Vintage Antique Old Shrine Barnum Bailey Circus Memorabilia Collectibles For Sale
Shrine Circus Vintage Circus Poster
SIX SHEET Vintage Poster (79x82")

Otto the Clown

Gorgeous and Spectacular  larger then life Six Sheet vintage Circus Poster from 1935.  With stunning Circus Clown artwork featuring legendary Circus performer Otto the Clown.   Very good-Excellent condition.  One of the most beautiful vintage circus posters we’ve ever acquired !

NOTE:  This is the first time we have ever seen this poster in our 40 years collecting !  And based on our research of auctions (past 20 years)  it is the ONLY one in existence.   One was sold in 2005, but it was THIS same poster. 

Size: 79" X 82"

 * See enlargeable image above.  

NOTE: If you have a large wall space and looking for something Extraordinary to fill/fit it,  this is that Gem of a find you've been waiting for !

Shrine Circus Clowns (c. 1935). Folded, Very Fine-. Six Sheet (79" X 82"). Advertising.
Otto the Clown was Otto Griebling, who worked with Cole Brothers Circus (actually, this poster is stamped "Cole Brothers" on the reverse... another example of a job hopping circus star bringing along his own advertising paper.) In later years he was associated with Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus as a performer and towards the end of his career, as a teacher at the Clown College in Florida. Otto was a great innovator who introduced many new gags to the clown routine. The poster artist has created a superior clown image set against an active background that projects a strong cartoon atmosphere, which was perfect for attracting the attention of youngsters from the age of 7 to 70. The poster is unrestored with bright color and a clean overall appearance. It may have general signs of use such as slight edge and fold wear, minor fold separations, small tears, pinholes, and a few soft creases. The poster comes in four panels as originally printed, however it will be shipped in two panels as a couple of the panels have been attached.

BIO:
Otto Griebling (April 28, 1896 – April 19, 1972) was a German-born circus clown who performed for many years with the Cole Brothers and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circuses. He was one of four clowns given the title Master Clown by Irvin Feld

Otto Griebling was born April 28, 1896, in Koblenz, Germany. There he was introduced to the circus business, as well as ballet and opera. Following the death of his father, his mother emigrated to the United States ahead of her children. His older brother Emil (b. 1894) worked his way overseas on a boat, eventually working on Wall Street. Young Otto worked his way to the United States by boat in 1911.

After arriving in America, Griebling left home after reading an ad seeking apprentice bareback riders. He studied under and worked with Albert Hodgini in Baraboo, Wisconsin for several years, performing in Hodgini's act in the Sells Floto Circus and other circuses.

Griebling changed his performance area in 1930 after suffering a serious fall. He developed a silent tramp clown character, an act that he would perform as a clown. He would walk around the circus holding a slab of ice asking for Miss Jones. When he didn't find her, he would come around again, this time the ice slab was smaller, finally he would find Miss jones but as he handed the ice to her, it would melt away right in her hand! His signing on as a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus in 1932.[6] He was a clown with the Cole Brothers Circus from their first tour in 1935, eventually becoming Cole Brothers' head clown before he joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1951.

Griebling spent the rest of his circus career with Ringling, going on strike in 1956 with Emmett Kelly and later teaching to the first few classes of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He appeared as Jimmy Durante's stunt double in the 1962 film Jumbo. In 1970 Otto had his larynx removed due to cancer, but it did not affect his silent act.

And extraordinary memorabilia like this is sure to skyrocket in value, especially this gem of a find!    Indeed one of the nicest we have seen in our 35 years collecting. 

Note: Cvtreasures stamp NOT on original