Calder stored the Circus in a set of suitcases, which traveled with him as he performed the work in the United States and Europe. At first, the various pieces could fit into two suitcases, but the project eventually grew to fill five of them. Calder added acts and elements over several years, and by 1930 his ensemble had grown to more than seventy figures and animals; nearly one hundred props and accessories such as nets, flags, carpets, and lamps; and over thirty musical instruments, phonographic records, and noisemakers. Calder’s kit encompassed not only the set pieces, characters, and mechanisms, but also the tools he used to repair and operate them: caps for the cap pistols, strings, fabric, sewing kits, pliers, and wires.
