This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/24/2022
BRADNA, Fred (1871-1955) and Ella (1879-1957). Extensive file of photos, correspondence and ephemera. Including (20) photographs and photograph postcards of Fred and Ella Bradna, among them an early cabinet portrait of Ella Bradna and Fred Derrick, SIGNED by Ella; a 2-inch file folder containing numerous letters and correspondence to Bradna, mostly related to his book The Big Top (1952); (2) blank contracts to Fred Bradna’s Indoor Circus; and a stack of clippings. An impressive group on the legendary equestrian director and ringmaster of R.B.B.B. Bradna found his way to Barnum & Bailey by marrying Ella, an equestrienne who is said to have fallen into his lap during a performance in Bradna’s native Germany. The couple came to the United States in 1903 and worked together on a bareback riding act. But it was as “field marshal of the Greatest Show on Earth” that Bradna left an indelible mark on the American circus: “In silk hat, Prince Albert Coat, white tie, he whistled and shouted the hours of circus pageantry to rigid schedule from the center of the arena. His trim, erect figure and multilingual speech were even better known to circus performers he directed.” (New York Times, 22 Feb. 1955).