Call Number
CWM Mss 38, CWM PH 15
Title
Heist, Walter G. Papers. 46 c.f. (38 boxes, 64 folders, 5 drawers)
Biography
Walter G. Heist, is a circus fan and volunteer from Harrisburg Pennsylvania, whose collection reflects a lifelong passion for the American circus. In his personal life Heist, a communications tech for ATT, was involved in numerous community organizations including the Boy Scouts, local ambulance service, as well as his church council. But his great passion has always been for the circus. An enthusiast since childhood, Heist built his first model circus at the age of 10 in the 1930s. Heist has been a longtime member of the Circus Model Builders (CMB) and has volunteered at many circus shows over the years including Circus Kirk, Roberts Bros. Circus, James E. Strates Carnival, Cristiani-Wallace Bros. and Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Show, and for 12 years worked on the Great Circus Parade. A longtime member of both the Circus Model Builders (CMB) and the Circus Historical Society, Heist attended the first national convention of the CMB in 1942 at Peru, Indiana, and has maintained an active, role in that organization ever since.
Scope and Content Note
This is a preliminary finding aid of the Walter G. Heist Papers. The majority of the collection focuses on eastern shows and the post WWII era and includes manuscript, advertisement material, business correspondence, collectible ephemera, window cards, and photographs. Of particular importance is a set of business correspondence relating to the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and the American Circus Corp. collected by Heist during the CFA Convention at Peru, Indiana in 1942.
The collection consists of three series; MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS series, FOREIGN PROGRAMS series, and WINDOW CARDS series. The organization of the collection reflects the original arrangement as created by Heist and is largely arranged by alphabetically by show title. In some cases, specifically in regards to WINDOW CARDS series and FOREIGN CIRCUS PROGRAMS series, the collection has been segregated by format type and then arranged alphabetically by show title. The MANUSCRIPTS series comprises the largest portion of the collection and consist of three ring binders containing consolidated information on numerous circus shows and includes correspondence, advertisement material, assorted documents, and photographs. The WINDOW CARDS series consist entirely of large format advertisements printed on cardboard. The FOREIGN PROGRAMS series includes performance programs for 102 different circuses from a wide variety of European and Latin American countries.
The Walter G. Heist Papers also contains numerous circus posters and artifacts. The posters are currently not listed. The artifacts have been cataloged into the museum’s artifact cataloging system under the accession number 2011.32, the master accession number for the entire collection. Access to both the poster and artifact portions of the collection must be made by special request of the archivist.
Presented to Circus World Museum, by Walter G. Heist January, 2012
Container List
Box Vol.
MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Box 1 Vol. 1 Adam Forepaugh and Sells Bros. Circus
Box 1 Vol. 2 Adams Bros. Circus
Box 1 Vol. 3 Alain Zerbini Circus
Box 1 Vol. 4 Alberto Zoppe Circus Europa
Box 1 Vol. 5 Al.G. Barnes Circus
Box 1 Vol. 6 Al. G, Kelly-Miller Bros Circus
Box 1 Vol. 7-9 Allan Hills Great American Circus
Animal Acts
Box 1 Vol. 10 Bears
Box 2 Vol. 1-2 Cats
Box 2 Vol. 3 Aylesworth, Leonard and Mildred
Box 2 Vol. 4 Barnum and Bailey Circus
Box 2 Vol. 5 Beech Nut Co. Traveling Circus
Box 2 Vol. 6 Beers Barnes Circus
Box 2 Vol. 7-8 Bentley Bros. Circus
Box 3 Vol. 1 Bentley Bros. Circus
Box 3 Vol. 2-4 Big Apple Circus
Box 3 Vol. 5 Boas Bros. Circus
Box 3 Vol. 6 Buck, Wade (Tiger Trainer)
Box 3 Vol. 7-8 Buffalo Bill Wild West
Box 4 Vol. 1 Cannon Acts
Box 4 Vol. 2-8 Carson and Barnes Circus
Box 5 Vol. 1-2 Carson and Barnes Circus
Box 5 Vol. 3 Chinese Imperial Circus
Box 5 Vol. 4 Christy Bros. Circus
Box 5 Vol. 5 Circus Bartok Hoxie
Box 5 Vol. 6 Circus Bruno
Box 5 Vol. 7 Circus Cartoons
Box 5 Vol. 8 Circus Chimera New 1998
Box 6 Vol.1-5 Circus Christmas Cards
Box 6 Vol.6-7 Circus City Festival, Peru, Indiana
Box 7 Vol. 1-2 Circus Hall of Fame, Peru, Indiana
Box 7 Vol. 3 Circus Hall of Fame, Sarasota, Florida
Box 7 Vol. 4 Circus Freaks and Oddities
Box 7 Vol. 5-8 Circus Kirk
Box 8 Vol. 1 Circus Kirk
Box 8 Vol. 2 Circus Movies and Promotions
Box 8 Vol. 3 Circus Museums
Box 8 Vol. 4-7 Circus Routing Arrows
Box 8 Vol. 8 Circus Showman Resting Place
Box 8 Vol. 9 Circus Stamps of the World
Box 9 Vol. 1 Circus Towne Museum, Twin Mt. New Hampshire
Box 9 Vol. 2 Circus U.S.A.
