Circus History Message & Discussion Board

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 14 May 2013 - A link, Andre and Hilda Prince, "The Hildalys" on the Ringling show. - Mike
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtigIbFs_jg

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 06 May 2013 - Of great interest to your inquiry is the book by Joanne Joys entitled "Wild Animal Trainer in America" that covered many a trainer and show. Her year by year chart in the back of the book offers no information on Frank White and his name doesn't come up in the index either.
    According to the routes we have listed in our Virtual Library, the Sparks Circus played in Grafton, W.Va. on that day. That's the only listing I found even close. So, the show you are looking for is apparently not in our offerings at this time. You'll need to look at that local newspaper for a few days before the tragic occurance to see the ads for what circus is coming to town. Once you know the show title, you can look more at the route books and programs of the show.
    The Billboard magazine was the entertainment journal of the day and should be gone through for further findings. You can find some of the Billboards on fultonhistory.com It has a search engine with different settings. I have found better luck using the boolean setting.
    You might consider contacting the Circus World Museum Research Library in baraboo, Wisconsin. They have what they call the "Yellow Tickets" which are simply index cards with notes on where information can be found about a subject, in this case, Frank White.
    There are a couple websites that carry old newspapers with newspaperARCHIVE.com being the most sought after one. There is a search engine there as well which will allow you to sort out which year, First name, last name, keywords, etc. You may also find some success along the lines of genealogy research such as Ancestry.com. Good Luck. Bob Cline

Reply: 07 May 2013 - Thank you. Found a very brief mention in the Billboard. It says the trainer worked with the Sun Brother's Circus, if I'm reading that right. Hack Wilson fan

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 04 May 2013 - The names of the Carnivals you are searching for are Cetlin and Wilson and then probably World of Mirth. Cetlin and Wilson wintered in Petersburg, VA for many years. Bob Goldsack authored a fine book on the Cetlin and Wilson Shows while I authored an extensive history of the Cetlin and Wilson Shows that was published in the Carnival Midway. I don't own a copy of Bob's book and his name wasn't in my research for my article. There is a Showman's Museum in Gibsonton, FL that may or may not be of any help but they are only available during the winter when people aren't out on the road.
    The Billboard magazine was the trade journal for Carnivals, circuses, rodeos, amusement parks, skating rinks, music, etc for nearly 80 years. I would highly recommend you talk to your librarian and see where you can locate a set of these on microfilm and borrow them as an interlibrary loan. There was a small article or maybe a couple paragraphs regularly throughout the season of people places and events from each show. With Billboard being published weekly, it is the greatest asset you'll run across other than actual show records which are all gone.
    There is the possibility that his name crops up on one of the genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com. If you found him in the 1940 census, you may also be able to track down his Social Security number which would lead you to a death notice, etc. Good Luck. Bob Cline

Join CHS today! Membership

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 28 Apr 2013 - There was an aerialist who went by Princess Tajana. This was Struppi Hanneford. I don't know if this is the same one you are asking about or not. Bob Cline

Reply: 25 Apr 2013 - I searched for an exacting meaning of “paint” in association with big top, but nothing was revealed in various resources. Let me provide some thoughts that might serve as a direction for understanding the term.
    I doubt that Fulghum literally meant that the top canvas had been “painted,” in the sense of an application of a protective liquid that dried in place. While sideshow banners were painted with special techniques, and retained relative flexibility, I’ve not read of similar applications to top canvases other than marquee lettering, designs around pole penetrations and along sidewall pieces.
    Tent canvases were dyed in many instances, some with solid single color, but also in stripes and other designs. The most grandiose examples are tops that were made with flag designs incorporated into them, back in the mid-19th century. It is possible that some of these decorative treatments may have been accomplished with paint. Paints underwent significant development and application broadening in the 20th century. You might find the article “Cash in on Colors” in “Billboard,” April 11, 1953, pages 56-59 to be of interest. It can be accessed online in Google Books and elsewhere.
    Tops were also waterproofed with a variety of treatments, often a heated mixture Paraffin cut with gasoline (or equal) before more modern chemical treatments were widely used. This was more of a “hot mopping” technique, as opposed to painting per se.
    Painting could also refer to canvas top hardware, such as poles, rigging, seating, ring curbs and so on, all of which were given decorative treatment. Conceivably an entirely new look, as when Forepaugh-Sells 1910-1911 painted the interior fixtures yellow and white, in lieu of the traditional red, it may have drawn comment. At least one highly uncomplimentary review of the 1950 Cole show, in Billboard, July 15, 1950, page 36, mentioned the dowdy, unkempt appearance of the outfit, the top that did little to protect the audience from the elements. If Fulghum was aware of this less than stellar debut, he may have noted that the interior appearance if it had been enhanced with the application of paint by the time he saw it.
    Here’s another possibility, strictly a hypothesis. In the past the phrase “paint the town red” was frequently heard. There are disputed versions of the origin of the phrase that you can find online. The color red, in ink, is also associated with financial losses. If you couple the two thoughts, it may be that Fulghum inferred that the Cole 1950 top was garnering a lot of red ink, or being “painted.” I’m not certain that this is at all accurate. Perhaps some show veterans might be familiar with the term as he applied it? Fred Dahlinger, Jr., Curator of Circus History, “The Ringling,” John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 27 Apr 2013 - No, he meant they had painted it. With a brush and paint on the outside. I was hoping someone would have some specific info on the big top used during this period. Dave

