Two historic circus wagons dominate the entrance to the new wing of the Tibbals Learning Center. The Five Graces bandwagon was built in 1878 for the Adam Forepaugh show. Later it toured Europe with Barnum & Bailey, pulled by a team of 40 horses. It is the oldest American circus wagon in existence. The Two Jesters Calliope wagon was originally built for Sells-Floto Circus and houses a 36-whistle steam instrument, the largest in the world.

SARASOTA, Fla. — With the recent opening of the New Wing of the Tibbals Learning Center, the Ringling Circus Museum at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is now the most significant circus archival and interactive space in the United States. Public exhibit space in the Tibbals Learning Center includes Howard Bros. Circus, which is the world’s largest miniature circus, the Circus in America panoramic display, featuring a historical timeline, plus circus ephemera from the legendary huckster, P.T. Barnum and General Tom Thumb. The newly added 11,000 square-foot Interactive Circus Space is where “children of all ages” can learn firsthand about the past, present and future of the American circus.

In addition to the public exhibits, the New Wing’s second floor houses the Tibbals Center for the Study of the American Circus. This is an educational facility for circus research by scholars, historians and curators with 12,475 square feet of climate controlled archival storage space. The new state-of-the-art storage facility, complete with LED lighting and computer-monitored climate control, provides space for one of the world’s largest circus paper collections, including more than 5,700 distinct historical circus posters.

The Tibbals Center for the Study of the American Circus features high density, storage shelving units in a room with more than 12,000 square feet of storage space.

The Howard Bros. Circus—a miniature with 50,000 pieces, including eight main tents, 55 railroad cars, 152 circus wagons, 1,500 performers and circus personnel, plus more than 700 circus animals—was created over a 50-year time span by master model builder, Howard C. Tibbals. The huge, yet tiny miniature circus occupies 3,800 sq. ft. and is on permanent display. It is enclosed within a hermetically sealed and climate-controlled 75,000 cubic foot encasement. One of my previous articles, titled “You Too Can Be a Circus Owner,” takes a look at Howard Bros Miniature Circus.

The Circus in America exhibit features a timeline that traces the history of the circus from antiquity to the modern-day Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Big Apple Circus, Cirque du Soleil and other shows. Noted pieces of circus ephemera on display include paintings, figurines, a silver tea service set from the home of P.T. Barnum, a diminutive chair, a tiny tuxedo, walking cane and sword belonging to General Tom Thumb, plus a circus chariot used in hippodrome races in the 1920s and a 150-foot miniature circus street parade featuring more than 500 hand-carved animals.

The ground floor of the new wing of the Tibbals Learning Center features interactive displays which include videos of circus performers past and present.

The new wing also includes a family-friendly Interactive Circus Space that focuses on the circus performance and is divided into different performance areas: acrobats and aerialists: performing animals and their trainers: clowns: daredevils: the ringmaster: and circus spectacles. There is also a hands-on circus family area, a theater and an education space. The exhibits explore the common ties linking all circuses past and present.

Photos courtesy of the Ringling Circus Museum.

Larry Kellogg is a Worthologist specializing in circus memorabilia.

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Howard C. Tibbals and the Howard Bros. Circus model—the largest miniature circus in the world—that has been more than 50 years in the making.

Owning your own circus is just a dream for most folks, but for a few it is a reality. I’m not talking about a real circus, but one in miniature. Circus model builders love the circus and have their own organization, Circus Model Builders. The organization dates back to the 1930s. Little Circus Wagon, the official publication of the Circus Model Builders, is published six times a year and is filled with detailed information to assist members. Click here for a link to the Circus Model Builders Web site.

Some model builders build their models of wagons and equipment from scratch, but for those who lack that skill, there are model kits. A Google search for “Circus Model Kits” will provide links to hundreds of sites for new and used kits. Older model kits manufactured by companies that are now out of business, like Wardie Jay, are readily available on eBay and other auction sites. Prices start as low as $5 or $10. You can bid on ready-to-assemble kits or models that have already been built. Some scratch-built wagon models can cost up to several hundred dollars.

Many museums house complete circus models, but the best of these is Howard Bros. Circus. It is located at the Ringling Circus Museum’s Tibbal’s Learning Center at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Fla. The entire Howard Bros. Circus—complete with eight main tents, 152 wagons, 1,500 circus performers and workers, more than 700 animals and a 55-car train—has a permanent home at the Ringling Circus Museum.

The Howard Bros. Circus midway.

A view inside the menagerie tent.

Elephants on the march to the big top.

A close look at the circus dining tent.

Tibbals looking into the horse and baggage tent.

The Howard Bros. Circus is a ¾-inch-to-the-foot scale replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus when the tented circus was at its peak (circa 1925-1938). It occupies 3,800 square feet in the 30,600 sq. ft. Tibbal’s Learning Center. This model is the largest miniature circus in the world and has been more than 50 years in the making by master circus model builder Howard C. Tibbals. The miniature, Howard Bros. Circus, is incredibly detailed and must be seen to be believed.

Tibbals saw his first circus as a 3-year-old. At the age of 5, he watched through a telescope, enthralled, as a circus set up on a nearby vacant lot. That impression stayed with him for life and jump-started his love of all things circus.

A trained engineer and a skilled craftsman, Tibbals began building miniature circus wagons and tents as a teenager. He wrote a letter to Ringling management asking permission to use the Ringling name on his miniature railroad cars and circus wagons, but was refused.

