The decorative wood type used on circus posters is often the same as that described as "old west". Here are a few faces in the style:

Quentin
Overdressed
P.T. Barnum
PL Barnum Block
Playbill, Playbill Antique
Chisel
Vineta
FF Zapata
Council
Brothers
ITC Magnifico Daytime
ITC Magnifico Nighttime
Adobe Wood Type 1
Rosewood
Zebrawood
Zirkus
Thunderbird
Thunderbird Condensed
57 Rodeo
ITC Buckeroo
Italienne
Chase
Amanda
FTN Farao
Dekoria
Wanted
Westside
Buffalo Gal
Old Towne
Horndon

John are you looking for (as Stephen describes) American Western poster fonts or another location? I would think the posters in Manhattan or London at that time would look totally different. If its possible narrow the location of the look you are looking for.

Yeah, I guess I'm going for the American Western look, but with an ornate flare (lots of swashes, etc.). And this project is something I'm doing as a favor for someone, so I'm really looking for some freeware fonts. But I've looked through DaFont and a few other places, so I might've about exhausted all there is.

http://www.bluevertigo.com.ar/bluevertigo.htm

John go to this site it has lots of resource listings maybe it will lead to something you haven't seen yet.

Thanks for the help all; I actually got to looking around in the retro section at DaFont and found a lot of fonts I had overlooked. Guess I consider Retro to be 50's and 60's-ish fonts and din't think to check there for what I was looking for.

The project I'm working on is actually a t-shirt design for my church's Vacation Bible School this summer. The theme for this year is "Under God's Big Top," so I'm trying to mimic the look of an old circus poster for the t-shirt design. It's still a work in progress, but here's what I've come up with so far; feel free to offer any advice or suggestions:

http://www.flatface.net/~johnmiles/vbsdesignpreview.jpg

Go to misprintedtype.com Eduardo Recife is awesome & his font "Great Circus" is to die for. It costs, but it's not too bad & it's totally worth it. Of course, it all depends on what style you are going for--this font is distressed. CHECK IT OUT!

Ok, here's the near final design, now in color, bitches:

http://www.flatface.net/~johnmiles/vbscolordesignpreview.jpg

Edit: Thanks for the suggestion btw, bec11679, but I guess I'm really going for more of a clean look rather than that dirty style, which might not come out as well on a shirt.

No problem. Looks sweet. What a cute idea.

hey john,
just wondering if you ever found a font..
cheers,
stephen

Recently released: CircusKS

Some interesting sets that allow for multi-color overlays are at fontmesa

with an ornate flare (lots of swashes, etc.

Not likely to be found in authentic period typefaces…