Reply: 28 Apr 2013 - To add a little bit of historic context, in 1950 Arthur Wirtz took his newly purchased Cole Bros Circus on a tour that included race tracks and ballparks, and after some success he began, as Dave mentions, a brief (four week) tour under canvas that began July 6 in Jersey City, NJ. That night’s performance (the first under canvas that season) nearly ended in a disaster because of a powerful storm that started shortly after the evening show began.
    According to Jim McHugh’s review of the performance in the Billboard, the storm was so bad that the old Big Top, which Wirtz acquired in the purchase of the show, was evacuated mid-performance. McHugh says the canvas was so old and worn that it “offered patrons scant protection from the rain which was accompanied by high winds”. He added that when he arrived on the lot he was taken by the “dowdy” appearance of the show and in fact there was only one single piece of new sidewall on the big top, the rest of the canvas had been used during some previous season.
    To Dave (and Johnny Fulghum’s) point, it would seem that perhaps the canvas was actually PAINTED a few days later in order to make it look more presentable during the next few dates. Even though owner Arthur Wirtz announced in mid-July that he had ordered a new Big Top from United States Tent and Awning of Chicago, it was never produced, and on August 5, 1950 in Bloomsburg, PA the Cole Bros Circus, which had been started by Jess Adkins and Zack Terrell, ended its run, the first major tent-circus to shut down mid-season since 1938. – Chris Berry

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 25 Apr 2013 - On the home page of this website you’ll find a button on the left border reading “Virtual Library.” After you left click it, search down for “Routes” and left click it. You will find RBBB routes for the time period of interest to you. Indeed, the route books for the season tours are transcribed and given there. There is an abundance of valuable and useful textual information in the CHS website. I urge you and others to explore its breadth and depth of coverage. It is unequalled anywhere else on the web. Fred Dahlinger, Jr., Curator of Circus History, “The Ringling,” John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 25 Apr 2013 - John Ringling North was voted out of Ringling-Barnum control for several years in the early 1940s, which coupled with the war and a resistance to unproven technology caused a discontinuation of further tent innovations following the Gargantua top. Not content to let the suspension concept die, North had the menagerie top for the 1956 edition built in a slightly different configuration. It had four aluminum poles situated where quarter poles normally stood, and had a center peak held aloft between them by the four “masts.” The tent was erected only infrequently in the final year of the railroad tent circus, bosses and crews being unfamiliar with the requisite erection technique. Designed and fabricated by show tent master Leif Osmundsen, the canvas billowed up in slight winds, owing to the fact that nothing secured it to the earth. It was the last major American circus tent innovation during the railroad era. It and the 1938 top were derivatives of tent designs that had originally been conceived and implemented as portable and quickly-erected airplane hangars. Fred Dahlinger, Jr., Curator of Circus History, “The Ringling,” John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 25 Apr 2013 - Several “big name” prize fighters were infrequently associated with circuses and allied shows at various times. You can find entries about Joe Louis on Dailey Bros., Jess Willard’s term as an owner of a version of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, Jack Dempsey with the Allman Bros. Shows, a carnival, and others. Boxing, and/or wrestling, as general attractions per se generally weren’t a circus activity, but they were encountered with some frequency on carnivals. They often had a boxing or wrestling top in which the principal would take on all comers. It’s possible that your grandfather was employed in such an enterprise. You can find general background in Al Stencell’s book about carnival back end shows, “Seeing Is Believing.”
    In public records, carnival service is often aligned with the generic word “circus,” which is inaccurate. Yet, that is how the genre was viewed by public record keepers - every traveling showman was a circus man.
    Given that you know his death took place in December 1935, you could check the obituary columns of the weekly trade magazine “Billboard.” Perhaps they noted his passing and the firms with which he was associated. The journal is now available online, but these listings, key word searching, is only available through about 1922 at this time. Searching through 1923-1935 would still be done the “old fashioned” way, by scanning of hard copies or microfilm. You could also search for him using key word searching in digitized newspapers. Try a search at the online Fulton History website, which includes both newspapers and show trade journals. It will provide a start if he was in the amusement trade by the early 1920s. Fred Dahlinger, Jr., Curator of Circus History, “The Ringling,” John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 15 Apr 2013 - There is no reason why the current Kelly-Miller Circus, which started in 1984, would have references to this minor incident as they were not the owners of the 1964 Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. Circus. The most you might find is a local officers accident report, and some newspaper coverage, which you already have. Since the circus was not scheduled to play in Plymouth, N.H., it was only an incident along the the 74 mile route from Franklin, N. H. to Littleton, N.H. on the morning of June 25, 1964. There were only two major incidents that made the route book for the 1964 season. The first was the May 24 Gowanda, New York accident where the seat truck was wrecked and the elephant truck turned over. The second was the July 1 Montpelier, Vermont accident where the seats fell. Ted Bowman Circus Route Collection.

