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NOVELTY AND VARIETY

The term “novelty and variety” cover a lot of territory, but mainly designates acts that could be performed across different venues– from traditional sideshow to vaudeville. And back again. We think of ventriloquists, acrobats, novelty musical acts, magicians, animal acts, performers with unusual skills and abilities fitting into this broad landscape.

See also: Magicians & Escape Artists

See also: Burlesque

See also: Musical Acts

See also: Jugglers

See also: Minstrels

See also: One-Man Bands

See also: Girl Show

See also: Ventriloquists

See also: Shadowography

Performers in this category:

Hezekiah Trambles

Whale Oil Gus

Don Ferreyra

Joan Whisnant

William Hilliar

Julius B. Shuster

W.C. Williams

John T. Owens

Tom Jack

Harry Houdini

Melvin Burkhart

The Gondins

Paul McWilliams

Tommy Jacobsen

Mathew Buchinger

Lewando Baldwin

Tiny Dollita

Bayrooty Troupe

Larry Benner

Alfred Langevin

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TIRZA and her BATH IN WINE

Added Jul 13 2025

The Life of Jenny Lind (82 Pages)

Added Jul 13 2025

Amazing Randi With Kinkajou

Added Jun 2 2025

JO-JO, Bill Holliday’s Almost Human Dummy

Added Jun 2 2025

Guerra Mix

Added May 4 2025

Hovey Burgess Montage Juggling Clubs and Balls

Added May 2 2025

Hovey Burgess Rides a Unicycle and Juggles Rings

Added May 2 2025

Hovey Burgess

Added Apr 29 2025

Kohl & Middleton’s Dime Museum

Added Jan 5 2025

Guerra Mix “La Terreur des Pampas”

Added Jan 5 2025

Friedrich Kistler, Limbless Musician

Added Dec 28 2024

Joseph Dunninger with Tony Curtis

Added Dec 28 2024

Joseph Dunninger With Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh

Added Dec 28 2024

Dunninger Ad Sheet

Added Dec 28 2024

Grand & Matchless Exhibition (Wax Show)

Added Dec 28 2024

Sexy Woman Knife-Juggler

Added Dec 28 2024

Schlitzie, Koo Koo, and Zip at Kodet’s Harlem Museum

Added Oct 27 2024

The Great Presto, Business Card

Added Oct 20 2024

Joseph Dunninger, Mentalist

Added Sep 1 2024

Dunninger PALL MALL FAMOUS CIGARETTES TV Show Ticket

Added Sep 1 2024

Contact Sheet For Unidentified Carnival With Geek, Girl Show and Motordome

Added Aug 11 2024

Al Flosso “The Coney Island Fakir” Signed Photo

Added Aug 4 2024

Larry Wald & His Talking Dolls

Added Jun 22 2024

Shimmyland & Ursa The Bear Girl Sideshow Bannerline

Added Jan 7 2024

Tom Thumb’s Museum: Gen.l Thumb and His Charming Wife

Added Jan 1 2024

Tom Thumb’s Museum: Zoe Meleke

Added Jan 1 2024

Tom Thumb’s Museum: Whiston & His Olio of Oddities

Added Jan 1 2024

Tom Thumb’s Museum: Bingham Ventriloquist E. Newell

Added Jan 1 2024

Gen’l. Tom Thumb & Wife in Their Carriage

Added Jan 1 2024

Millie DeLeon “The Girl In Blue” Pinback

Added Dec 25 2023

Andrew, Ventriloquist

Added Sep 4 2023

Howe’s Great London Circus Sideshow Bannerline

Added Sep 4 2023

Girl In A Glass Coffin

Added Jul 24 2023

Billy Flake “The King of Sword Swallowers”

Added Jul 16 2023

Mata Hari

Added Jul 3 2023

Unidentified Cannonball Catcher

Added Jul 3 2023

Julius Shuster “Pick-Up Artist”

Added Jun 25 2023

Julius Shuster “Pick-Up Artist”

Added Jun 25 2023

Mr. Joanny “The Best Schadowcrafist of The World”

Added Jun 25 2023

Joe Horowitz “The Man With The Iron Nose”

Added Jun 25 2023

Unidentified Snake Girl in Minstrel Show

Added Jan 15 2023

Willie Kaak “Fusskünstler”

Added Oct 24 2022

W.C. Williams “One Arm One Man Band”

Added Oct 9 2022

John T. Owens, and Daughter

Added Oct 9 2022

John T. Owens and Wife Matilda

Added Oct 9 2022

Owens “The Armless Musician” at A Street Fair

Added Oct 8 2022

John T. Owens and Wife Matilda

Added Oct 8 2022

John T. Owens “Armless Musician”

Added Oct 8 2022

Jim Elroy “Armless Trumpeter”

Added Oct 8 2022

Jim Elroy “Armless Trumpeter”

Added Oct 8 2022

W.C. Williams “One-Armed One Man Band”

Added Sep 26 2022

W.C. Williams

Added Sep 26 2022

W.C. Williams “One-Armed One Man Band”

