Circus Historical Society
Bandwagon, June 1953
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Bandwagon, June, 1953. Note: Only some articles are included in this online edition. Illustrations are not included. The Circus Historical Society does not guarantee the accuracy of information contained in the information in these online articles. Information should always be checked with additional sources.
"And what you see on the banners on the outside, you'll witness in living reality on the inside." The chant of the barker in front sideshow before the advent of the loudspeaker, when the spieler, in stentorian tones, drew vivid word pictures of the wonders on exhibition, And flopping in the breeze, colorful banners depicting in allegorical style the mystery of mysteries, that no man in his right mind would deprive himself of viewing and thus increase his knowledge of the wonders of Nature.
Today the circus scene remains much the some, the colorful bannerline is a vital part of every circus midway, only the barker has been replaced by a mechanical loudspeaker, eliminating the need of a man with a strong, musical voice to sing the praises of the wonders within.
Who was the father of the sideshow? Whose fertile brain conceived the gaudy bannerline? None other than Ezra Stephens, "The Barnum of Maine," whose active brain visualized the possibilities of obtaining two admissions from one patron.
The time was in the early 1850s, Ezra Stephens was the owner of a small country store at Bryant Pond, a srnall village nestling at the foot of Mount Christopher in the state of Maine. Attending the county fair at Paris, Me., Stephens found a show man who had become stranded at that place and for a small pecuniary consideration took over a trained bear that the man was exhibiting.
Stephens proved himself a first-class showman in presenting this bear to the public, so he decided that the amusement world was his forte and commenced adding to his attractions. What to offer the public was never a problern with him, as he emulated the efforts of P. T. Barnum, and in the early years the attractions Barnum was exhibiting in his American Museum would find a counterpart in the Stephens' show. He had added to his collection of wild animals, the equine acts were on par with other shows of the period, and the acrobats were performing with the same dexterity as their contemporaries of other road shows; but Ezra Stephens was not satisfied. There was too much overhead for the receipts grossed. In the store Stephens always was conscious of freight charges; the higher the shipping costs, the greater the retail markup. Ruminating over his past experiences he figured thusly: When he was exhibiting only the, bear, his expenses were quite low; now that he was offering a full scale circus exhibition his admission was but slightly greater than what people were willing to pay to see Mr. Bruin go through his antics. His tonnage haul was considerable; the cost of loading and unloading the wagons; the hours of labor involved in raising and striking the tents, and the increased payroll for the larger personnel were factors to be reckoned with.
At that period the art of pitching tents had not been reduced the science it is today, so that all circuses of that time used several tents for their exhibition; a condition that still prevailed into the early 1890's. As 25c to 50c was the usual price of admission, according to the financial conditions of the community, Ezra Stephens decided to put into practice a segregation law of his own. In one tent was the main show, in another were the animals; in still another the horses and ponies. The trained bears and other rare exhibits occupied another tent. Ezra decided that thenceforth the latter tent should require on additional fee, and proceeded to add to these attractions to induce the public to willingly pay to enter this tent, which he graciously termed an "Annex."
In those days sideshow features were not readily obtainable, so the redoubtable Ezra put his mind to work and offered the admission-paying public the very features he believed they would like to see, his outstanding brainchild being, no doubt, the dancing turkeys; a feature that drew gasps of wonderment from the spectators, and, perchance induced many a lad, imbued with the spirit of being a showman, in spending countless hours to achieve the some results with his fowls, but without success.
Just before the dancing turkeys were put on exhibition, a charcoal fire was placed under the steel platform on which the birds were to perform. Having thus prepared the stage, the turkeys were taken from their coops and placed in the large cage with the warmed floor. The birds would lift one foot and then the other, as the heat of the platform prevented them from standing on both legs in comfort. An old hand organ gave out undulcet strains, but to the spectators the birds seemed to keep perfect rhythm. It was an act that never failed to please.
With Ezra Stephens one exhibit begot another. When a sea captain offered him a South American cockatoo, the price seemed excessive and the deal was not consummated. Arriving home, Stephens found the feminine members of the family engaged in dyeing wool and other stuffs. Immediately there was born in the active mind of the great showman a South American cockatoo "made in the U.S.A" From his flock of chickens he selected a large, white Leghorn pullet and proceeded to color her feathers from the dye - pots being used by the women. Blue, brown, red and yellow, and a blending of these colors, carefully applied while the hapless, prospective cockatoo lay helplessly bound. The legs and feet were painted a deep brown to further disguise the origin, and the rainbow-hued debutante of the fowl world was then crowned with a top-knot of colored feathers. As Stephens could not use a mordant to make the coloring permanent, extreme care was taken that this exhibit would not get wet, lest the fowl lose its coloring — and pulling powers.
