One Ring Circus by Earl E. Bonham - 1975(ish)

No Place: Author, 1969. Memoir of running a small circus in Wisconsin and the midwest in the 1920s - operating theaters in Madison and Prairie du Sac just after his service in the Great War, he bought a literal dog & pony show, which found scant success, despite joining the Barkoot Carnival in Dayton as a midway act; he then briefly tried vaudeville in Indianapolis before returning to his father's theater in Prairie du Sac, from where, reading ads in Billboard, he assembled acts for a small circus, relying in part on advice from an old Evansville circus man, "Popcorn George" Hall. He goes on to detail events, as best he can recall, of the 1922-1926 seasons, acquiring & losing acts, buying animals & gear, various troubles of the road; with chapters on his trained animals, personnel, a brief stint putting on acts indoors. Undated pamphlet, about 1969 (he dedicates the booklet to his wife of 45 years; they married in 1924). Light rubbing, minor creases. Text clean; 44 pages, b/w… Read More

Paperback. Good. Good, on the outside, very good++ inside, pictorial stapleback on white paper wraps. No reader's or ex-library marks. Brief Edgewar at corners and slight darkening to front cover. Illus. throughout. 44 pps, black and white photos, no date, circa 1969.