wooden toy circus made by Schoenhut; American; ca.1920

The lion tamer is wearing a blue jacket and a red fez. He has straight arms with no elbow joints.

The Chinese acrobat is wearing a purple robe with yellow edging, and cream trousers. He has a thin ponytail made of plaited string.

The female rider has straight, unjointed arms and legs. She is wearing a green top with gold ribbon, and a cream-coloured skirt that may have once been pink. There is a joint in her neck that could indicate that it once was broken and fixed back together.

The elephants have been painted dark grey. They both have grey leather ears and white painted wooden tusks. Both have sections of flaking paint, especially around the area of the neck joint.

The camel is painted brown/orange and has two humps, making it a Bactrian camel.

The monkey is painted dark brown and has slightly splayed legs, making it is most stable in the sitting position. It is wearing an orange felt leotard with a fluffy edging, and matching hat. The paint on his face is has peeled significantly.

One horse is brown with a black mane and white nose, the other is white all over with a black mane. The brown horse comes with a leather saddle, while the white horse has, instead, a platform for a performer to stand. Both have tails made from string.

The kangaroo is painted orange/brown on its body, but its legs, arms and nose are white. It has short, straight front arms and stands up by creating a tripod between its legs and its long tail.

The donkey is painted dark brown all over, but the paint has flaked away in some places, especially near the joints and on the face.

The seal is painted grey and sits primarily on its tail and lower half of the body.

The poodle is painted white and has an oversized head, and string tail. The paint has severely flaked, especially around the head. The wood on the body of the poodle is also in poor condition and is showing cracks.

The brown bear has been painted dark brown all over, although his feet are almost green, perhaps because of wear. Both of the bears ears are missing, as is its tail.

The polar bear is painted white/cream and has small leather ears. Its mouth is open, and teeth have been painted inside.

The giraffe is painted yellow with brown patches all over its body. Its long neck is jointed at both the bottom and the top.

White painted ladders with eight rungs.

White painted square chairs with upright backs.

A red, white and blue painted barrel, with ribbed top and bottom sections.

The ball has been painted in red, white and blue in equal parts. The ball has various holes, cuts and gouges in it so that the animals and figures could hold or balance it more easily.

The wooden hoop is painted red but wrapped in gold paper in a spiral pattern. There is a metal section of the hoop that is for the figures to hold it.

The acrobat’s tub has been painted blue with a wide yellow zigzag pattern going across it.

A yellow four-legged pedestal with a square top. The pedestal has a paper strip attached round the top with a multicoloured folk-like pattern on it.

Given by Mrs C.B. Anderson

Schoenhut's Humpty Dumpty Circus was first designed and produced in the early 1910s, with the patent for the clown being granted in 1903. The first models of the figures featured glass eyes, which were soon replaced by carved eyes in the 1920s to save money. By 1923 the company were losing sales and decided to introduce the reduced size circus. Although they were very popular and sold well, the company was hit hard by the depression and were out of business by 1935.

The animals and figures sold in the Humpty Dumpty Circus were fully flexible with multiple tightly-strung joints. There were slots and holes placed into the toys that allowed them to be positioned in many different ways and with many different items. Schoenhut claimed that there were 10,0001 ways to play with the Humpty Dumpty Circus, making it a versatile and exciting set.

An original copy of the catalogue was donated with this gift and is now located in the departmental library at Young V&A.

This wooden toy circus set was made ca.1920 by the Schoenhut Toy Company in America. The Humpty Dumpty Circus, as it was known, was first produced in 1903 after the patent for the clown figure was granted. It became extremely popular very quickly and soon grew to around 37 animals, 29 figures and over 40 different accessories. Unfortunately, the Humpty Dumpty Circus did not last long as Schoenhut's Toy Company went out of business in 1935 due to the global economic depression.

MISC.6:1 to 16-1968