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 403

Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. Collection of 12 couriers.

Estimate: $400 - $800
Starting Bid
$200

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

Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. Collection of 12 couriers. Circa 1897 - 1918. A group of couriers spanning the late 1890s to 1918, shortly before the show combined with Barnum & Bailey. Includes couriers with covers featuring large spectacles including Cinderella, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Joan of Arc, Jerusalem and the Crusades; and others featuring the circus's street parade and acts including The Flying Grigolatis Girls, Autombile Somersault, and others.

Size generally 16 x 11" or slightly smaller.

Condition

Generally clean and stable; some tape repairs, edge chipping, soiling, and smudging. 

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