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 05 Apr 2013 - A quick trawl of www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (searching only The Era) turned up 112 pages of Selbini detail between 1875 and 1900. Worth a look? David

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 10 Apr 2013 - I was one of the stepdaughters – Cathrin Fritz

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 31 Mar 2013 - The traveling circus, meaning one presented under the protective confines of a center and side pole-supported tent, known as a “pavilion” until late in the 19th century, originated in the US in 1825. An example of it was taken by Richard Sands to England in 1842, the first in use there for a ring show. (Efforts to confirm the commonly alleged prior use of a pavilion in the UK by the Cooke family proved futile and fruitless.). Sometime thereafter the pavilion concept was taken to the continent. Thus, the "tent" circus was not in Europe until the 1840s and later. Your concept of a traveling circus in the 1820s is thus an anachronism, unless you adjust it by means of further study and re-consideration. Tents had been used by British fairground showmen back to the turn of the century, for menageries, side shows and other presentations, but British and continental circuses were generally "building" shows at the time.
    Prior to the pavilion, shows that moved about after several week or months-long engagements used temporary amphitheaters, constructed of wood and covered with fabric. There are also instances of more substantial structures made of masonry. These buildings, and not the troupe or performance, were known as the "circus," owing to the identifying ring inside. No troupe was termed a circus until 1824.
    The most recent study of early circus tents and their proliferation is "The American Circus Tent," an essay in the Bard Graduate Center’s book "The American Circus," edited by Weber, Ames and Wittman. You can find additional supporting information in Stuart Thayer, "Traveling Showmen" and Christian Dupavillon, "La tente et le chapiteau."
    There is at least one example of a French circus utilizing a constructed amphitheater, meaning a fabric covered framework that was not portable on a daily basis. One of these can be seen in an 1830 painting of the cirque Bouthors. It can be seen in the Dupavillon volume, page 106. You would also do well to seek out another Dupavillon volume, "Architectures du Cirque." I don’t recall that a similar study has yet been accomplished for British show history.
    There is some later evidence of the use of a "circus fence," meaning a canvas sidewall arrangement, lacking a top piece. This took place in the US in the 1820s-1830s, when the pavilion was still in its formative years. Whether a similar enclosure was ever used on the continent, is unknown to me. These would have been solely fair weather, daylight operations.
    The color in ring shows would have come from the wardrobe of the performers and some of their props (such as a banner obstruction for the rider), and the clothes of the audience members. There probably was no artificial color from lighting until the days of lime light, which cast an elemental glow from the illumination itself - not a colored shade or enclosure. In terms of lighting, some early tent shows staged performances only during daylight hours, owing to the lack of artificial lighting apparatus.
    The lighting apparatus available to showmen would have been the same as that available to theater owners and others places of human assembly, whether churches, governmental structures such as courthouses and legislatures, etc. One limitation would have been the ability to suspend the fixtures from the interior structure. The other was to sustain their operation through the duration of the show, and there were others. There are various volumes in print on the topic. Your study ought to be guided by first establishing the type of structure housing the troupe.
    The study of the European circus is beyond my sphere of immediate knowledge, but it appears to be a study of the proprietors and the structures they erected, since the business was based around metropolitan operations. You might initially look for the volumes by George Speaight and Dominique Jando, as well as the older volumes by Thetard and others. Astley looms large and so will others that followed in his path. Check Altick’s "The Shows of London" and other related amusement volumes for Paris and other cities. Some basic hunting will yield a lot of information. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 15 May 2013 - One volume that will provide insight on interior illumination in the early 19th century is Terence Rees, 'Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas' (1978). Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, 'The Ringling,' John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 28 Mar 2013 - Dear Sally, You can start right here on this website at http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansC2.htm there are entries for George Conklin and for Lizzie Conklin (equestrienne):
    "CONKLIN, GEORGE. (December 7, 1845-February 25, 1924) Lion tamer and elephant trainer. Learned much about elephants from Stewart Craven. Began as an advance courier for Haight & Chambers. Brother of John and Pete Conklin. Born in Cincinnati. Mabie Bros.’, 1859; Great European, 1865; Haight & Chambers, 1866; O’Brien’s, 1867-1871; zoological director, W. W. Cole’s, 1875, including the Australian tour which left San Francisco, October 23, 1880, and continuing at least through the 1886 season. Head animal trainer for Barnum & Bailey for more than 20 years, including their London engagement. Was attacked many times by his animals and bore the scars to prove it. Loved the animals and the bustle of circus life. Wrote a series of circus articles for the Saturday Evening Post, which were later published in book form by Harper Bros. Retired in 1906, but as his savings diminished, went to work in the post office at Bridgeport, CT. Died in that city."
    "CONKLIN, LIZZIE. Rider, W. W. Cole’s, 1876"
    You can also do a search of this website and turn up all sorts of snippets on Conklin. There is a book, 'THE WAYS OF THE CIRCUS' by George Conklin (Harpers, 1921). There is a copy for sale at
http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Circus-Memories-Adventures-Conklin/dp/1166531090
and another copy at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ways-of-the-circus-george-conklin/1018639827
    jim@stockley.co.za

