Their pride and joy is the circus collection, which stretches nearly 20 feet across display cases in the museum.Through the 1920's and 1930's, he said, the Schoenhut company made a variety of safari-themed and circus-themed toy sets.The Humpty Dumpty Circus line of toys is colorful and intricate, even by today's standards.There are lions, hippos, camels, elephants and horses.Schoenhut also made a circus band and its wagon, "but that's very rare and very expensive, so I don't think you'll ever get to see that one," Wayne said.
And there's even a chariot, pulled by a donkey, which he said is "very rare."Schoenhut also sold lithographed cloth circus tents, as well as many accessories.Finding them is difficult today, the Nances said, because they were made of materials that were easy to manufacture at the time: plastic resin, cloth, even cardboard.Wayne said he believes the circus chariot is rare because it was one of the cardboard toys. "It probably got destroyed," he said. "We found one sort of by accident, in an online auction."
Part of the fun for the Thomases, as with many die-hard collectors, is telling the stories of finding rare pieces in estate auctions, or online.Nance did not wish to give a dollar value for the Schoenhut toys currently on display at the museum.However, Schoenhut toys similar to those on display are currently offered online for hundreds of dollars apiece.The Thomases are also showcasing their French fashion dolls, which Helen called "the Barbie doll of the 1800's."