“Since circuses tended to bear the family name of the owner, I just started calling it the Howard Bros. Circus for fun,” Tibbals explains. “The name stuck, and now we have the Howard Bros. Circus that looks a lot like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus during its tented age.”

Over the years, Tibbals amassed thousands of historical circus photographs for his personal circus archives and used them for accuracy in building his models. He also visited circus back-lots and winter quarters to take measurements of individual circus wagons and other equipment.

The detail for each piece of circus equipment is as authentic as possible, down to the tiny tent stakes, rolls of thin cable, and diminutive dishes and tableware—enough to serve 900 performers and workers. And, just like the real three-ring circus of the 1920s-1930s, the Howard Bros. Circus equipment can be loaded into the ¾” scale wagons, and along with its menagerie, fits onto the 55-car train!

Portions of the Howard Bros. Circus have toured throughout the United States to the delight of countless admirers. It was displayed at many venues including the 1982 World’s Fair and the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tenn.; The National Geographic’s Explorers Hall in Washington, DC; The Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, N.Y.; The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich; The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis.; The Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The show found a permanent home at the Ringling Circus Museum in January 2006. It is the first time that the entire model has ever been assembled and able to be viewed by the public.

Here’s a link for more information about: Howard Bros. Circus and the Ringling Circus Museum.

Larry Kellogg is a WorthPoint Worthologist specializing in circus memorabilia.

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Buckles Woodcock, who hosts Buckles Blog, working with elephants in the 108th Edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

Circus blogs are an open window to the circus worlds of today and yesterday. The best of these blogs is Buckles Blog, which is updated every day. When searching for the latest and most exciting circus news, those in the know go to Buckles Blog first.

William “Buckles” Woodcock, a legendary elephant trainer whose circus family tree’s roots date back to Hiram Orton’s circus in Wisconsin in 1854. He launched his blog in 2004 and keeps it up to date with daily circus talk from around the world.

He and his wife Barbara were honored as Circus Celebrities by the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Fla., and Buckles was inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame in Peru, Ind. in 1995 and the Circus Ring of Fame in Sarasota in 1997. He retired from performing in 2004.

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Below is an alphabetical list of other circus blogs. If you know of any others that should be added to this list, please leave a comment below.

The Balloon Man: In his profile Dick Dykes reveals he has been a producer, promoter, booking agent, billposter and more, but the one thing that is closest to his heart is the souvenir business. He peddled balloons once, hence, the blog’s name. The blog is dedicated to anything having to do with the outdoor entertainment industry.

The Circus “No Spin Zone”: This blog has an emphasis on circuses, zoos, animal training and animal welfare/husbandry. Many of the blog entries feature videos of animals performing. The blog is maintained by Wade Burke, an accomplished animal trainer, who has worked with many animals including whales. Burke’s tiger act was featured with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in the 1980s and 90s.

A Mudshow Season: Ben Trumble is the author of this blog. He works in circuses and carnivals and lists his addresses as Everywhere, United States. He has worked at a little bit of everything, from a circus ringmaster to media relations person. The blog is about his day-by-day travels with the circus with frequent updates. His archives include entries while traveling with Carson & Barnes Circus. More recent blogs chronicle events on the road with Culpepper & Merriweather’s Great Combined Circus. It’s an interesting look at daily life on a circus.

My Days Are Circus Days: This blog belongs to Jim Peterson, who says, “If you know me, no explanation is necessary, and if you don’t know me, it doesn’t matter!” The site has lots of photos, but many are not identified. In following this blog, it helps to have some knowledge of the circus business.

Perky’s Home: Tim Perkins lives in Baraboo, Wis., and his blog centers around the activities at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. Many of his blog entries include photos of restoration work on historic wagons at the Museum.

Raffael De Ritis’ Novelties and Wonders: Blog contents are odd and unusual—an eclectic collection of entries, making it quite fascinating to read. Raffael has worked with circuses, festivals, operas and magic shows throughout Europe. He is an avid collector and historian of circus and magic. In 1999-2000 he directed the critically acclaimed Feld Entertainment production of Barnum’s Kaleidoscape, and the following year a production of Big Apple Circus in Lincoln Center. Raffael is the author of a number of books on circus, magic and theatre written in Italian, among them “Storia del circo- Dagli acrobati egizi al Cirque du Soleil (History of the Circus – Acrobats from the Egyptians to Cirque du Soleil).”

Random Circus: Many photos and videos are featured on this blog maintained by DanTheBooker [at] gmail [dot] com. Though there are no historical images, the blog highlights newer photographs, primarily from circuses currently performing.

Showbiz David: Author David Lewis Hammarstrom maintains this blog. He is the author of numerous books, including “Fall of the Big Top: The Vanishing American Circus,” and “Behind the Big Top, Circus Rings around Russia and Big Top Boss: John Ringling North and the Circus.” Hammarstrom has also written books about Broadway and his love of Broadway is a frequent topic on his blog.

Yesterday’s Towns: Bill Strong, who resides in Gibsonton, Fla., an area filled with carnival and circus people, hosts this circus blog. It is filled with historic images and you will spend hours browsing his monthly archives that go back to April 2006.

Larry Kellogg is a WorthPoint Worthologist specializing in circus memorabilia.

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