Main track

Clowns are by far the most common circus-themed toys and have been made in many variations over the years. The clown was originally a traveling artist with origins in the Middle Ages who performed at markets in their special clothes and makeup. They have often been portrayed as clumsy and unable to speak.

There are many clowns in our collections. For example, the clown in the three-wheeled car from Lehmann. The roller-skating clown from the Schuco factory is from the 1950s. The clown sitting with a drum and cymbals is from the 1880s-90s. They are all made in Germany.

There are also many toys here that depict circus animals. One of the oldest examples is the mechanical bear from France. It was made sometime in the 1870s-80s and its body is covered in colored rabbit fur. If you turn it up, it can stand on its hind legs, open its mouth and make a grunting sound. Another example is the seal from the early 1900s, also from the German Lehmann. The circus elephant is from the 1930s, made by Blomer & Schüler and several thousand of them were sold in the 1950s.

The most common circus animal in the toy world must be the monkey, you can see some examples here. One does somersaults, another plays basketball and the monkey that plays cymbals was made in Japan in the 1950s. Now we know much better and today's modern circuses have basically completely refrained from showing exotic animals.

Carousels are something else that there are many in the toy world. Fixed carousels already existed in the 18th century and they were powered by hand, nowadays they are powered by electric motors. At the Stockholm Toy Museum there are two typical carousel horses from Germany from the early 1900s and a number of carousels both in sheet metal and in wood. Some are homemade and have no mechanics, others are factory-made and are powered by a spring mechanism. One of the oldest (with a brown velvet roof) is American and was made in the 1870s-80s. The large carousel made of sheet metal and wood is probably from Germany. Most toy manufacturers in Germany had carousels in their range and they were powered by springs.

The world of the circus also includes ballerinas, trapeze artists and other daredevil artists. An unusual toy is the “Mysterious Ball”, made by the French toy manufacturer Fernand Martin in 1906. It shows a metal sphere climbing up a track. At the top, the sphere opens and a man is revealed inside. And the toy actually has a real-life model. In 1905, Leon LaRoche performed the trick “La Sphere Mysterieuse” as part of the American circus Barnum & Bailey.