Circus Historical Society

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Bandwagon . . . take a journey into the past

Bandwagon, CHS's journal, publishes captivating articles relating to circus history. Articles have explored such far ranging topics such as the Forepaugh-Sells seasons 1910-1911, seal lion training, circus balloon ascensions, circus parades of the 1930's, the circus season of 2001 reviewed, and the Ringling Bros. winterquarters in the early 1900's. Most issues cover a half dozen topics varying in length from a single page to fifteen pages.

Powerful personalities who shaped the circus industry, past and present are also featured in articles. Such individuals include early circus owners as Rufus Welch, and Levi North, world famous circus impresarios like James A. Bailey and John Ringling and more recent owners such as Floyd King and Clifford Vargas find their way onto the pages of Bandwagon. Great performers are not overlooked with all-time greats, Gunther Gebels-Williams and Lucio Cristiani, together with fond memories of Clyde Beatty and May Wirth being duly recorded and presented.

In addition to the fascinating articles of the circus, illustrations pepper all of the writings bringing them to life on the page itself. Utilizing the vast resources of a number of circus memorabilia collectors, along with the major repositories of circus material held at a variety of institutions such as the Circus World Museum at Baraboo, WI, The Circus Hall of Fame at Peru, IN and the Circus Galleries at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at Sarasota, FL together with the college and university collections at Harvard, Princeton, Illinois State and Florida State, the ability of Bandwagon to creatively and accurately illustrate the printed word knows no bounds. As an added highlight, many of the pictorials are printed in color.