Added Sep 26 2022

Eli Bowen And Manager at Norman’s Museum

Added Sep 18 2022

Kora Jki “Magician”

Added Aug 14 2022

Paradise Review Girlshow on Cetlin & Wilson

Added Aug 14 2022

Black-Face Midget Wildman

Added Aug 13 2022

O.R. Sampson “Swiss Handbell” Player

Added Aug 13 2022

Doly Barry “Vocalist and Dancer” by Charles Eisenmann

Added Jun 26 2022

Egypt Girl Show

Added Jun 13 2022

Bannerline with Royal Hawaiians

Added Jun 13 2022

Cole Brothers Annex

Added Jun 13 2022

Cole Brothers Sideshow With Hawaiian Band

Added Jun 12 2022

Baby Sutton

Added Jun 12 2022

Dancing Girls on Australian Sideshow Showfront

Added Apr 3 2022

The Gondins “Smallest Married Couple” at Dreamland Circus Sideshow

Added Dec 4 2021

Turtle George (Williams) Songster “O, Take Me Back To Baltimore”

Added Oct 11 2021

Boston Museum Tradecard with White Elephant and Minstrels

Added May 16 2021

Count Joseph Zaino “Midget Magician”

Added Oct 3 2020

Vaudeville & Circus Goods Company (18 Pages)

Added Oct 3 2020

Happy Land Girl Show

Added Sep 27 2020

Mee Ling “The Exotic China Doll” Girl Show

Added Sep 27 2020

Elizabeth Nelson & Barry Boys “A Melody of Variety Bits”

Added Jul 26 2020

Clyde Beatty Circus Sideshow, 1950

Added May 30 2019

Sartori “The Armless Violin Player”

Added May 19 2019

Ray– HIMSELF, Steam Jazz Piano “The Musical Nut”

Added May 14 2019

The Alligator Boy At The Globe Dime Museum

Added May 13 2019

Ringling Brothers Barnum Bailey 1950 Sideshow Cast At Madison Square Garden

Added Mar 9 2019

Old Plantation Minstrel Showfront with Merey “The Armless Wonder” and Her Father

Added Mar 3 2019

Laughing or Fun Factory With Laloo, Hornmann, Mummy, Barooty, etc.

Added Oct 31 2018

Abdullah, Persian Dervish, Lifting A Box With His Eyelids

Added May 15 2018

Abdullah, Persian Dervish, Walking On Glass

Added May 15 2018

Child Ventriloquist & Big Scary Dummy

Added Apr 9 2018

“Rastus” and C.W. Williams Mechanical Figure For Ventriloquists

Added Apr 8 2018

English Vent With Female Assistant

Added Apr 8 2018

Willy Stehning & Pitty, “Gruss V. Luna Park”

Added Apr 8 2018

PINXY Punch & Judy Puppets Advertising Card

Added Apr 8 2018

Joseph Goodman, “Celebrated Ventriloquist”

Added Apr 8 2018

New European Dime Museum Handbill

Added Jul 31 2017

G.B. Bunnell’s Brooklyn Museum

Added Jul 17 2017

Tiny Dollita, “That Atomic Bomb of Entertainment”

Added Feb 5 2017

Stanhope & Epstean’s New Dime Museum Handbill

Added Jan 8 2017

bayrooty

Bayrooty Troupe

Added Nov 22 2016

Dance Of Death Hootchie Koo Show

Added Jul 10 2016

Belle Morrison “The Human Eel,” Woman Escape Artist

Added Jul 8 2016

Clico “The Dancing Bushman” with Minstrel Band on Bally Platform

Added Apr 17 2016

Clico “The Dancing Bushman” with Minstrel Band on Bally Platform

Added Apr 17 2016

Houdini’s Inspiration– H.C. Maxey “Needle Eater”

Added Apr 16 2016

Martin Tonelly’s Bier (Magic) Show

Added Mar 20 2016

Mickey Mouse & Mitt Camp Egyptian Crystal Reader Banners

Added Jan 10 2016

Teddy Reed’s Variety and Minstrel Show Bally Platform

Added Jan 4 2016

Smiling Billy Steward’s Alabama Serenaders Business Card/Pass

Added Oct 18 2015

Kick-A-Poo Indian Medicine Show

Added Oct 17 2015

Jacob’s Royal Museum & Unique Novelty Co.

