European

Schoenhut's Humpty Dumpty circus became such a popular toy in Europe in the early 1900s, that it was imitated by companies in both Germany and France. The names of these companies are currently lost to old toy history but further research may tell us who they were. We have found no evidence that these companies made their versions under license from the A. Schoenhut Co. We have not found either the Schoenhut name nor the title "Humpty Dumpty Circus" on any ad or box. The circuses shown below were almost certainly made prior to WWI. If you have any wooden circus pieces similar to the ones shown on this page or information about them, please contact Jim at: jlsneed2@bellsouth.net
Image courtesy of Barry Smoler
3010 New German Wooden Circus with very finely executed, extremely original, moving figures together in various settings (prices) --- Export price list free ---	Deutscher Holzcircus The box above shows a great illustration of the "Deutscher Holzcircus" (German Wooden Circus). Each actor and animal was designed to be compatible with the US-made Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty circus. The actors, however, appear to be a bit better painted than the Schoenhut ones. At left is a German circus set shown in a Hermann Kurtz in Stuttgart / Germany toy catalog from ca 1914. This set sold for 48 Deutschmarks, much cheaper than an equivalent Schoenhut set which sold for about 100 Deutschmarks at the time. Actors are similar to Schoenhut's. The Lady Rider in this set appears to have doll's hair. Notice the Tom Thumb - like figure just above the barbell. Three uniquely dressed clowns are shown along with a hobo, minstrel, lady rider, ringmaster, and a figure unique to this circus shown in striped pants. This figure may be an outside talker commonly known as the barker. Outside talkers were the persons whose job it was to get the crowd interested in the sideshow performances. Accessories in this set included flags, six juggling pins, a seesaw, hoops, chairs, a pedestal, barrels, tubs, ladders, and a couple of unidentified objects. Animals included in this set were a regular size elephant and a smaller one, a white horse, a donkey, a pig, a goat, and a poodle.
Image courtesy of Barry Smoler European Clowns Shown here are three different clown designs from these European circuses.
Photo courtesy of Hermann Strauss	Photo courtesy of Hermann Strauss The Clown This is an example of one of the clowns from a German (or perhaps French) Wooden Circus. Notice that his costume features the same mushroom people seen in other European clowns. His hair looks like clowns whose hair has been pulled into pointed tuffs and tinted various colors.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Barry Smoler Clowns These small (6 inch) clowns are very well done.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed and Barry Smoler White Face Clowns The suits for the white face Euro clowns are found with oddly printed horses, bald men, mushroom people and other figures.
Ruffs Most of the Euro clowns feature a lace ruff and lace at the ends of the sleeves.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Barry Smoler Euro Red Horse This horse's body color is unusual. The yellow glass eyes are striking. There originally might have been a platform on his back.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Barry Smoler
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Euro White Horse This white horse features the same hinge system seen on some elephants. There is never a need to restring this horse. This is the only known specimen. His maker is unknown but likely German or possibly French.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed This Euro camel is strung together with elastic cords but all 5 cords are glued directly to the body rather tan passing through from one joint to another as the Schoenhut cords are.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Euro Glass-eyed Camel This European-made camel is the only one we've seen. He stands about 22 cm (about 9 inches) tall. The ears appear to be painted leather and the tail twine.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Barry Smoler Euro Goat The European version of the goat is almost identical to the A. Schoenhut one. The eyes are painted differently, the mouth is smaller, and the leather beard has more "fingers".	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed and Barry Smoler The Euro goat compared to the A. Schoenhut goat. Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed and Barry Smoler
Photo by Jim Sneed Lady Rider The Lady Rider is exceptionally nice. Both her slotted shoes and her crab-claw hands show that this lady was designed to be compatible with Schoenhut's Humpty Dumpty circus. Her height is about 8.5 inches or 21 cm.	Photo by Har Simons Lady Rider The German Lady rider head features are exceptionally well crafted head and is slightly bigger than the Schoenhut lady rider's head. It appears to be made out of a high quality composition material so a production mold was made and a number produced.
Photo by Jim Sneed Heavy Weights These 50 lbs (or 50 kilogram) kettle weights are shown in the 3010 New German Wooden Circus set above. Each is about 1.5 inches tall.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Barry Smoler Elephant Several styles of Euro elephants have been found. This one is almost identical to the Schoenhut model but features an all wood truck with a turned-up trunk tip. He is painted a greenish-grey.
Photo courtesy of Hermann Strauss Cow This cow looks very similar to Humpty Dumpty circus ones but is smaller and has a synthetic set of horns.	Photo courtesy of Hermann Strauss Elephant and See-Saw This elephant is held together with hinges rather than elastic bands. The truck tip has broken off on this example. The see-saw looks like the one shown in the Deutscher Holzcircus set shown above.
Photo by Jim Sneed Donkey A common characteristic of the European donkeys are the holes in the head for the ears. Schoenhut donkeys do not have these ear holes. Body and leg shapes are somewhat different.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee French Lion This lion, probably from the French circus, is about the same size as the Schoenhut lion.
Image courtesy of Barry Smoler The German Strongman Notice the well done but oversized head.	Image courtesy of Barry Smoler Max and Moritz These Max and Moritz figures are similar to the Schoenhut versions and were obviously made for the Humpty Dumpty circus.
Image courtesy of Barry Smoler The Great French-American Circus The clown in the front right and the white horse appear to be French while the others are Schoenhut and probably not original to the boxed set. The box label is most interesting.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed and Barry Smoler A Euro-Circus
Photo courtesy of Andy Yaffee A Euro Alligator This alligator is exceptionally well done. It consists of 8 body segments and slithers when moved.
Photo courtesy of Andy Yaffee The Alligator's Head
Photo courtesy of Werner Ivo of Holland Toys Elephant This Euro elephant is distinctive due to his hinge joints at the trunk tip and legs. He was probably made by the same company who made the Euro white horse shown above.	Photo courtesy of Werner Ivo of Holland Toys Elephant This elephant's eyes are well painted with lots of detail.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed	Photo courtesy of Suzy Vincent French Clowns ? These two actors were found in the Netherlands and may be French. The head of the one on the left is painted like a white-face clown. The head of the figure on the right is painted similar to the Schoenhut hobo clown. Notice the tapered legs of the hobo. The claw hands of the clown are flattened.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
Photo courtesy of Suzy Vincent Ladder and Chair Notice that the chair is quite different from the Schoenhut chair.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed and Barry Smoler Euro White Horse This Euro white horse (on right) is beautifully carved. Due to a better designed body, his head can be raised higher than the Schoenhut white horse at left.
Photo courtesy of Suzy Vincent Euro Tent	Photo courtesy of Suzy Vincent Carl Jaeger's Circus Tent Carl Jaeger may have been distributor rather than a manufacturer.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed The Euro Lady Rider Performs