Box 9 Vol. 3-5 Circus Vargas
Box 9 Vol. 6-9 Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin
Box 10 Vol. 1-6 Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin
Box 10 Vol. 7 Clowns
Box 11 Vol. 1 Clowns
Box 11 Vol. 2-8 Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus
Box 12 Vol 1-3 Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus
Box 12 Vol. 4-5 Cole Bros Circus
Box 12 Vol. 6 Col. Tim McCoy Wild West
Box 12 Vol.7-8 Cristiani Wallace Circus
Box 13 Vol. 1-2 Culpepper/ Merriweather Circus
Box 13 Vol. 3 Dailey Bros. Circus
Box 13 Vol. 4 Dolly Jacobs Sarasota Circus School
Box 13 Vol. 5 Downie Bros. Circus
Box 13 Vol. 6 Elephant-Jumbo
Box 13 Vol. 7 Emmett Kelley Sr. and Jr.
Box 13 Vol. 8-9 Evans Merle
Box 14 Vol. 1 “Fighting the animal activists”
Box 14 Vol. 2 Fisher Bros. Circus
Box 14 Vol. 3 Flying Acts
Box 14 Vol. 4 Ford Bros Circus
Box 14 Vol. 5-6 Franzen Bros. Circus
Box 14 Vol. 7-8 Garden Bros. Circus
Box 14 Vol. 9 George Matthews Great London Circus
Great Circus Parade
Box 15 Vol. 1 1963-1966
Box 15 Vol. 2 1967-1971
Box 15 Vol. 3 1972-1974
Box 15 Vol. 4 1982
Box 15 Vol. 5 1983
Box 15 Vol. 6 1984
Box 15 Vol. 7-9 1985
Box 16 Vol. 1-2 1986
Box 16 Vol. 3-4 1987
Box 16 Vol. 5-6 1988
Box 16 Vol. 7-8 1989
Box 16 Vol. 9 1990
Box 17 Vol. 1 1990
Box 17 Vol. 2-3 1991
Box 17 Vol. 4 1992
Box 17 Vol. 5-6 1993
Box 17 Vol. 7 1994
Box 17 Vol. 8 1995
Box 18 Vol. 1 1996
Box 18 Vol. 2 1997-1998
Box 18 Vol. 3 Great Fred Mack Circus
Box 18 Vol. 4-6 Hagenbeck Wallace Circus Letters
Box 18 Vol. 7 Hagenbeck Wallace Circus
Box 18 Vol. 8 Hamid Morton
Box 19Vol. 1-4 Hamid Morton
Box 19 Vol. 5 Hendricks Bros. Circus
Box 19 Vol. 6-7 Hills Hoxie Great American Circus
Box 19 Vol. 8 Hix Bros. Circus
Box 20 Vol. 1-2 Hoxie Bros. Circus
Box 20 Vol. 3-4 Hunt Bros. Circus
Box 20 Vol. 5 International All Star Circus
Box 20 Vol. 6 Jacobs, Lou and Dolly
Box 20 Vol. 7 Jacobs, Terrell and Dolly
Box 21Vol. 1 James Bros Circus
Box 21Vol. 2 James M. Cole Circus
Box 21Vol. 3 John Pawling Circus
Box 21Vol. 4 John Robinson Circus and letters
Box 21Vol. 5 J.W. Beggs Wagon Collection
Box 21Vol. 6-8 Kelly-Miller Bros. Circus
Box 22 Vol. 1-2 King Bros.
Box 22 Vol. 3 King Bros. Cristiani Circus
Box 22 Vol. 4 King Royal Circus
Box 22 Vol. 5 Lamont Bros.
