Circus, Sideshow & Oddities

Flea Circus. American, ca. 1930s. An authentic vintage sideshow flea circus act, comprised of a wooden platform to which seven miniature metal carts, carriages, a cannon, and ball and chain are affixed; a genuine “dancing flea” tied to a small light pink feather, and four fleas stored in miniature glass vials; two string flea harnesses in an old wax wrapper; and a felted cloth wallet-like “flea hotel” with four fleas and harnesses (one flea loose from harness). Wooden platform 8” wide. Accompanying the lot is an unsigned handwritten paper describing five acts which the fleas would have performed, including “Sam Houston pulls his cannon”; “Caravan Race featuring Gypsy Rose Flea and Fan Dance Fannie”; “Jail Break Jake—ball is 500 times Jake’s weight”; “Rickshaw Race-Flea Manchu and Dr. Petrie”; and “Ben Hur.” Genuine vintage flea circuses and accouterments from the first half of the twentieth century are rarely seen, much less so in this state of completeness.