The highest price of the sale, $8,750, went to this original circa 1893 Sells Brothers Circus poster, Strobridge lithograph, approximately 28 by 42 inches ($4/8,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
SARASOTA, FLA. — Freedom Auction Company’s specialized sale on February 12, The Circus on Paper, celebrated the beauty of the circus through 814 lots of heralds, broadsides, couriers, handbills, posters, photography, books, costuming, Jerry Bangs material and other items, which earned a 95 percent sell-through rate.
The top price of the day went to an original and authentic Sells Brothers Circus poster from circa 1893, which just passed the high end of its $4/8,000 estimate to make $8,750. The Strobridge lithograph poster, which had been professionally conserved on linen, featured an advertisement for equestrian performers Mr William Showles and Miss Daisy Belmont, who were shown in portraits superimposed over action images.
A few other lots related to the Sells Brothers Circus crossed the block, ranging in price from $38 for a circa 1902 laminated broadside folio herald for Adam Forepaugh and the Sells Brothers featuring Diavolo, to $938 for a lot of three couriers for Adam Forepaugh and the Sells Brothers circa 1905.
Nearly 40 lots from the collection of Jerry Bangs were offered in the sale, with all but one lot finding a new home. According to catalog notes, Bangs was “a producer for circus clowns, musician, playwright, inventor, artist, comedy and gag writer and book author.” The highest-earning lot of the group contained hundreds of letters and postcards that Bangs wrote to his parents, ranging from as early as 1921 to 1961. Catalog notes further explained, “The bulk of the letters contain detailed accounts of Jerry’s experiences personally and professionally, including day-to-day accounting of his life with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.” Most were contained in their original postmarked envelopes, and many included notes made in graphite made by Bangs, while planning his unreleased book, My Twenty Years with Ringling. The lot far exceeded its $1,5/2,500 estimate, earning $7,813.
Bid to $4,688 was this lot of original manuscripts for Jerry Bangs’ (New Hampshire, 1903-1978) unpublished book, My Twenty Years with Ringling ($800-$1,200).
Earning $4,688 from the Bangs collection was a lot of original manuscripts for My Twenty Years with Ringling, as well as letters to and from publishers. Of Bangs’ book, catalog notes explained, “The book, while circulated widely to publishers, was never published or printed. The book was highly anticipated by circus fans and historians in the 1970s as Jerry continued to peddle it to publishers. When Jerry died in 1978, the book was left abandoned among his many circus treasures and was just discovered in 2025.”
Another well-performing lot from the Bangs collection was a collection of ten original drawings with watercolor by Bangs of Ringling-Barnum gag ideas, which he completed sometime in the 1930s. Despite a conservative estimate of just $300/500, the lot sold for much higher, charming bidders to $3,000.
Just under 200 lots in the sale were related to Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, and to no surprise, many of the lots associated with the famous circus company earned some of the highest prices of the day. Two vertical lithograph posters, one advertising the circus’ sideshows and the other advertising a French tour with a myriad of clown acts, sold for the highest prices of the category, at $5,625 and $4,375, respectively.
An original one-sheet Strobridge lithograph poster advertising “The Four Sisters Deike” and their first American appearance also attracted bidder attention, selling for $3,000. According to catalog notes, the Deike sisters were billed as “wizards of contortion” and were “known for their incredible flexibility and grace” as contortionists, equilibrists and tightwire acrobats.
This original Barnum & Bailey The Greatest Show on Earth poster advertised the first American appearance of The Four Sisters Deike, the “wizards of contortion.” The poster twisted to $3,000 ($2/4,000).
A unique Greatest Show on Earth prop offered was an original elephant headdress worn by Nelly the elephant, which came from the collection of longtime animal trainer and handler Roy Wells. The porcelain medallion was still mounted on its original leather harness and was marked “Nelly” on its reverse. Despite some wear and its upper straps being trimmed, the headdress realized a within-estimate $3,125.
Fifteen lots relating to Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus crossed the block, ranging in price from $75 for a lot of various magazines relating to the circus, to $3,438 for a circa 1929 poster on its old linen mounting which advertised “Ever-Popular Acts By The Most Highly Educated Mammoth Pachyderm Performers.”
Just under 20 lots of advertisement for the Adam Forepaugh Circus also sold, led by an unmounted circa 1880s painted poster measuring 26 by 34 inches. The poster advertised “Empress of the Arena M’lle Jeannette Bedeau, the World’s Famous Equestrienne,” and showed images of Bedeau doing various tricks on horseback in a fanciful yellow dress. At $3,125, the poster surpassed its $1,8/2,500 estimate to hang in its new owner’s home.
A selection of 20 lots of performance outfits from the circus wardrobe of Barnum & Bailey performers Venko and Inna Ilov, all designed and handmade by Inna, drew interest from bidders with their flair and bright colors, with prices ranging as affordable as $88 for a neon green ladies’ wardrobe top with bikini bottoms accented with emerald green beads, to $594 for a ladies’ wardrobe top and bikini bottoms and a men’s jacket and pants all decorated in red, amber and gold sequins with nude mesh.
Freedom Auction Company’s Spring Clean Discovery Auction will be its next sale, with a March date still to be announced.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, 941-725-2166 or www.freedomauctions.com.