A sea captain had promised to deliver a sea serpent, but as time went on this wonder of the briny deep failed to make its appearance. Stephens sincerely wanted such an attraction for the new season, and, undaunted by the non-arrival of the denizen of the ocean, he proceeded to build a reasonable facsimile. A wire frame was made, which was covered with soft leather. Its mouth was painted red, and when it was opened it looked large enough to swallow a person. Invisible threads, properly manipulated, caused the creature to writhe and open its mouth. It was exhibited in front of a marine backdrop and measured forty feet in length, separating in the middle to facilitate transportation.
Ezra Stephens was a believer in mob psychology when it helped to enrich his coffers. Ice had a way of disappearing in the lemonade, thus adding to the overhead. To eliminate this phase of operating expense he procured from the Sandwich Glass Works, of new Boston, while playing in that vicinity, a large piece of transparet glass resembling a chunk of ice, and this bit of deception cooled the lemonade on the Stephens' show for many years.
As was the custom in the early days of circusdom, the title of the show was frequently changed. Ezra Stephens adopted the name of Den Stone for his first entertainment venture. The "Den" being acquired from the extent of his show - a "den" of bears. He retained this sobriquet throughout his long years of showmanship, but changed the surname frequently.
The first few years he trouped as Den Stevens, and later, as the show grew, to Den Stephens. The suffix "Show" being usually supplied by the townspeople, it was later acquired into the title. Stephens added to his show, he would add to his title, and in the early 70's the outfit was known as Den Stephens' Menagerie; later as Stephens' Menagerie and Museum; the Great Diamo [Diama?] Circus, and finally, the Diamond Circus and Australian Menagerie.
The show was a wagon show, with winter quarters at Bryant Pont, Maine, The itinerary, which seldom changed from year to year took in all the important New England towns and extended it eastern New York state. Until the 80's the advance billing was a day or two ahead of the show, as there was no scheduled route Stephens would remain in a town as long as the returns justified, sometimes playing a stand for two weeks. The hauls were typical mud show jumps of from 10 to 15 miles, never over 20.
When Stephens decided to jump, he would dispatch a couple of men to the next stand with a mere handful of bills to announce th arrival. Newspaper publicity was seldom resorted to as most paper were weeklies and their publication dates seldom coincided with the show dates, although Stephens was not adverse to using this media of publicity when advantageous to do so.
Posters were tacked up in postoffices, taverns, blacksmith shops, the town hall, at watering troughs and crossroad stores. Such modicum of publicity would be decried by circus men today, yet the returns Were all that could be asked for, as the tents were usually well filled. In the later years, Stephens was a trifle more lavish with his paper, but not to the extent of his contemporaries, and for this reason his bills are rare collector's items.
Ezra Stephens was a progressive as well as aggressive showman. He kept well abreast of the times, and was quite frequently in the vanguard. When the illustrious P. T. Barnum would bring out a new feature, it was a foregone conclusion that a similar act or exhit would be on the billing of the Stephens' show. When Barnum introduced Zeo, in her famous slide for life down a rope from the center pole hanging by her hair, Stephens presented to his audience the Circassian Beauty, who emulated in every detail the achieveme of Zeo. With her long hair tied to a steel ring this comely __ held the Down Easterners enthralled as she ascended the rope, in accompaniment of band music, to the apex of the tent. Therewas never a sound from the audience as she nonchalantly attached the ring to a pulley that rode on a rope. For several moments she stood poised on a small platform at perfect ease, while the hearts of the spectators were beating almost audible sounds. With her handkerchief she signaled, and the band struck up with a stirring march. Wafting a kiss to the audience the Circassian Beauty stepped off into space and was whirling toward the ground, gaining momentum every second. Men gasped, women screamed, occasionally one fainted, at the daring of this sensational act — an act that would receive but small billing today.
While Barnum was offering the world Tom Thumb, Stephens was quick to offer Major Robert Homer, 18 years old, 40 inches tall, weighing 48 pounds. Waino and Plutano, midgets, were also with the Stephens show, They were 50 years old, weighing 45 pounds each.
Ponies were a feature with the show and made a hit with the children. These ponies gave fathers a valid excuse to take the children to the show — as good a reason as the elephants in the larger aggregations.
Following the Civil War and the trek to the West began, people became interested in the animal of the plains called the buffalo, and many intrepid huntsmen went to the plains country to shoot these animals. Stephens sent his emissaries to the West for buffaloes, too, but not to shoot them, but bring them back alive. He was reputedly the first man to exhibit a pair of buffaloes in the New England states.