Added Oct 17 2015

Crounse United Shows Bannerline

Added Sep 28 2015

World’s Fair Museum Sideshow

Added Sep 12 2015

The Great Presto

Added Aug 16 2015

Joseph Lucasie

Added Jul 26 2015

Barnum & Bailey’s Sideshow and Museum Bannerline

Added Jul 25 2015

Clyde Beatty Circus Sideshow

Added Jul 25 2015

O.S.P. Minstrels

Added Jul 25 2015

Admiral Dot’s London Museum

Added Jul 19 2015

Peruvian Indian Jungle Show

Added Jul 19 2015

Bannerline Howe’s Great London Show

Added Jul 19 2015

Flower City Museum, Vaudeville, Minstrels

Added Jul 19 2015

Hungarian Gipsy Band at Eden Musee

Added May 3 2015

Automaton from Barnum’s Travelling Museum

Added May 3 2015

Kelleher “The Drum Major Of Nowadays”

Added May 3 2015

Tom May’s Sideshow Band Ringling Bros. Barnum Bailey Circus

Added Apr 5 2015

Willie Bowlegs “Seminole Indian Sword-Swallower”

Added Apr 4 2015

The Original Gutis

Added Feb 28 2015

The Great Marlow “Frogology”

Added Feb 25 2015

Tanit-Ikao “The Great Woman Indian Fakir” 3-Color Pitchbook (10 Pages)

Added Jan 9 2015

Raja Raboid Business Card

Added Jan 5 2015

pondsmetropolitanstock-555-113

Pond’s Metropolitan Stock Group

Added Oct 24 2014

jaswhitneyminstrels-555-114

James H. Whitney & Co. “San Francisco Minstrels”

Added Oct 24 2014

greatbarlowminstrels-555-112

Great Barlow Minstrels Letterhead

Added Oct 24 2014

Warfield & Weeks Model Minstrels and Brass Band

Added Oct 23 2014

Jenny Lind and Opera Actor

Added Oct 18 2014

Jenny Lind

Added Oct 18 2014

Tattooed Couple, Magicians

Added Sep 14 2014

Tom Jack “der Eis-König”

Added Aug 24 2014

Thelma and Doris

Added Aug 23 2014

Joseph Lucasie

Added Aug 17 2014

Tom Waits’ Brother, Sleazy Magician

Added Aug 13 2014

Phénomène Musical

Added Aug 12 2014

Dr. Walford Bodie

Added Jul 26 2014

Blind Tom

Added Jul 26 2014

Houdini and Bess

Added Jul 26 2014

Young Joseph Dunninger

Added Jul 26 2014

Houdini on Postcard Written by Bess Houdini

Added Jul 26 2014

Howard & Fields

Added Jul 22 2014

HOUDINI

Added Jul 22 2014

HOUDINI: Society of American Magicians Card Signed by Him

Added Jul 22 2014

Hezekiah Trambles “Congo The Jungle Creep’

Added Jul 20 2014

The Great Fishers Letterhead

Added Jul 7 2014

The Great Fishers’ Mrs. Fisher

Added Jul 7 2014

William C. Grant “Handless Musician”

Added Jun 28 2014

William C. Grant “Handless Musician”

Added Jun 28 2014

Champion One Leg Dancer

Added Jun 26 2014

Prof. G.W. Van, Great Combined Shows

Added Jun 26 2014

Glimpse Of The Underworld

Added Apr 13 2014

Ali Ben’s Oriental Show

Added Apr 13 2014

Galetea “The Greatest Show on Earth”

Added Apr 13 2014

Marshall’s Comedy Drama Players

Added Apr 13 2014

The Great Binks Shows

Added Apr 13 2014

The Dancing Freda & The Parisian Wonders

Added Apr 13 2014

Dolletta the Petite Doll of Doll’s

Added Apr 13 2014

Miss Lamb’s Florida Flames Girl Show

Added Apr 13 2014

“Mysterious Asia” at St. Louis World’s Fair

Added Apr 13 2014

Original Superba… Beautiful Girls

Added Apr 13 2014

Kansas Cyclone Sideshow

Added Apr 13 2014

Salome & Magician

Added Apr 13 2014

Magician On Sideshow Bally Stage

Added Apr 13 2014

Dodson’s Side Show, 1928

Added Apr 6 2014

The Wonderful Warrens Signboard

Added Mar 23 2014

Fylde Ferdie, Blackpool Illuminations

Added Mar 16 2014

Edwards ANIMAL SHOW & MUSEUM

Added Mar 15 2014

carllauther

Carl Lauther Store Show

Added Oct 17 2013

Alfred Langevin “Eye Smoker”

Added Oct 17 2013

Free Images

Dolly Dutton’s Sheet Music

Added May 31, 2025

Wonderland Circus Sideshow, Coney Island

Added December 31, 2024

1893 Newspaper Advertisement For The Tocci Brothers and Chevalier Cliquot

Added March 30, 2024

1893 Newspaper Advertisement For The Tocci Brothers and Chevalier Cliquot

Added March 30, 2024

HORROR STORIES Pulp Cover Two-Headed Girl (December 1940)

Added January 28, 2024

Baby Irene “Fat Lady” Cashes In On Laughs (1950)

Added December 26, 2023

1937 Philadelphia Store Show Facade

Added July 22, 2023

Mr. & Mrs. Chauncy Morlan at Huber’s 14th Street Museum

Added July 21, 2023

Hulett Pest Control Spokesmen, Dwarfs John and Greg Rice

Added January 31, 2023

Foy Large & Frank Morgner

Added October 24, 2021