Guide to the Bill Watson Scrapbook Collection of Circus Photographs, 1897-ca.1985, CTC.2018.01

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Bill Watson Scrapbook Collection of Circus Photographs
Creator
Watson, William A.
Collection Number
CTC.2018.01
Extent
9 Volumes
Date
1897-ca.1985
Abstract
The Bill Watson Scrapbook Collection of Circus Photographs contains approximately 2,000 images of circus performances from throughout the 20th century. Most of these performances took place in Pittsburgh or Western Pennsylvania. The nine scrapbooks were created by Bill Watson, a member of the Circus Historical Society, Circus Fans Association of America, and the Circus Model Builders.
Language
English .
Author
William Daw.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Abigail Myers and William Daw in 2019.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Between the Covers Rare Books Inc., in 2018.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Biography

William A. Watson was born on June 29, 1908 in McKees Rocks, Pa., to William T. Watson and Mary (Staab). Watson worked as a printer at Herbick & Held printing on Pittsburgh's North Side. Watson became enamored with the circus at an early age and worked as a clown at local circuses during the 1940s. Watson attended the final performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus under the Big Top at the Heidelberg Raceway in July 1956. After retirement, Watson began to lecture on circus history at local schools, church groups, and retirement homes.

Another of Watson's hobbies was model trains. In 1947, he saw an advertisement for the Circus Model Builders in a model train publication. Over the next several decades, Watson assembled a ¼ inch scale model of the Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus Big Top circa the 1940s. The model included over 6,000 figures and was displayed at toy and model shows, churches, the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, and the Allegheny County Fair. Watson was a member of the following organizations: the Graphic Communications Union, the Cadets of the Catholic Knights of St. George at the St. Canice Chapter in Mt. Oliver, the Boy Scouts of America, the Circus Historical Society, Circus Fans Association of America, and the Circus Model Builders. William Watson died March 21, 2010, at the age of 101.

Scope and Content Notes

The Bill Watson Scrapbook Collection of Circus Photographs contains nine scrapbook volumes. The scrapbooks contain several thousand photographs dating from the 1890s through the 1980s. These photographs capture images of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus or circus model exhibits. The majority of these photos were taken in the Southwestern Pennsylvania area. However Watson did make several trips to circus performances in other states. There are many photos from Wisconsin where the Great Circus Parade took place in Milwaukee and Baraboo (the home of the Circus World Museum).

The labelling is not consistent from scrapbook to scrapbook. Although, the first several scrapbooks list the names of the circus companies, locations, and dates of the performance on the pages near the photographs.

The scrapbooks themselves are a mix of photographs glued down onto paper and photographs inserted into plastic sheets and collected in binders. The first two volumes of the collection are fragile and have pages that have come loose from the binding of the scrapbook.

Preferred Citation

Bill Watson Scrapbook Collection of Circus Photographs, 1897-ca.1985, CTC.2018.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Related Material

Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of Performing Arts Photographs, CTC.Photos, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows
    • Great Circus Parade
    • Circus World Museum (Baraboo, Wis.)
    • Circus Model Builders International

    Personal Names

    • Watson, William A.

    Genres

    • Scrapbooks

    Other Subjects

    • Aerialists -- United States
    • Clowns -- United States
    • Sideshows -- United States
    • Circus animals
    • Circus workers
    • Circus -- Pennsylvania
    • Circus -- United States -- History -- Pictorial works
    • Circus wagons
    • Circus performers

Container List

Scrapbook 1, 1897-1950
Containers
volume 1

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 1 is a photo album with photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus exhibits. There are approximately 400 images in the 90-page album. All of the images are black and white. Bill Watson appears in several of the photos in this volume, sometimes in clown makeup and costume.

The circus performances documented in this album were performed in the following Pennsylvania towns or cities: Bethel Park, Baldwin, Castle Shannon, Johnstown, Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Latrobe, McKeesport, Mount Oliver, Rochester, Washington, and West View (at West View Park). There are also images of circuses being performed at Forbes Field in the neighborhood of Oakland in the city of Pittsburgh.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: Al G. Barne's Circus, Barnett Bros. Circus, Barnum & Bailey Circus, Bertram Mills Circus, Biller Bros. Circus, Bud E. Anderson's Circus,Christy Bros. Circus, Cole Bros. Circus, Dailey Bros. Circus, Dales Bros. Circus, Hagenbeck & Wallace Circus, Howe's Great London Circus, James M. Cole Circus, John Robinson's Circus, King Bros. Circus, Mills Bros. Circus, Monroe Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Robinson Bros. Circus, Roy Rogers Circus, Sells & Downs Circus, Sells Bros. Circus, Sells Floto Circus, Spark Circus, The Big One, Van Amburg Circus, World of Mirth Carnival.

Scrapbook 2, 1946-1965
Containers
volume 2

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 2 is a photo album with photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus exhibits. There are approximately 700 images in the 108-page album. Most of the images are black and white, but there are several in color.

The circus performances documented in this album were performed in the following Pennsylvania towns or cities: Allentown, Canonsburg, Castle Shannon, Hershey, Indiana, Johnstown, West Mifflin (at Kennywood Park), New Castle, Swissvale, Washington, and West View (at West View Park). There are also images of circuses being performed at Forbes Field in the neighborhood of Oakland in the city of Pittsburgh.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: Al G. Kelly & Miller Bros. Circus, Beers-Barnes Circus, Biller Bros. Circus, Buzzie Potts Ring Inc. Circus, Christy Bros. Circus, Clyde Beatty Circus, Clyde Beatty & Cole Bros. Circus, Cole Bros. Circus, Cristiani Wallace Bros. Circus, Gollmar Bros. Circus, Hagen Bros. 3 Ring Circus, John Pawling Circus Ring, King-Cristiani Circus, Lewis Bros. Circus, Mills Bros. Circus, Ring Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Sells & Gray Circus, Strate's Shows, Terrell Jacobs Ring Outing, The Mighty Haag Shows, Tom Pack's Circus, and the Wallace Bros. Circus.