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 16 Mar 2013 - These are the Cole Bros. herd. The show began in 1935 and most of the elephants came from the Hall farm in Missouri while the others had been with the 101 Ranch Wild West. Most of the elephants you name were there for the life of the Cole show but three did not live past the 1940s. George was the first on the list to die in early 1942 which means your picture was made no earlier than 1935 and no later than early 1942. Whitey

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 24 Mar 2013 - No. Fred Pfening

Reply: 29 Mar 2013 - Thanx :)

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 24 Mar 2013 - Belle Snapp married Clarence A. Wortham, a great railroad carnival owner in the early 20th century who earned the nickname "The Little Giant." Her two brothers, Ivan S. and William R. Snapp, joined their brother-in-law in the carnival business, becoming ride men in his employ in 1914. They were with Wortham's Great Alamo Shows in 1918 and 1919. The brothers banked their earnings, investing a reported $80,000 to $100,000 in their entirely new Snapp Bros. Shows for 1921. Clarence A. Wortham, who passed away in 1922, was a major investor in the framing of the carnival.
    Announced as a 20-car outfit, a railroad contract set the size at fifteen cars in May 1921. It grew to 25 cars in 1922, cutting back to 20 in 1926 and 1927. Snapp Bros. was killed off by the Depression. Widower Belle Snapp Wortham put a thirteen-car Snapp property up for sale in early 1930. No buyer identity has been found and whether it sold as one lot or piecemeal is unknown.
    Photographic coverage of the Snapp operation is rare. A view of the show train is in Billboard, October 18, 1924, page 86, with portraits of the brothers and later midway views in a 1933 or later issue of the generic circus and carnival program titled "Circus Magazine." A real photo postcard sold in 2006 documented a large railroad show midway.
    About 1933, William Snapp framed and toured a motorized carnival, Snapp Greater Shows, which lasted into the mid-1950s. There is no archive of Snapp Bros. Shows documentation known to exist. The continuums of data that do survive include coverage in the weekly trade journals "Billboard" and "New York Clipper," and digitized newspapers. The trade journals sometimes published show rosters and these might contain the names of the people that you seek. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 12 Mar 2013 - The official route book entitled Four Year In Europe - The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth in the Old World covers the show for 1897-1899 and provides a few answers. An artist would be hired in this case by the sideshow manager who was Capt. O. K. White. She would provide her own costume and the information about her salary would be spelled out in her artist contract. Those files do not not exist as far as I know. October 30th saw the departure of the S.S. Mohawk, a chartered vessel of the Atlantic Transport Line which carried a batch of the performers and curiosities, while the balance of the artists, musicians and freaks left on the S. S. Mobile, another charted vessel on November 6. The show opened December 27, 1897 at Olympia played until April 2, 1898 and then went into winter quarters to reorganize at Stoke-on-Trent. The road show opened at Manchester, England April 4, 1898 and ended November 11 at Stoke-on-Trent. The London season opened at the Olympia on December 27, 1898. Early in December 1898 the S. S. Manitou arrived from New York bringing over some forty performers and Freaks who had been engaged to augment the circus programme and congress of abnormalities. Rehearsals began on December 20 and on the 24th the final dress rehearsal was given. "On February 4th, 1899 the Messenger of Death again visited us claiming Mattie Lee Price, known professionally as the Georgia Magnetic Wonder. Her funeral was attended by a great many of our people and the remains were laid away in the Hammersmith cemetry." Just what vessel she arrived on is unknown, and no additional details are available. I took this volume to sell at the recent CFA convention in California and remembered reading about the loss of Mattie Lee, thus I was able to provide some information. John Polacsek

