We are an authorized, direct-from-the-publisher retailer of NEW books. Our titles are ON HAND and available for immediate shipping. When P.1. Barnum brought his famed Barnum and Bailey circus to Des Moines, Iowa in the late 19th century, Jumbo the Elephant, reputedly the largest elephant ever known to exist, was the star of the show. The Des Moines performance grounds were rented from a certain Mr. Wesley Redhead, a prominent local businessman, and he and P.T. became fast friends. When the circus was set to depart, P.T. Barnum presented Mr. Redhead with a mechanical toy elephant as a memory of the time. The elephant, made by Roullet of France, lumbered along when wound, and, amusingly flapped his ears, a feature not often found on the later Roullet et Decamps toy elephant. This elephant has remained in the Redhead Family until now, and will be sold at the auction along with photographs and documents about its provenance. Jumbo provides a symbol of childhood as represented by this auction.
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