Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-06-24 11:00:00 2026-06-24 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/june-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-23574
Our June 2026 auction presents a focused and exceptional selection of historical photographs spanning the 1840s through the early twentieth century, with unusual depth in named subjects, rare formats, and documented provenance anchored by strong vernacular material that rewards close looking.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 554

RPPC, Campbell Bros. Circus Billboard, House Moving, Red Lodge MT

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$50

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $5,000
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
A steam traction engine pulls an entire commercial building down a dirt main street in this real photo postcard documenting a house-moving operation by W.E. Hall and Son of Red Lodge, Montana, the company name printed in white lettering along the lower image border. A large painted circus billboard advertising Campbell Brothers is affixed to the front of the structure being moved, reading "Campbell Bro[s]" with the date "July 8" partially visible alongside large decorative numerals and colorful lithographed imagery. Several men stand alongside the building and the traction engine, and additional onlookers are visible in doorways and on the structure itself.

The building being relocated is a two-story wood-frame commercial structure with large plate glass windows on the ground floor, braced with heavy diagonal timber shoring for transport. The traction engine at left is a large iron-wheeled steam-powered unit with a vertical smokestack, consistent with heavy hauling equipment of the early twentieth century. The street is unpaved and flanked by two-story brick commercial buildings with corbeled cornices, one faced in cut stone with arched second-floor windows. A wooden utility pole with crossarms stands at mid-block.

The Campbell Brothers Circus, founded in 1883, reached its peak in 1910 touring in 42 double-length railroad cars with 17 performing elephants and 700 personnel, before a series of disasters including a train wreck and fires brought about its bankruptcy in 1912. The July 8 date visible on the billboard corresponds to the circus's documented July 8, 1912 engagement in the Northern Plains region during what proved to be its final touring season. The reverse is an unused divided-back real photo postcard with "Real Photo Stamp Here" notation, unmarked and unmailed.

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