Reply: 15 Mar 2013 - Thank you, John Polasek! What a great amount of information in your answer. Do you still have the book you took along to sell at the CFA convention? Mattie passed away on the 11th of March, so someone wrote it down wrongly in the record. The Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London) 19 Mar 1899 has an article calling the illness a sharp attack of peritonitis at the early age of 32. (She was 30). A gentleman donated a grave site and she is buried at Fulham Old Burial Ground (no headstone exists). Do you know if Louis Aronson was with B&B or just went along to sell Mattie's act? Are there lists of the passengers on those chartered boats? I don't the NEED explicit information, but would like to have some feeling of the circus when it went to Europe, so any "fun details" of the adventure would be welcome. I want to write something of her story. No one in the entire family knew who she was until a few months ago!!! Donna Dicksson

Reply: 19 Mar 2013 - If you search this web site for Lew Aronson you will come up with a number of hits which show that Lew from 1904 to 1914 was the manager of a number of circus sideshows, but nothing before 1900. Check out question #3883 on the message board as it also refers to Mattie. I do not know of any listing of show personnel as there were three boats used to transport the Barnum & Baily Circus to England. Check Ebay under circus books as recently and there was an article called Circus Boat that talked about the movement of the animals to England, but not about the people. I still have the Barnum & Bailey route book that contains the information about Mattie. Contact me at artistofdetroit@aol.com.

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

    Dust to Diamonds to Dust

Thank you in advance for your time, Lauren Kramer, Kirksville Middle School Reply to this message, replies go to this board, not to the message sender.

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 12 Mar 2013 - I suggest you to contact Martin Lacey Jr. He is English but works in German Circus Krone. Or his brother Alex, who also for several years worked in German circuses but now are with Ringling. Contact details at http://www.laceys-lions.com. Ole Simonsen, www.cirkus-dk.dk

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 18 Feb 2013 - You would want to check the census records for NY and Boston. Some of these genealogy websites have a lot of them on-line. That would provide you with an address, any family members such as a spouse and/or children and the known occupation at the time. As a photographer of the circus, he probably wasn't employed by the circus. You might also consider contacting the Circus World Museum Research Library in Baraboo, Wisconsin to see if they have anything in their collection that might indicate an informational source or even a few of his photographs if they were marked on the photo. You might want to search this website at http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html which has a lot of the New York newspapers online as well as the entertainment trade magazines, the New York Clipper and the Billboard. It has a search capability. Perhaps this will help you continue in your search. Bob Cline

