[Houdini Brothers flea circus in Chicago] – Vintage Print
![[Houdini Brothers flea circus in Chicago], [no date recorded on caption card] — historic photograph](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/26/26704916775e-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: [Houdini Brothers flea circus in Chicago], preserved in this historic photograph. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
[Houdini Brothers flea circus in Chicago]
Order a print
Thank you. Your order went through, and a receipt is on its way by email.
Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal
Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.
This photograph shows a flea circus billed as the Houdini Brothers, a novelty act that drew crowds to Chicago's amusement venues in the early twentieth century. Flea circuses, in which performers trained fleas to pull tiny carts or perform stunts under magnifying glasses, were a popular feature of vaudeville and the sideshow trade. The image is faded and the caption card gives no date, so its exact setting and timing remain uncertain. It is held in the Library of Congress's Houdini Collection, which is why the name is often linked with the escape artist, though this record does not confirm any family connection.
| Created / published | [no date recorded on caption card] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print. |
| Subjects | Very poor image. Rare Book Division - Houdini Collection (Library of Congress). This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: RBD; Circus...--Misc.; BI; Shelf. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,117 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-140705 |
More from the Chicago collection
Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
![[Jimmy Lavender, Ward Miller, Charlie Smith, and Tommy Leach, Chicago NL (baseball)]](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/f6/f6b8b5df3019-400.webp)
![The late Roscoe Conkling - [2 images]: 1. Waiting for news - scenes around the Hoffman House [N.Y.C.] 2. Scenes during the great Republican convention of 1880, Chicago.](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/4c/4c4cee908844-400.webp)
