is a complete three-ringed folk art circus created by Edgar Decker Kirk (1891-1956) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, over a period of 46 years. Kirk, who worked as a brakeman on the Pennsylvania Railroad, began the circus in 1910 when his children were small and continued to work on it long after they were grown, until 1956. Working at night after twelve-hour days with the railroad, Kirk cut the figures for his circus from scrap lumber on a treadle-operated jigsaw and completed the carving with an ordinary penknife. Only the nails and paint were specially purchased. The Kirk circus, complete with animal acts, clowns, trapeze artists, bands, side shows and bleachers full of spectators and vendors, is a monument to Kirk's creativity, ingenuity and lifelong passion for the circus. Also in the collection are scale models of a canal boat circus. From 1882 to 1887 residents of ports along the Erie and Oswego canals of central New York state were visited each summer by Sig Sautelle's big shows, one of the only circuses ever to travel by boat. Sautelle, born George Satterlee (1848–1928), was a colorful showman and one of the most successful promoters of his time. The wooden models of Sautelle's two circus canal boats, built by Milo Smith of Herkimer, New York, provide a vivid picture of this unique regional circus. References Shelburne Museum's Building Description Gustav A. Dentzel's Carousel's Information on Kirk Brothers Circus Fraley, Tobin and Gary K Wolf. Carousel animals: artistry in motion. Chronicle Books, 2002. Manns, William, Peggy Shank, and Marianne Stevens. Painted Ponies. ZON International Publishing, 1986. Shelburne Museum Circus museums in the United States