Ringling Brothers circus memorabilia scheduled for auction
When Richard Bennett attended his first Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus performance in Sarasota, Fla., in 1949, the 9-year-old boy couldn't have guessed just how much the circus would become a part of his life.
He worked as a clown for many years and befriended the widow of one of the Ringling brothers living in Baraboo, eventually amassing a large collection of circus memorabilia that will be auctioned in Chicago next month.
Among the items are large, full-color posters advertising the circus coming to various towns — the oldest date back to the turn of the last century — as well as circus wagon wheels, cast iron circus toys and other memorabilia.
"I'm 77 and have no family to pass it on to," said Bennett, adding that it's emotionally difficult to give up the collection. "It's very hard. I often think, 'should I keep this or keep that?' I decided to sell it before I heard about the Ringling Brothers Circus closing, which was very sad news."
Growing up near Devils Lake, Bennett befriended Ida Ringling, the widow of the youngest Ringling brother Henry. They dined together many times at her Baraboo home and talked about the early days of the circus. She was a font of knowledge since she had married into the famous Ringling family in 1902. Ida Ringling began giving Bennett circus memorabilia. The first items were route cards from 1901 showing the cities the Ringling Brothers Circus visited.
Bennett spent so much time at Circus World Museum that Great Circus Parade founder Chappie Fox asked him in 1964 if he wanted to work as a clown at the Baraboo site of the Ringling Brothers original winter quarters. Bennett became "Raz-bo" and worked 16 years as a professional clown with circuses, though not with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey.
He contacted the auction house last fall about selling his collection, a few months before Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced it was closing down in May.
Much of Bennett's collection is paper items, including menus from the Ringling Brothers' circus train dining car from 1903 and 1913. There are letters signed by the Ringling brothers, stationery, business cards, postcards, photos, circus route books from the 1880s through 1940s and turn of the last century circus programs.
There are two yellow lanterns that were hung on the circus train. A porter's xylophone used to let performers traveling on the train know when meals were ready. A red folding chair with the circus logo. A Detmer upright piano used in the traveling show between 1880s and 1890s.
Bennett collected cast iron circus-themed toys included circus elephant coin banks and horses pulling circus wagons. He also acquired wooden circus wagon wheels.
It's not just Ringling Brothers, and later Barnum & Bailey after the two circuses merged in 1919, but other circus memorabilia including posters and memorabilia from circuses run by the Cole Brothers, King Brothers, Hagenbeck-Wallace and the Gollmar Brothers, who were cousins of the Ringlings. A black metal 4-inch by 10-inch cash box from 1891 features "Gollmar Brothers" on the top, probably used to collect receipts and pay performers.
The sale of Bennett's circus collection by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will be held May 4 with previews April 30-May 3 in Chicago. The auction company is expecting interest from circus aficionados, train buffs, old toy and poster fans and anyone who has fond memories of the circus, said Maggie Stoeffel, director of business development at the firm's Milwaukee office.
Estimates for the 195 lots range from $80 to $120 for a collection of miscellaneous bills, contracts and telegrams from the early 1900s to $600 to $900 for circus posters.
Although the auction will be held at the Chicago office of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, buyers can also bid by phone, absentee bid or online. For more information visit lesliehindman.com.