ANONYMOUS RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY . 41x28 inches. The Strobridge Litho Co., Cincinnati. Condition B+: restoration in margins; repaired tears and creases in image; horizontal folds. Colorful vignettes of the high wire artist, Berta Beeson, performing in her red and blue costumes lined in white fur, against a colorful circus backdrop; lettering in red and orange. Perhaps more astonishing than her high-wire act was the fact that, according to the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida, Berta was in fact a man performing in drag. Crowds apparently found it more exciting if women were performing the death-defying acts, and the circus management was only too happy to give the public what they wanted!
