The MSI’s circus exhibit folds its tent after 5 decades

One of Museum of Science and Industry circus dioramas. The circus exhibit, in one form or another, has been on display since the early 1970s. It’s being auctioned later this month to make way for a new exhibit. (Heidi Peters/Museum of Science and Industry)

A child would step into a world bathed in crimson light. She’d hear the hiss and toot of a steam whistle organ.

The tease of the circus announcer: “You’ll see Jolly Marge, the heaviest human being alive! … And Tiny Timothy, the smallest man on Earth!”