Purtill Collection of Circus and Sideshow Scrapbooks

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 064-04-04

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The scrapbooks include newspaper clippings as well as photographs, postcards, business cards, letters and other printed ephemera. The collector has annotated many items in pen with dates and locations.

Dates

1890s-1930s

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open to research.

Conditions Governing Use

PPL does not claim copyright to this collection. Users of this item are responsible for determining copyright restrictions.

Biographical / Historical

William Purtill was a circus enthusiast living in Westerly, Rhode Island, and over the course of five decades collected material related to circuses and sideshows.

Extent

4 Volumes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The arrangement of the original scrapbooks does not seem to be chronological or clearly by subject.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was purchased during the September 24, 2023 "Tattoo, Circus, Sideshow, and Curiosities" auction of Bray and Col. Auctions (Lot #203. The printed catalog incorrectly describes it as a collection of five, rather than four, scrapbooks).