You are looking at a highly sought after accessory for the American Flyer Circus set from 1950. The Circus set came with sheets of cardstock cutouts to make your own circus to have alongside your circus train. These cutouts were usually put somewhere else and are rarely found with the trains.
This cutout set was ASSEMBLED by a talented, patient person with lots of time on their hands. How long would it take you to expertly cut everything out and assemble?
I do not know if this is original or reproduction. You will have to examine. You can enlarge the pics and check it out. We have provided over 70 pictures total. I am open to advice.
The collector from whom we purchased it is an educated set collector and was under the impression this was original. Neither of us have anything to compare it to. I did compare it to an unassembled repro sheet set I have, and I could not come to a conclusion. There are some white spots in the artwork along the back of the tent that are not paper rubs. The modern repro does not have this in the pattern.
This was purchased from a person in Nashville who had brought it to Tennessee from Du Page, Illinois. The Tennessee collector kept it under glass on display.
CONDITION: Looks great. Old glue is obvious. Some of the landscaping is on the pieces. Most pieces have a little bit of age-related yellowing along the very outer edges. Looks like all pieces are here, but you will have to examine all 73 pics and make the call.