The
White Horses
The ring size of a real circus is made to be just
right for a galloping horse. Horses are as much a part of a circus as
elephants.
The white horse was introduced first in 1905. |
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer
Glass eyes
The ears are leather, the mane a cloth strip, and the tail is a
bundle of string. There is a halter on some of the GE white horses.

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed

Photo courtesy of Bertoia Auctions
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Photo by Judith Lile
Painted eyes
The main change in this design was to the horse's head. The mane was
painted. A leather halter is always present.

Photo by Judith Lile
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(Need reduced open mouth)(
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer
Reduced size, closed mouth, decal eyes

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer
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Photo by Jim Sneed
Decal Eyes
Later, the eyes were applied using decals. This
example, ca 1933, came with its colorful box.
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Humpty Dumpty Buttons
Sometimes, though rarely, Schoenhut put a very small metal button on
the belly of certain animals. The button reads: "Humpty
Dumpty".
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Pony Blitz
While not really part of the circus, the Pony Blitz was nevertheless
an interesting ride-on toy. The ad shown below illustrates this. The
photo above shows the Pony Blitz next to a regular size glass eyes white
horse. This hobby horse was mounted on a pull platform. This is a very
rare Schoenhut horse - only a few are known - perhaps only this one and
one other.

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A ca 1905 ad for the Pony Blitz.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.

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