Ringling Collection

The Ringling Collection is comprised of cabinet cards, postcards and photographs of 19th Century American and British actors and actresses. There are more than 6,000 images in this digital collection depicting more than 3,000 actors and actresses. The Collection is important not simply for its pictures of the idols of a bye-gone era but for its depictions of clothing, hair styles, and other indicators of the period's social mores and attitudes. The original collection is housed in the Belknap Collection for the Performing Arts in the Smathers Libraries' Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida.