CIRCUS AUTOGRAPHS

These Autographs were collected by my Father over his lifetime! Stowe Vintage will feature Autographs of Hollywood Stars, Political Autographs, President's Autographs, Sports Autographs, Military Autographs, Entertainment Autographs, Authors Autographs, Historical Autographs, and More! Comes with a COA. Contact us at 802-253-7000 or stovint08@gmail.com.

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Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Barnum wrote several books, including The Humbugs of the World (1865), Struggles and Triumphs (1869), and The Art of Money-Getting (1880).

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Original P.T. Barnum Autographed Letter. Regular Price - $ 4500.00 / Sale Price - $ 1495.00.

Clyde Beatty (born June 10, 1903 in Bainbridge, Ohio, USA; died July 19, 1965) was a big game hunter who became famous as a lion tamer and animal trainer. He also was a circus impresario who owned his own show that later merged with the Cole Bros. Circus to form the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus. Beatty became famous for his "fighting act", in which he entered the cage with wild animals with a whip and a pistol strapped to his side. The act was designed to showcase his courage and mastery of the wild beasts, which included lions, tigers, cougars, and hyenas, sometimes brought together all at once in a single cage in a potentially lethal combination. At the height of his fame, the act featured 40 lions and tigers of both sexes. There is some indication that Beatty was the first lion tamer to use a chair in his act. Such was Beatty's fame that he appeared in films from the 1930s through the 1950s and on television until the 1960s. His "fighting act" made him the paradigm of a lion tamer for more than a generation. He is one of the caricatures at Sardi's restaurant in New York City created by Alex Gard which is now part of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library. In one of his most famous episodes, Clyde Beatty was attacked by one of his tigresses and saved by one of his lions, an episode that was reported internationally. He maintained that male lions would often dominate tigers, and would usually come out on top in fights against tigers of both sexes. In the 1997 film Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, the lion tamer Dave Hoover cites Beatty as a major influence on his career. The director Errol Morris uses several clips from Beatty's films during his interviews with Hoover. Clyde Beatty died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 62 in Ventura, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills. Original Clyde Beatty Autographed Photo, Signed: Best Wishes Clyde Beatty. Approx. Size 4 3/4 x 6 3/4, Black and White Photo. Regular Price - $ 1494.00 (Has sold elsewhere for $ 3500.00) / Sale Price - $ 750.00.

Thomas P. Parkinson held impressive careers as a journalist, editor, arena manager, circus historian, and public facilities consultant. In his early life he joined the army and became an Operations Sergeant, in the 80th infantry division, third army, in Europe. He received his bachelor degree in political science and history from the University of Illinois in 1943 and was senior editor of the Daily Illini, the campus newspaper. In 1947 he received his masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, married and began his career as a city hall reporter for The Shreveport Times in Shreveport, LA. Parkinson contributed to the history of the circus though research, authorship, and professional involvement. He took leadership roles in circus organizations including serving on the board of the Circus World Museums and serving as president of the Circus Historical Society, 1978-1981. He was also a member of the Showmen’s League of America. In connection with the Circus World Museum, he narrated two editions of the Milwaukee Circus Parade on public television. Parkinson worked with Charles Philip Fox to document the history of the circus, in the books, The Circus in America published in 1969; The Circus Moves by Rail, published in 1978; and Billers, Banners, and Bombast: The Story of Circus Advertising published in 1985. Another work the duo co-authored, Circus: Mighty Monarch of All Amusements, was never published. Original Thomas Parkinson Hand Written Autographed Letter, written on Tom Parkinson 42 Lange Avenue Savoy, Illinois 61874 Letter head. Hand written on Letter: Dear Frank: I am delighted to sign the book plates for you. Here they are. No "bother". Yes, we have several new books in the works. Maybe one in the spring, and a little later, on in the fall. But those are guesses. When you have lists of old circus books or other items, I would like to see it. Approx. Size 7 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches. Best Regards Thomas. Regular Price - $ 99.00 / Sale Price - $ 42.00.

Hugo Zacchini was born October 20, 1898 – died October 20, 1975. Hugo Zacchini was the first human cannonball. His father Ildebrando Zacchini invented the compressed-air cannon used to propel humans in circus acts. He was known for being a daredevil and a painter, and for being litigious. He was involved with a lawsuit that made it before the U.S. Supreme Court, Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., which he ultimately won. Zacchini sued Scripps-Howard, the owner of an Ohio television station, when it filmed, and then broadcast on the evening news, Zacchini's entire act of being shot out of a cannon at a county fair. The United States Supreme Court sided with Zacchini, ruling 5 to 4 that the publicity rights overrode the First Amendment rights in this case where the entire act was shown on television. Aside from his circus talents, Zacchini also held two engineering degrees from the University of Florida. Vittorio Zacchini was Hugo Zacchini's Uncle.

Original Hugo Zacchini & Vittorio Zacchini Autographs, signed on a page from a Circus Magazine. Approx. size 6 1/2 x 10 inches. Regular Price - $ 365.00 / Sale Price - $ 195.00.