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Love, loss and high wires: Century-old trunks reveal the story of a Midwestern circus girl

On Nov. 21, Brian Finstad, president of the Gordon-Wascott Historical Society, unpacked four trunks of Victoria Lidberg and Paul Lorenzo's circus memorabilia documenting their touring careers including the Tri-State Fair.
Andy Worsley, Victoria's nephew, donated the trunks after deciding family wouldn't keep them since he had kept the items since 1989 and recently moved.
Photographs and posters show the couple's aerial apparatus and stage garb, including costumes with `Paul Lorenzo` stitched on the collar, Victoria's scrapbook, and rigging heights including 125 feet.
Brian Finstad is seeking a place to display and digitize Victoria's scrapbook, which helps document their travels and reveals the story as more a love story than performers' lore.
Lorenzo's death was followed by widespread newspaper coverage and burial at Showman's Rest, after he fell during a 1942 Salem, Illinois performance with Victoria beneath him.

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Love, loss and high wires: Century-old trunks reveal the story of a Midwestern circus girl

SUPERIOR, Wis. — Growing up, Brian Finstad heard a legend dozens of times about a Gordon, Wisconsin, girl who met an acrobat and ran off with him, becoming part of his national act until he fell to his death. The story of Victoria Lidberg and Paul Lorenzo Perkinson turned out to be not just a tragic rumor. It was a love story. Pieces of their tale fell into place when Victoria’s nephew, Andy Worsley, reached out to Finstad this fall. Worsley had…

3 days ago·Cherokee County, United States

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