Box 22 Vol. 6-7 Letterheads of the circus
Box 22 Vol. 8-9 Letterheads of the Circus Model Builders
Box 23 Vol. 1 Letterheads of Model Builder Rings
Box 23 Vol. 2 Letterheads of the CMB
Box 23 Vol. 3 Letterheads and stationary of CMG, CHS, CFA
Box 23 Vol. 4 Lewis Bros. Circus
Box 23 Vol. 5-7 Mills Bros Circus
Box 24 Vol. 1 Misc Performers
Box 24 Vol. 2 Moscow State Circus
Box 24 Vol. 3 Nerveless Nocks
Box 24 Vol. 4 Petting Zoos Traveling and permanent
Box 24 Vol. 5 Phills Bros. Circus
Box 24 Vol. 6 Pickle Family Circus
Box 24 Vol. 7 Polack Bros. Circus
Box 24 Vol. 8 P.T. Barnum American Showman
Box 25 Vol. 1 Red Lion PA Circus
Box 25 Vol. 2-8 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Box 26 Vol. 1-8 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Box 27 Vol. 1-7 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Box 28 Vol. 1-6 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Box 28 Vol. 7 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus parades
Box 28 Vol. 8 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Circus World, Florida 1973-1985
Box 29 Vol. 1 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Circus World, Florida 1973-1985
Box 29 Vol. 2 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Gargantua
Box 29 Vol. 3 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Kaleidoscope Circus
Box 29 Vol. 4 Ringling Bros. Circus
Box 29 Vol. 5 Ringling Museum of the Circus, Florida
Box 29 Vol. 6 Robbins Bros. Circus
Box 29 Vol. 7 Roberts Bros. Circus
Box 30 Vol. 1-5 Roberts Bros. Circus
Box 30 Vol. 6 Roller Bros. Circus
Box 30 Vol. 7 Royal Lipizzan Stallions
Box 30 Vol. 8-9 Royal Hanneford Circus
Box 31 Vol. 1 Royal Hanneford Circus
Box 31 Vol. 2-3 Royal Ranch Wild West
Box 31 Vol. 4 Rudy Bros. Circus
Box 31 Vol. 5 Russell Bros. Circus
Box 31 Vol. 6 Sailor Circus
Box 31 Vol. 7-9 Sarasota Circus Festival Parade
Box 32 Vol. 1 Sarasota Circus Festival Parade
Box 32 Vol. 2 Sarasota Circus Ring of Fame
Box 32 Vol. 3 Sarasota Sailor Circus
Box 32 Vol. 4 Sells-Floto Circus
Box 32 Vol. 5-6 Sells and Gray Circus
Box 32 Vol. 7 “Shipping the Circus to Japan”
Box 32 Vol. 8 Sparks Circus
Box 32 Vol. 9 Sterling and Reid Bros. Circus
Box 32 Vol. 10 Sun Bros. Circus
Box 33 Vol. 1 Tarzan Zerbini Circus
Box 33 Vol. 2-3 The Circus Kingdom Circus
Box 33 Vol. 4 Toby Tyler Circus
Box 33 Vol. 5 TNT Royal Olympic Circus
Box 33 Vol. 6 United Nations Circus
Box 33 Vol. 7 Vidbell's Old Time Circus
Box 33 Vol. 8 Von Bros. Circus
Box 34 Vol. 1 Walker Bros. Circus
Box 34 Vol. 2 Wallace Bros. Circus
Wallenda Family
Box 34 Vol. 3 Enirco-Debbie
Box 34 Vol. 4-5 Karl-Helen
Box 34 Vol. 6-7 Steven-Angel
Box 35 Vol. 1 Walter L. Main Circus
Box 35 Vol. 2 Wire Acts
Box 35 Vol. 3 Yiengst Magic Circus
Box 35 Vol. 4-5 Zembo Shrine Circus America
Box 35 Vol. 6-7 Zembo Shrine Circus Odyssey
Container List
Box Folder
FOREIGN PROGRAMS
Box 36 Folder 1 Albert Rancy Circus
Box 36 Folder 2 American Circus
Box 36 Folder 3 Arlette Gruss Circus
Box 36 Folder 4 Armar Le Cirque France
Box 36 Folder 5 Belgian Circus, Cirque Royal, Koninklijk Circus, 1983
