900s. Silver print panoramic photograph, on unmarked card mount, depicting a large crowd gathered in the street, with booths and banners set up along the sidewalks including for sideshow attractions Bosco the Abyssinian Snake Eater; Zona, Queen of Reptiles; Arizona Snake Farm; Boxing Girls; and The Palace of Mystery. 

At center right is a banner reading "Baseball" above a cart (possibly vending or display), and other banners advertise "Square Meals" and post-cards "finished in 10 minutes."

6 3/8 x 20 1/2" on 9 1/2 x 22 1/2" mount. 

Condition

Spotting to mount; slightly curled/bowed; corners creased at left.

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