One-of-a-kind model circus on display at Tioga County Historical Society Museum

Through Saturday, March 4, a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted “Three Ring Circus” is on display at the Tioga County Historical Society Museum, located at 110 Front St. in Owego, N.Y., which was made in the 1940’s by long-time resident, Everett Baker.

Circus enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy the display, and according to Baker’s family members, this is only the second time his circus model has been shown at the museum. Now a noteworthy part of Owego’s history, Baker’s circus model connects what many remember from their childhoods as the “Greatest Show on Earth.”  

According to James Baker of Endicott, his father, Everett, born in 1899, loved watching the circus when it came to town, and as a young boy watched wide-eyed as railroad cars unloaded at the tracks. Chances are Everett, who passed away in 1973, would have been sad to hear that one famous circus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, would finally fold in 2017, after a 146-year run.

Everett Baker and his wife, Myrtle and five children lived on Dean Street in Owego. Baker worked at Endicott-Johnson for many years and suffered a reaction in his hands from the shoe sole materials he regularly worked that stripped layers of skin and caused his hands to bleed.  As the condition worsened, a doctor suggested to Baker that he stop working to try and heal, and also recommended that he keep his hands active.      

Call it “circus therapy,” Baker decided to start crafting and building his Three Ring Circus.

Baker’s granddaughter, Bonnie Mead, of Owego, explained that her grandfather set up a shop on his Dean Street property in an old chicken coop, complete with wood stove and electricity.  James mentioned that this was also his father’s way of keeping his work safe and out of the traffic of the main house, which often had children and grandchildren running about.

“My grandfather made a number of circus wagons,” Mead shared, and added; “All of his children and most of the Baker grandkids have one.”

The Everett Baker Model Circus includes numerous detailed pieces to scale.  Wagons typically found in traveling circuses in the early part of the 1900’s, animal cages, a ticket wagon, a generator wagon that supplied power and even a calliope is part of the collection, and in the rings are many of the familiar circus acts typically found at a live show, like a ring master and clowns, and of course, a menagerie of animals.

After Baker passed away, the family donated Everett’s circus to the Tioga County Historical Society’s museum.  Fortunately, during the flood of 2011, the circus pieces did not get damaged while stored in the museum’s basement.

Mead commented that the pieces remained safe on high shelves, and said, “But only about four to six inches above the water line.”

On Feb. 19, several Baker family members visited the museum to view the circus. Mead shared that there are also several unfinished pieces.

The Tioga County Historical Society museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.  For additional information, find them on Facebook, view their website at tiogahistory.org, or call (607) 687-2460.