Winter did not deter Stephens from exhibiting. He took the bears and other undomesticated animals to the cities and exhibited them in halls. Frequently he rented out some animals to exhibitors. One winter he showed his buffaloes with the Kickapoo Medicine Company at Boston. This system "cut down the overhead", as he expressed it. For the animals would have to be fed, and without any revenue coming in, would quickly eat into the profits of the previous season.
While Ezra Stephens was the progenitor of the bannerline, he was not the originator of the bally stage, for he had no need for such a contrivance. He stood six feet, two inches in height. He always wore a checkered suit of the latest design, a tall, black beaver hat, while his fingers were adorned with a wealth of diamonds. A mustache of the handlebar type graced his upper lip and he was an imposing figure as he stood before his banners to extol the merits of the wonders within. "Outside work" was what ballyhoo was known as in those early days. and Ezra Stephens had a knack of keeping the attention of the crowd.
Stephens was always adding to his show, and at the time he retired from the show business he had a twenty-wagon outfit. He never took to the rails, because, as he said: "I am too old to consider a change; I'm thinking of retiring." And retire he did in 1892, spending his time at the store at Bryant Pond and in fox hunting in that section. One of his idiosyncracies was wearing a tall, beaver hat when setting forth on a fox hunt.
He died in 1899 and is buried at Bryant Pond. A photo of Stephens, reproduced on the cover, shows the "Barnum of Maine" with Waino and Plutono.
The exact date of the founding of the John Robinson show is obscure. In the show's 1899 route book, when the Robinson family decided that it would be appropriate to have a 75th anniversary, they created it, giving rise to the myth of its founding in 1824. It is evident that the idea occurred to them earlier when an 1884 herald, which the writer now has, proclaimed "Our 60th Year." The legend was further perpetuated by Gil Robinson, second son of the founder in his book "Old Wagon Show Days" (Brockwell, 1925) when he observed the 100th anniversary in 1924. These publications are usually considered to be the authority on the subject. Considering the preponderance of contradictory evidence, this is unfortunate.
Four dates can be found for the birth of old John. The earliest of these is given in Gil's book as 1802. The next in line is 1804, as stated in the aforementioned route book. His tomb in Cincinnati gives it as July 22, 1807. Another publication, "Cincinnati, Past and Present" (1872), a sort of Who's Who of prominent Cincinnatians of that day, in a short biography of Robinson, places the date as 1808. This book was published a sufficient time previous to John's death to assume that he could have edited the story. Considering this, and the route book's and Gil's objective in having the old gentleman appear less of a boy-wonder by the act of acquiring a show at the age of sixteen, it is safe to assume that he was, in all probability, born in 1807 or 1808.
In disposing of the intervening years between his birth and the date of the founding of the circus, the Cincinnati biographical sketch and Gil's book agree in some respects. They both mention, substantially, the same shows that Robinson worked for before striking out on his own. However, the Cincinnati account spreads these associations over a greater number of years. Chronologically, the latter lists such early circuses as Colonel Page's Menagerie for a period of four years; Parsons and McCracken's for a like term; followed by Steward's Amphitheatre in Boston, and then with Hawkin's Circus, a show that came west and played in Cincinnati. Subsequent engagements as an independent performer included Benedict and Haddock, followed by one with the Zoological Institute, a Flatfoot organization which began to feature riding acts after the mid 1830's. John Glenroy, in his book "In and Out of Circus Life", lists a John Robinson as a four-horse rider on the Bacon and Derious Circus in 1838. This was old John's specialty. Also listed on the same program by Glenroy was one of John's early pupils, a James (or Juan) Hernandez, who was the first to use the name of James Robinson. Hernandez later reverted to using his own name and should not be confused with the famous Jimmy Robinson, one of the outstanding riders of all time.
In his last letter to the author, the late Colonel Sturtevant supplied the following additional data. (Source of his information unknown).
(2) Robinson acted as ringmaster at a stock circus in Dudlow Smith's theatre in New Orleans in 1849 and definitely formed his first partnership with Gil Eldred at that time.
(3) In 1926, after the publication of Gil Robinson's book, Sturtevant, while diplomatically kidding him about the tall tales related therein, was met with a grin, and they settled for a drink.
If this was the date of the first partnership with Eldred, it must have been of short duration, for there appeared in the 24th of May, 1842, issue of the Dayton (Ohio) Journal and Advertiser, a notice that the National Circus Company, Robinson and Foster, Proprietors, would appear in that city. With it were S. P. Stickney, billed as the "Great American Rider" and again, this Master Juan Hernandez.
