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16840
Subject: Performers in costumed outfits—including a figure holding a prop/staff and a musician with a marching drum—outdoors near a building porch.
Location / Identification: Mounted on black construction paper album stock with contemporary white ink hand-lettering reading "Calistoga Circus".
Type: Rare Original Vintage Vernacular B&W Snapshot Photo.
Dimensions: Approx. 2.5 x 3.5 inches (photo size; mounted on slightly larger black album leaf trimming).
Condition: Aged sepiatone print with handling wear, mounted to original black album paper backer with paper residue/peeling on reverse.
Item Description
Up for sale is a rare original vintage snapshot depicting performers identified as the Calistoga Circus. The candid image shows costumed characters—including a figure wearing a broad-brimmed hat holding a broom or staff, along with a musician carrying a bass or snare drum in the background.
The photo is mounted to its original black photo album paper, featuring hand-written white ink lettering along the margin identifying the subject as "Calistoga Circus"—referencing local civic or traveling circus performances in Calistoga, California (Napa Valley).
Dimensions: 2.5 x 3.5 inches.
Rarity: Vernacular circus photographs from small California agricultural towns like Calistoga are exceptionally scarce and rarely turn up.
Condition: Sepia-toned vintage snapshot. The reverse shows paper loss and album mounting remnants from historical removal.
Circus Identification & Historical Rarity
This appears to be a unique, one-of-a-kind vernacular snapshot rather than a mass-produced souvenir. Calistoga, California hosted various community pageants, traveling tent shows, and local parades in the early-to-mid 20th century. Original photographic documentation of small local circuses and regional California itinerants from this era is very rare, making this a prime piece for circus historians and Napa County ephemera collectors!
