Category Archives: Circus

Sverre Braathen Circus Collection

The Special Collections Department houses a sizeable amount of circus related materials in several collections. Today, I’m going to focus on one small collection that once belonged to Sverre and Faye Braathen. Sverre Braathen was an attorney by trade, but … Continue reading

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Dexter Fellows circus collections

The circus was created by a gentleman named Philip Astley who was a former cavalry Sargent-Major in the British Army. Astley established the first official circus in 1782 in Paris, France where they performed the spectacle of impressive physical talents. … Continue reading

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Images of the Circus

McFarlin Special Collections is well known for its collections on World War I, modernist writers, and Tulsa history but did you know that one of our other main areas of collecting is circus material? We have 9 collections that contain … Continue reading

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Bobo the Clown and Circus Fascination

Most people have heard of Bozo the Clown, but what about Bobo the Clown? Chester “Bobo” Barnett was a clown throughout much of the 1900s, with his career starting in about 1920 and ending in about 1970. One of the … Continue reading

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