From 1842 to 1852, there is a complete void in my information. After persistent efforts, I have uncovered nothing, nor does the 1899 route book of Gil Robinson's work mention anything specific. The Cincinnati biographical sketch states that the first Robinson Circus of any consequence was fitted out in that city in 1852. The first advertisements after 1842 carrying a Robinson name appeared in at least three towns in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio, in 1854, when the Robinson and Eldred title was used.
The author would appreciate any additional information that will substantiate or refute his present conclusions that, while Robinson undoubtedly was in the circus business as an employee by or before 1824, there is no substantiation for the claim that this was the first year of the John Robinson Circus. From the evidence at hand, it would appear that the earliest date of its existence was 1840.
On June 3 and 4, 1881, the Great Eastern Circus gave its first show. It was a first class show. Talent included high class acts from Boston and New York, as well as some local acts.
John H. Gray, managed the local Opera house (Willimantic, Conn.), and Charles H. C. Wheeler was leader of the local band. These two men were the creators of the Great Eastern Circus. Mr. Gray had theatrical and entertainment experience. Mr. Wheeler was a talented musician and also a craftsman in many ways. It was Mr. Wheeler's handy work that transformed a farm wagon into a red and gold bandwagon and a bakers wagon into a gaudy ticket wagon, both profusely lettered and decorated.
On May 26, 1899, Mr. Wheeler leased the equipment from Mr. Gray. He opened on the lot at Valley and Walnut Streets in Willimantic, Conn. The local press had this to say, "The horseless circus, under the management of C. N. C. Wheeler, opened the season last night with a packed tent. The audience was well pleased. There were fifteen acts on the show, all very good."
The tent was a 2 poler, seating about 300 people, admission was 25 cents, reserve seats 10 cents. The concert or after show 15 cents. There was no side show. The rolling stock totaled 6 trucks, 2 horses to each truck. (These same horses were ridden bareback in the parade by costumed riders).
According to the press, Mr. Lee of Pawtucket, R.I., bought the paraphenalia of the Great Eastern Circus, on July 28, 1899. He operated it under the name of Lee Brothers Circus.
Willard "Tard" Northrop was property boy on this show, took care of parade and band uniforms and costumes; corralled boys (sometimes men) to wear a costume and ride a horse in the parade, or wear a band coat and hat and hold a horn as though he was playing it when riding in the bandwagon in the parade. Six regular players were in the band. Each performer cared for his equipment. After the parade "Tard" took a horse and buggy and gathered up all the circus posters from the store windows. This was an extra job. With this extra he made up to $6.00 a week. Only the performers were boarded. He often got a break, however, and slept indoors with the performers. They were a grand lot of fellows.
Tuesday, June 9, in Wilmington, Ohio, will be a day that the Kelly-Miller Circus will remember a long time, as will many others who were over there. It was one of those hot, beautiful June days, that we all dream about. The sun shone brightly, 'till about 2:30 in the afternoon, when it clouded up and a little rain fell. At first, not too much, but as the afternoon progressed, so did the rain. By the time the matinee was over, there was a torrential rainfall, and those who had attended the show huddled in the horse top to keep dry. Then the wind began to blow. By the time the concert was over, the wind had attained a pretty good speed; all the canvas was flapping wildly.
It was decided by Obert Miller that everyone had better get out of the horse top, and the bulls were taken out into the rain. (They, the bulls, were getting a little restless). Just as the last person left the horse top, the Big Top blew over. As the last horse went out of the top, the horse top went down, too. The side show top was down. Working men dropped the marquee and the giraffe top very quickly. Still it blew and it rained. But the cook house stood like it was a rock in the path of the wind.
At 5 o'clock the rain was over, the wind had stopped, and what a mess it looked. Everything flat on the ground - soaking wet and muddy. To the writer the question came, "What now?"
At 10 after five, under the direction of D. R. Miller, all available help went to work to put the top back up into the air. The stake line was moved about 10 feet to the left, and bulls started pulling up the quarter poles - stakes were driven by hand in many cases - and the big top went up. Also the side show top went back into the air. When the big one was up, it was discovered that there was not too much damage done. There were 2 or 3 pretty good sized rips in the top, a few seat stringers were broken as well as a few jacks. The Hanel's rigging was badly bent, as well as some few other pieces of equipment. Maybe a few seat planks were lost. But all in all, everything looked a lot better than I ever thought it could have. To top it off, the night show went on as scheduled - to a better than 3/4 house. This despite the fact that radio in surrounding towns had broadcast the blow down, along with the information that there would be no night show.
Especial praise is due to Pete Smith and canvas crew; to Ringtail and the seat crew; to Fred Logan and the elephant men; to all the clowns and other performers, for the way they all pitched in and got with it. Everyone who could do anything got out and helped. That included the writer, too.
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Last modified December 2005.
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