Reply: 19 Feb 2013 - There are various and sundry tertiary references to Henry E. Cook being a photographer by 1888. It would have been very unusual for a circus to have had a photographer directly on their payroll, as an employee, especially in the 19th century. It begs the question of the resources that specify his employment by a circus. There is likely a kernel of truth in associating him in some manner with a circus, but direct employment is very unlikely.
    Many local photographers took incidental shots of traveling circus activity, to provide them with a broad array of images to sell. In some cases, they liked the circus because it challenged their skills to capture the color, motion and excitement of the ring shows. Circus views might also present opportunity for the selling of prints of a unique and popular topic.
    It was once common for photographers to sell their business, complete with studio and negatives, to another photographer, much as a dentist or other professional might sell their office operation as a “going concern.” It would suggest researching the history of photographers in the communities where Mr. Cook resided. Also check large, nearby communities, such as Plattsburgh. Many glass plate collections were salvaged for their silver content, or used as greenhouse glass, but a few have survived and generally are now owned by libraries and historical societies. In some cases, the work of one photographer is concealed by the name of a later one that purchased his holdings.
    Circuses typically purchased the services of established commercial photographers, using their professional quality shots for publicity purposes. Examples of these contracted services include Harry A. Atwell of Chicago. One banquet photographer, Ed Kelty, in New York, made numerous, special mass poses, which he later sold to the profession.
    In other instances, people with cameras sometimes accompanied a circus for all or part of a season, creating a body of work. Route books issued by the Ringling Bros. and John Robinson shows in the 1890s and early 1900s include arrays of views made under those circumstances. Members of the troupe might also be handy with a camera. Examples of such people include Mrs. Al Ringling, staffers Charles Andress and Bert Cole, and clown Pete Mardo.
    You might check the Charles Christian Cook collection at the Keeneland Race Course library, Lexington, KY. It’s a collection of some 18,000 negatives, mostly horse photography, and includes a large grouping of Barnum & Bailey photography from c1908 and perhaps other years. There is no biographical information online, or an indication of his site of residence, but a contact with the librarian may provide the desired information.
    There is a selection of circus photography at the Boston Public Library. Some of these images were utilized to illustrate volumes by author Courtney Ryley Cooper. Leslie Jones is identified as the photographer in some instances. Most of these appear to be later than your 1916 date. There was also a group of late 19th century Barnum & Bailey photography that was owned for years by the Chester Photo Service of Boston. I believe that this group has now migrated elsewhere. The identity of the photographer that took those shots has never been established, as far as I know. Fred Dahlinger, Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 22 Feb 2013 - Ringling Brothers 1914 route sheet is on this website at http://www.circushistory.org/Routes/Ringling12.htm#1914. Richard A. Georgian

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 19 Feb 2013 - About one of the circuses you can find information I a book STRASSBURGER - GESCHICHTE EINES JÜDISCHEN CIRCUS. It is written by Herbert St. Nissing and published in 1993 by Circus Verlag 1993. Ole Simonsen, www.circus-dk.dk

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 01 Feb 2013 - Hello, on the 1911 census (age 28yrs) he is shown as a "household polisher" – born Accrington – but is living on Pitt Street in Bolton. J Hunt, Accrington

Reply: 01 Feb 2013 - If you’ve not already consulted genealogical websites, such as www.heritagequest.com or www.ancestry.com and others, or other experts and groups in your area specializing in locating people, you might do so.
    No doubt since you have acquired a marriage certificate you’ve also researched his wife’s line. Was she also in the circus business? Name? British circus families and the shows they traveled are generally well known. If he’s in that 1901 census, can you establish the identity of the circus or other entity with which he was then affiliated? Finding the organization with which he was associated may enable other lines of investigation to be pursued. Starting the search from the points of knowledge that you possess is always better than fishing around for a hopeful hit elsewhere. Have you tried the National Fairground Archive at Sheffield University?
    The challenge is that your man had three names by which he may have been identified, plus any aliases and a troupe name. It was not uncommon for foreigners to change their names after coming to the US, much like film stars changed theirs in later decades. This makes tracking them all the more difficult. For example, the British-originated riding family Hodges became Hodgini in the US. There’s circus personnel name finding aids at Circus World Museum termed the "yellow tickets" and "Draper file" and you might request a check of those compilations.
    Immigration into the US through Ellis Island can be checked at the website: http://www.ellisisland.org/ Foreigners entered the US through other ports and it’s also necessary to check them to be thorough.
    Dan Draper’s extensive notes on equestrians in the US fail to list him a William Douglas, or anyone named Douglas that fits your criteria. You can peruse the topic further in his notes at: http://www.ringlingcircus.org/equestrian/ There are about 2000 hits for equestrians named William or Bill. There is no similar resource for acrobats, as a specialty, if that was his chosen activity. One could be a bareback or pad rider and do acrobatics.
    The first American census where you might find him is 1910, assuming that your 1901 entry is in Great Britain. The Barnum & Bailey show toured England 1898-1899 and when the show returned to the US for 1903 some Europeans came with them. They were generally in the 1903 roster, in the route book. Your gentleman, if he was part of an equestrian or acrobatic group may not have had an identity in the show programs and advertising, as the troupe name would have been the one published. His name may only have been in staff rosters. You can also search the pages of the weekly trade serials Billboard and New York Clipper. See message 4131 for links. This can be a very arduous and time-consuming search. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 03 Feb 2013 - I don't know if this fits. On this very website: http://www.circushistory.org/Day/Day14.htm, " $1,000 CHALLENGE - Boston Hotel, May 31, 1873. To the Great John Henry Cooke: Having arrived in America, and desiring to ascertain how far your greatness extends, I hereby challenge you to ride me, for $1,000, three acts: 1. Your “Bounding Jockey” and carrying act with child. 2. Juggling and backward riding. 3. Hurdle, or six-horse act, as may please you best. As Murray’s Circus, with which you are connected, is shortly to appear in Boston, there will be an excellent opportunity to test our respective merits. (signed) WILLIAM DOUGLAS Late of Astley’s Amphitheatre, London, Champion Equestrian of All England. Go to the webpage, there is more, does that help at all? jim@stockley.co.za

