| The Humpty Dumpty circus can be a dynamic
work of toy Americana folk art but many new Humpty Dumpty circus
collectors are uncertain about how to display their circus.
This article explores ideas for the display of
your collection in interesting and creative ways. |
| Tents |
|
 |
|
This is my Humpty Dumpty Circus
display in our
family room. I have old circus lithographs and
posters on the room walls to add to the
circus ambiance. The circus is on an old gaming table on which I placed
a 1/4 inch plywood board covered in a nice heavy cloth. |
|
What is a circus without a tent? Schoenhut made several fine tents that
display its pieces exceptionally well. My favorite is the standard canvas tent.
It presents the performers very well. But while the lithographed tent is very colorful, it tends to overpower the performers and is a bit low. The
lithographed side panels are terrific and can be added to either the
lithographed or canvas tents.
You don't have to have a tent to create nice displays. Use your
imagination. You can set up a parade like the circuses performed when
they came to a town. Some collectors simply like to pose their pieces in
a cabinet or shelf.
|
| |
|
| Making
Acts |
|
| Circuses are about showing
performing acts. To add excitement to your circus, set your animals and
performers up in acts with other performers or in combination with
animals. Go to a real circus for ideas or look through a good book on
the performing circus. Remember that circus means circle and refers to
the 42 foot ring in the center every equestrian circus. The ring is set
at 42 feet diameter to suit the horse and rider or acrobat acts. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The gent acrobat can
be used alone or with other gent or lady acrobats. |
The gent acrobat is
also described as a strongman by Schoenhut and serves this role well. |
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The lady acrobat
with her hoop used as a lion tamer. Be creative! |
The hobo is a circus
clown and should be posed in comic situations. |
|
| |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Our ringmaster persuades
the leopard and the polar bear to perform. |
| |
The pig is comical
in the circus and was often used as the animal subject in a clown act. |
|
|
Mixing Regular and Reduced Sized
Pieces
|
|
| I have been asked if it is OK to mix reduced sized pieces with a regular
sized circus or visa versa. Well, of course it is! After all, it's your circus!
Many of Schoenhut's circus pieces are out of scale with other circus pieces. The
regular poodle, for example, is about the size of the lion. Dogs are a part of
circuses and the reduced poodle looks better to me with the regular pieces. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
I usually put a reduced clown on an elephant as a
rider. A regular clown is almost as big as the elephant! |
The reduced hatless ringmaster looks better on the regular size horse than
any regular size rider. |
|
| |
|
|
The reduced
elephant serves as a juvenile for the regular elephant. Baby elephants
have always been a major attraction for the circus. |
 |
| |
| |
The regular
glass eyed giraffe with the smaller reduced giraffe. Looks like adult
and juvenile doesn't it? |
| Making
the Pieces Hold Together |
| To get the best poses out of your pieces, they
must first of all, be tightly restrung as the original Schoenhut rubber
string will have long ago lost its ability to hold the piece together
properly. Schoenhut itself writes about having to restring its circus
pieces. Restringing is not, if done properly, considered restoration by
Schoenhut collectors.
Also, you can use modeler's putty, available from hobby shops and
craft stores. This is a somewhat sticky putty that does not harm the
pieces but will help they stay in place. It comes in blue and beige and
perhaps other colors. It can leave a residue on some pieces so test
before you use it.
I sometimes use rubber bands between the feet of a performer to help
him stay on an animal as a rider. |
| |
|
