They include motorized dioramas showing the circus parades and the three-ring performances, carved models of circus wagons, and fun house mirrors., the MSI circus exhibit opened in April 1973 – and was originally displayed in the East Pavilion rotunda before being moved to a corridor on the ground floor in the mid-1990s.
Potter & Potter auctions noted that the motorized dioramas that constituted some of the highlights of the exhibit were created over several decades by Chicago railroad worker Roland J. Weber. They were developed"were created in exacting detail and feature hand-carved animals and human figures, as well as finely-constructed model circus tents, wagons, animal cages, and accouterments that make each diorama both remarkable accomplishments, but also, to a degree, accurate representations of how a circus looked and felt in the first quarter of the twentieth century," according to Potter & Potter.
The Hyde Park Herald reported Weber sold the collection to disabled veteran and circus fan Ken Idle – who in turn sold it to Sears, Roebuck & Co. Sears first loaned the collection to the MSI, but later donated it, the newspaper reported.