Reply: 09 Feb 2013 - Dr. Turner’s biographical volumes for British circus people have no entry for William Douglas, which is a bit surprising if he was so famous in his own day. The citation that Jim Stockley provides is interesting, but it’s fraudulent. The Douglas persona was then not in the US. It was a ruse to boost John Murray circus attendance by creating a pseudo challenge situation. Toole-Stott also has no entries for William Douglas. The circumstances seem a bit odd. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 31 Jan 2013 - I did some quick looking through June and early July 1948 issues of the weekly trade journal Billboard but found little about the Ward show and no announcement of the birth. You can directly access these issues yourself to gain more insights. Go to Google Books and enter the search term circus. You’ll get entries, but that takes you to the page where at the bottom you’ll see "advanced search." Left click it. On the page that comes up type circus in the "with all words" box, then billboard in the "title" box and 1948 in both of the "publication date" boxes. After you left click "search" you’ll get entries for all of the issues of the year. Search through them until you find the issues of interest. Left click an entry to open it. You can then do a page by page search. There are various circus news columns, also pages that list deaths, births, marriages and divorces. Good luck with your search. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 02 Feb 2013 - Thank you for the info. I have gone there and starting looking up a few things. My father was the one born while they were traveling. I am trying to get as much info out of him that I can and as much as he can recall. I will keep on searching. Thanks again! Brenda

Reply: 03 Feb 2013 - The RBBB business records at Circus World Museum will have employment cards for your grandparents if they were employed between 1938 and 1956. The data will include their residences and next of kin, as well as job titles and compensation. Contact librarian Pete Shrake via their website, provide the names to check and request copies. Also ask him to check the “yellow tickets” for any additional hits. There’s at least one authority on all matters involving Clyde Beatty, who monitors this board, and perhaps he has some knowledge, or a photo, of their activities relating to that circus. Check the Bandwagon article index for Beatty show coverage; some tours have been subject to coverage. Joseph T. Bradbury wrote about the RBBB seasons from 1933 to 1956 and published them in the CFA journal White Tops. All of those stories are available for purchase as back issues from the respective organizations. Photographic coverage of the Beatty and RBBB troupes is abundant, but you’d need to visit the archives to determine if the material contains relevant views. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 27 Feb 2013 - Thanks again for the reply. I entered into a search request several weeks ago with the museum, but have yet to hear anything back.

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 29 Jan 2013 - Search for Gentleman Jack om www.circusmuseum.nl/eng. You will find one Irish and one Dutch poster. Herman

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 26 Jan 2013 - The Sells Sterling Big 4 Ring Circus played in Sterling, Ill. on Sept. 12, 1936. The Austin Bros. Circus played Sterling, Ill. on June 15, 1945. You should search the CHS website under 'Sterling' and look for the story about the Ringling Bros. Circus big top burning at Sterling, Illinois on August 22, 1912. Ted Bowman Circus Route Collection.

Reply: 26 Jan 2013 - You are in a better position to answer that than we would be. Simply scroll through all of the local newspapers for those years. They are ususally on microfilm in the Library but sometimes they are found in the Historical Center. Depending on how big the town's newspaper it was you may have from a single issue each week to a daily to go through. The circus would almost always have some kind of advertisement rather than relying on a small mention in a corner of a page somewhere. Good Luck. Bob Cline

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 26 Jan 2013 - Two great circus historians in the Atlanta area would probably have most, if not all, of your answers. Ray Gronso and Richard J. Reynolds III both have fine knowledge of the history of the circus in the Atlanta area. If you'll contact me privately, I'll pass their emails on to you. Bob Cline fivetiger@shtc.net

Reply: 31 Jan 2013 - Atlanta, Georgia has a long history of circus history, especially in the Fourth Ward. I have been researching this topic for about 12 years. Ann Taylor Boutwell

Reply: 16 Feb 2013 - I am trying to model a circus in Atlanta Ga 1863. My friend has a HO model of Atlanta Ga and the Western & Atlanta RR just before the Union troops arrived. I have a few passenger cars from this era and wanted to letter them for a Circus on his layout. I understand the Spalding & Rogers played there in 1860. Any info? Bob

