CIRCUS WORLD MUSEUM

Baraboo, Wisconsin had been the summer home for the Ringling Brothers Circus in the heyday of the traveling circus.  Generally, circuses, traveling or otherwise, are no longer a thing, but the romance of the circus survives in the form of the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.  The museum is generally open to visitors except in the winter months and features daily performance shows from late May through late August.  In early May I drove up to Baraboo with my camera to capture some of the circus paraphernalia.

The museum features all manner of memorabilia in various states of restoration, especially old posters and circus wagons from a time when the circus would roll into town, including a number of exotic animals and equipment.

One thing I realized, especially as portrayed in the posters, is that the circus took advantage of exaggeration and fantasy.

The museum has a number of buildings devoted to circus wagons and similar equipment.  When I was there individuals, perhaps volunteers, were working on the restoration of some of the wagons.

Many had already been beautifully restored.

Some wagon wheels especially were nicely restored.

The Cinderella wagon below was especially nice, particularly in how it was placed in front of the light from a window. 

Here is a detail from that wagon.

The following detail shot illustrates the deterioration in some of the wagons before restoration.

Still, I liked it for its decrepitude.

John