The Fate of the Charles Larson Collection?

[Mr. Motte]

I have read a little about the great collector Larson, mostly from an old 1945 article in the New Yorker. What ever became of his collection? Was it donated or sold?

[Richard Kaufman]

It was sold, and a good deal of it now belongs to Ken Klosterman.

[Mr. Motte]

Many thanks. Was it a private sale, or did it go to auction?

[Richard Hatch]

It was given to the Ringling Circus Musuem in Florida where it languished until Charles Kalish purchased the remnants years later. Kalish sold things piecemeal to a number of collectors, Klosterman and Ellenbogen possibly chief among them. Many of the items have a "CMS" number on them showing the Circus Museum provenance.

[Kevin Connolly]

That sounds good to me. Ellenbogen gave me a number of items and I just sent my last piece from it to to Ken. Like he need it! ;)

[hugmagic]

I've got a piece I am working restoring for Ken. It has the CMS numbering on it along with the new Klosterman numbering system. Ken has the entire collection on Filemaker Pro. You can immediately find the name, providence of an article, along with a photo of it. It is a great way to organize a collection. Plus is it cross platform compatible.

Oh, Ken told me to restore as I see fit but be sure to leave the numbering intact.

Richard