Box 36 Folder 6 Bellevue Circus
Box 36 Folder 7 Benneweis Cirkus
Box 36 Folder 8 Bertram Mills Circus, 1954-1963
Box 36 Folder 9 Big Top American Circus Texas
Box 36 Folder 10 Billy Smart’s Circus
Box 36 Folder 11 Blackpool Tower
Box 36 Folder 12 Boswell Wilkie
Box 36 Folder 13 Bouglione du Cirque Paris
Box 36 Folder 14 Bullen’s-Australia’s Largest Circus
Box 36 Folder 15 Busch-Roland
Box 36 Folder 16 Chipperfield’s Circus, 1954-1987
Box 36 Folder 17 Circus Barnum, 1978-1983
Box 36 Folder 18 Circus Der Welt
Box 36 Folder 19 Circus Franconi
Box 36 Folder 20 Circus Franz Althoff
Box 36 Folder 21 Circus Jean Richard
Box 36 Folder 22-24 Circus Knie
Box 36 Folder 25 Circus Mikkenie (Netherlands) 1979
Box 36 Folder 26 Circus Nock, 1975-1991
Box 36 Folder 27 Circus Sarrasani, 1961
Box 36 Folder 28 Circus Schuman
Box 36 Folder 29 Circus Toni Boltini
Box 36 Folder 30 Circus Williams
Box 36 Folder 31 Circus Willy Hagenbeck
Box 36 Folder 32 Circo Americano
Box 36 Folder 33 Circo Atayde Hnos
Box 36 Folder 34 Circo Casartelli
Box 36 Folder 35 Circo Italiano
Box 36 Folder 36 Circo Medrano
Box 36 Folder 37 Circo Nacional de Mexico
Box 36 Folder 38 Circo Nasionale Togni
Box 36 Folder 39 Circo Sobre Hielo
Box 36 Folder 40 Cirkus Arena
Box 36 Folder 41 Cirkus Berny
Box 36 Folder 42 Cirkus Danebrog
Box 36 Folder 43 Cirkus Merano
Box 36 Folder 44 Cirkus Scott
Box 36 Folder 45 Cirque Achille Zavatta, 1979-1986
Box 36 Folder 46 Cirque de Corce
Box 36 Folder 47 Cirque D’etat de Budapest
Box 36 Folder 48 Cirque D’Hiver
Box 36 Folder 49 Cirque Diana Moreno Bormann
Box 36 Folder 50 Cirque Gruss
Box 36 Folder 51 Cirque Kino’s
Box 36 Folder 52 Cirque Medrano
Box 36 Folder 53 Cirque Noel
Box 36 Folder 54 Cirque Reno
Box 36 Folder 55 Cirque Roger Lanzac
Box 36 Folder 56 Cirque Royal
Box 36 Folder 57 Cirque Sabine Rancy
Box 36 Folder 58 Cirque Zavoix du Nord
Box 36 Folder 59 Cottle & Austin Circus
Box 37 Folder 1 Dick Binnendik’s Kerstcircus
Box 37 Folder 2 Du Cirque Fratellini
Box 37 Folder 3 Festival International Cirque, 1976, 1988, 1998
Box 37 Folder 4 Francki-Le Cirque
Box 37 Folder 5 Grand International Circus
Box 37 Folder 6 Internationale Circus Show
Box 37 Folder 7 Italienscher National Circus Heros
Box 37 Folder 8 Jack Hylton’s Circus
Box 37 Folder 9 Jos Mullens Circus
Box 37 Folder 10 Krone
Box 37 Folder 11 Le Cirque de Francis-Paris
Box 37 Folder 12 Le Cirque de Paris
Box 37 Folder 13 Le Cirque de Pekin
Box 37 Folder 14 Le Cirque Mongolie
Box 37 Folder 15-17 Le Cirque National et Alexis Gruss
Box 37 Folder 18 Le Grand Cirque de France-Benhur, 1962
Box 37 Folder 19 Les Naits Du Cirque
Box 37 Folder 20 Moscow Circus, 1974-1987
Box 37 Folder 21 Perry Bros. Circus
Box 38 Folder 1 Pinder
Box 38 Folder 2 Piste Circus
Box 38 Folder 3 Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus
Box 38 Folder 4 Spanischer National Circus
Box 38 Folder 5 The Great International Christmas Circus
Box 38 Folder 6 Untitled Circus
Box 38 Folder 7 Vive Le Cirque
Box 38 Folder 8 Wiener Circus
Box 38 Folder 9 Zirkus Stey
Container List
Shelf Folder
WINDOW CARDS