Scrapbook 3, 1945-1967
Containers
volume 3

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 3 is a photo album with photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus exhibits. There are approximately 500 images in the 107-page album. The photographs measure either 3.5 x 3.5 or 3.5 x 5 inches and are in both black and white and color. A note in the scrapbook states that while some of the photographs were taken in the 1940s, they were not printed till the 1960s. Therefore, some of the dates printed on the photographs do not accurately represent when the photos were taken.

In contrast to the other scrapbooks in the collection, most of this scrapbook contains images taken outside of Pennsylvania. Most of the photographs were taken in Milwaukee and Baraboo, Wisconsin. The circus performances in this album from Pennsylvania were performed in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The performances in Pittsburgh took place at Forbes Field or the Civic Arena.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: 101 Ranch Wild West Show, Bill Hall's Shows, Bill Hame's Shows, Buffalo Bill's Wild West & Pawnee Bill's Great Far East Show, Christy Bros. Circus, Cole Bros. Circus, Gentry Bros. Circus, Gollmar Bros. Circus, Hagenbeck & Wallace Circus,Hoxie Bros. Circus, Lee Bros. Circus, Mills Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus at their winter quarters in Sarasota Florida, Seils-Sterling Bros. Circus, Sells & Gray Circus, and Sells-Floto Circus.

Scrapbook 4, 1968-1970
Containers
volume 4

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 4 is a photo album with photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus exhibits. There are nearly 500 images in the 96-page album. The photographs all measure 3.5 x 5 inches and are in both black and white and color.

Nearly all of the circuses performances documented in this album were performed in Pittsburgh and South Park, Pennsylvania. The performances took place at the Allegheny County Fair, the Civic Arena, and Forbes Field.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: Al G. Barne's Circus, Arthur Bros. Circus, Bartok Circus, Buffalo Bill's Wild West & Pawnee Bill's Great Far East Show, Christy Bros. Circus, Circus World Museum, Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, Cole Bros. Circus, Gentry Bros. Circus, Gollmar Bros. Circus, Hagenbeck & Wallace Circus, Howe's Great London Circus, Hoxie Bros. Circus, James Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows, Robbins Bros. Circus, Sells-Floto Circus, Shrine Circus, Tom Pack's Circus, Walter L. Main Circus, and W.W. Cole's Circus.

Scrapbook 5, 1970-1974
Containers
volume 5

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 5 is a photo album with photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus exhibits. There are approximately 500 images in the 111-page album. The photographs all measure 3.5 x 5 inches and are in both black and white and color.

The circuses in this album were performed in Allentown and Pittsburgh. The majority of the performances in Pittsburgh took place in the Civic Arena.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: Arthur Bros. Circus, Circus Kirk, Cole Bros. Circus, Gollmar Bros. Circus, Hoxie Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Robbins Bros. Circus, Sells & Gray Circus; Sells-Floto Circus, Shrine Show Circus, and Sparks Circus.

Scrapbook 6, 1974-1983
Containers
volume 6

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 6 is a photo album with photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, workers, and miniature circus exhibits. There are approximately 400 images in the 89-page album. The photographs all measure 3.5 x 5 inches and are in both black and white and color.

The circuses in this album were performed in Bethel Park, Bridgeville, Mount Lebanon, Washington and Pittsburgh. The majority of the performances in Pittsburgh took place in the Civic Arena. There are also images of a Terrel Jacobs Ring Bus Trip to Baraboo, Wisconsin's Circus World Museum in August 1975.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: 40 Horse Hitch, Carson & Barnes Circus, Circus Model Builders, Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, Diamond S Rodeo Wild West, Howe's Great London Circus, Hoxie Great American Circus, King Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Royal Hanneford Circus, Sells & Gray Circus, and Shrine Circus.

Scrapbook 7, ca.1950-1965
Containers
volume 7

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 7 is a photo album of photographs of circus performances, animals, parades, performers, wagons, and workers. There are approximately 100 images in the 87-page album. Most of the images are black and white, but there are several in color.

This scrapbook primarily contains 8 x 10 inch publicity photographs of circus performers. The types of acts or performers in the album includes acrobatic or aerial acts, animal trainers, balancing acts, clowns, comedians, cowboy acts, dancers, equestrian acts, fire acts, juggling acts, knife throwing acts, minstrel performers, sideshow performers, and sword swallowing acts.

The following circus company names appear in the album's labelling or in the images in the album: Bertram Mills Circus, Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, Cole Bros. Circus, Downie Bros. Circus, and Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Scrapbook 8, ca. 1985
Containers
volume 8

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 8 contains photographs of circus performances, animals, bands, performers, and workers. All the photographs are in color and measure 4 x 6 inches. There are no specific dates or locations noted in the scrapbook. Several of the photos are of elephants exiting a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus traincar, possibly in advance of a performance at the Civic Arena. There are also several images of children riding an elephant in a unidentified school gymnasium.

Scrapbook 9, 1931-1948
Containers
volume 9

Scope and Contents

Scrapbook 9 contains magazine clippings relating to circus life. The volume contains clippings of the following articles:

KELLEY, FRANCIS B. Land of Sawdust and Spangles-A World in Miniature. National Geographic Magazine, vol. 60, 1931, pp. 463.

KELLEY, FRANCIS B. The Wonder City That Moves by Night. National Geographic Magazine, vol. 93, 1948, pp. 289.

EDGERTON, HAROLD E. Circus Action in Color. National Geographic Magazine, vol. 93, 1948, pp. 305.