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Wooden Circuses

Many early circus toys were made from wood and wood products. The performers were either turned on a lathe and fitted with cloth suits like the Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty circus shown below, or cut from flat sheets and painted or lithographed like the Reed circus also shown below.

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed

Schoenhut's Humpty Dumpty Circus

The Schoenhut Company made their Humpty Dumpty circus primarily from wood, felt, paper,
and various wood and plaster compositions.

Photo by Jim Sneed

Reed's Gigantic Circus
This circus was made entirely of lithographed wood.
Photo by Jim Sneed

Photo by Jim Sneed
Photo by Jim Sneed