The Tibbals Collection of Buster Bailey Films capture Bailey's insider's view of circus. The general circus community embraced Bailey's familiar presence on the circus lot, granting him extraordinary access to the lots and venues of a variety of circuses including the Al G. Barnes Circus, Clyde Beatty Cole Circus, Amsterdam Circus, Moscow Circus, Russian Ice Show and Circus Benneweis. Bailey's footage of these circuses feature several performances and circus set-ups in venues across America, including scenes of winter quarters, trains loading and unloading, the backyard, animal acts, spec productions, tumbling acts, rolla bolla acts, clown gags, trapeze and web numbers, and much more. Also captured in this collection are Bailey's tours of European circus parks, the circus parade in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois, and the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida.