Shelf 1 Folder 1 Alain Zerbini Circus, 1995
Shelf 1 Folder 2 Al. G. Kelley and Miller Bros. Circus, 1963-1986
Shelf 1 Folder 3 Beers and Barnes Circus, 1966
Shelf 1 Folder 4 Big Apple Circus, 1988
Shelf 1 Folder 5 Boaz Bros. Circus, 1968
Shelf 1 Folder 6 Buffalo Bill's Wild West, 1973
Shelf 1 Folder 7 Carson and Barnes, 1978-1990
Shelf 1 Folder 8 Circus City Festival, 1996, 1999
Shelf 1 Folder 9 Circus Hvazquez, undated
Shelf 1 Folder 10 Circus Kirk, 1969-1977
Shelf 1 Folder 11 Circus Sarasota, 2002-2006
Shelf 1 Folder 12 Circus U.S.A., 1985
Shelf 1 Folder 13 Circus Vargas, 1975
Shelf 1 Folder 14 Clyde Beatty Circus, 1957
Shelf 2 Folder 1 Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, 1959-2003
Shelf 2 Folder 2 Cole Bros. Circus, undated
Shelf 2 Folder 3 County and Church Fairs, 1982-2003
Shelf 2 Folder 4 Cristiani Bros. Circus, 1956-1959
Shelf 2 Folder 5 Cristiani-Wallace Bros. Circus, 1962
Shelf 2 Folder 6 Culpepper and Meriweather Circus, 1991
Shelf 2 Folder 7 Famous Circus Bartok, 1968
Shelf 2 Folder 8 Franzen Bros. Circus, 1985-1992
Shelf 2 Folder 9 Great American Circus, 1978-1989
Shelf 2 Folder 10 Hagen Bros. Circus, 1959
Shelf 2 Folder 11 Hagen-Wallace Sells-Gray CircusLewis Bros. Circus, 1974
Shelf 3 Folder 1-2 Hamid Morton (Zembo Temple Shrine) Circus, 1943-1986
Shelf 4 Folder 1 Hamid Morton (Zembo Temple Shrine) Circus, 1943-1986
Shelf 4 Folder 2 Hendricks Bros. Circus, 2002
Shelf 4 Folder 3 Hix Bros. Circus, 1978
Shelf 4 Folder 4 Hoxie Bros. Circus, 1964-1984
Shelf 4 Folder 5 Holiday Hippodrome Original Stage Circus
Shelf 4 Folder 6 Hunt Bros. and Eddy Bros Circus
Shelf 5 Folder 1 Jaffa Shrine Circus, 2001
Shelf 5 Folder 2 James Bros. Circus, 1970
Shelf 5 Folder 3 James E. Strates Show, undated
Shelf 5 Folder 4 Jumbo Statue Commemoration, 1985
Shelf 5 Folder 5 Kelly Miller 3 Ring Circus, undated
Shelf 5 Folder 6 Kelley Morris Circus, undated
Shelf 5 Folder 7 King Bros. Circus, 1952-1975
Shelf 5 Folder 8 L.E. Barnes 3 Ring Circus, 2001
Shelf 5 Folder 9 Lewis Bros. Circus, 1974
Shelf 5 Folder 10 Mills Bros. Circus, 1956-1959
Shelf 5 Folder 11 Model Circus Shows, 1958-2007
Shelf 5 Folder 12 Mort Gamble Cole Bros Circus, 2001
Shelf 5 Folder 13 Moscow Circus
Shelf 6 Folder 1 Peking Circus, 1992
Shelf 6 Folder 2 Plunkett Bros. Circus
Shelf 6 Folder 3 Polack Bros. Circus, 1957-1958
Shelf 6 Folder 4 Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 1958-2008
Shelf 6 Folder 5 Roberts Bros. Circus, 1978-1995
Shelf 6 Folder 6 Royal Hanneford Circus, 1968-1997
Shelf 7 Folder 1 Royal Wild West Circus, undated
Shelf 7 Folder 2 Rupp's Circus, undated
Shelf 7 Folder 3 Sells and Gray Circus, 1975-1976
Shelf 7 Folder 4 Syria Shrine Circus, 1977
Shelf 7 Folder 5 The Circus Kingdom, 1973, 1992
Shelf 7 Folder 6 Toby Tyler 3 Ring Circus, 1985-1986
Shelf 7 Folder 7 Tom Pack's Circus, undated
Shelf 7 Folder 8 Tripoli Shrine Circus, 1992, undated
Shelf 7 Folder 9 Unidentified Shrine Circuses, 1970-1976
Shelf 7 Folder 10 Vidbel's Old Tyme Circus, 1987
Shelf 7 Folder 11 Wallace Bros. Circus
Shelf 7 Folder 12 Wallenda, Karl