Reply: 19 Feb 2013 - Modeling the circus in Atlanta in 1863 is a challenge. In his preface to the book “Clowns and Cannons,” the most extensive treatment of the circus during the Civil War, William L. Slout wrote that only two circuses went south in 1860, Dan Rice and Robinson & Lake. Throughout the subsequent conflict he was of the opinion that there was no traveling circus activity in the South. So, you’re left with a fictional enterprise in terms of an 1863 circus train in Atlanta, or an anachronism.
    Southern railroads were strained in the extreme to support the war effort, as were the northern lines, for that matter. I haven’t researched the topic specifically, but I imagine that efforts were made to vacate whatever was portable out of the city of Atlanta prior to the arrival of the Union forces. A lease of desperately-needed cars to a circus, given those life and death circumstances, would not have been a rational action. The bottom line is that the Western & Atlanta or any southern rail line was unlikely to have leased any cars to showmen in 1863.
    In the past few years there have been several excellent books published about Civil War railroad activity, both in the North and the South, including one picture volume. You may want to seek them out for background information. There are also the older George Abdill and E. P. Alexander volumes on the subject, the latter devoted to modeling.
    Other than the short-lived experiment by Spalding & Rogers in the early 1850s, no circus owned railroad cars until 1872. Until the 1880s shows were more inclined to lease their cars as to own them, probably more so.
    Most railroad operations by circuses of the 1850s and 1860s were reduced scale efforts. We’d term them gilly shows today, based on later applied terminology. They typically consisted of the pavilion show, a sideshow, sometimes a single parade wagon and in the 1870s a free attraction, like a balloon ascension. The wagons and horses were generally parked somewhere and the shows operated out of ordinary box cars and coaches leased from the railroads. There’s limited indication of the use of stock and flat cars.
    In terms of the early appearance of early railroad circuses, there’s no photography until 1872. One must rely upon engravings prior to that date. The two most useful ones are of the Dan Rice show in 1863 and the L. B. Lent show in 1866. These both appear in Bandwagon, November-December 1983, pages 8-9, as part of a long essay on early railroad shows. They depict the show name applied to title boards, car sides and so on, but whether these were actually present on any cars is unknown. Rather than to paint the cars, shows may have secured cloth or canvas banners that proclaimed their occupancy of the railroad’s cars, especially if the rail line rotated the cars provided on a day by day basis, and as the circus moved off one line to another. Unfortunately, there’s no period confirmation of either painted cars or temporarily-applied banners.
    The flat car type circus evolved during the late 1860s, partially the result of strategic long jumps made by overland shows, and in other instances by a couple shows attempting to travel along rail lines. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 20 Feb 2013 - Thank you for the information. Bob

Reply: 19 Mar 2013 - I found the following reference to the location, although it doesn't provide much in the way of specific information about either the circuses or the dates that they performed there, it does offer some tantalizing leads:
    "Another baseball shrine was the old Show Ground at Boulevard, Wheat (now Auburn avenue), Jackson and Irwin streets. There a large vacant field, for years the property of a rich banker by the name of Coker, was kept free to be rented by circuses, hence the name. On the death of Mr. Coker someone bought the property and built a ball park there, with a grandstand and an enclosed field. Some of the Southern League games were played there in the late 1890s. A widely acclaimed feat took place there in 1896 when Jack Prince announced he would ride his bicycle on the 8 or 10 lap board track against ten horses, the horses to be changed every mile. He beat them by a half mile, to the amazement of the big crowd which gathered to see him try to make good his boast." - McMahon, Doreen, "Pleasure Spots of Old Atlanta", The Atlanta Historical Bulletin, Vol. VII, No. 29, October, 1944, Atlanta Historical Society, page 230.
    Thank you all for the great information. Rob Hill

Reply: 27 Jan 2013 - Many families or will-specified recipients have faced the question of what to do with a model circus that was built by a loved one or friend. Sometimes the outcome is good, and at other times it’s a cause of dismay. Some have found new homes and remained intact; others have been auctioned piecemeal; still others have been destroyed for lack of interest. If you’re familiar with any of your grandfather’s buddies who were also circus model builders, you might inquire of them as to what happened to his work. You might also consider contacting the Circus Model Builders [see their website] and inquire if any present members have knowledge of it. They should have copies of past rosters and they could be consulted for members that were in your grandfather’s vicinity. Back issues of their journal, the “Little Circus Wagon” can also be consulted for any text or image coverage of your grandfather’s circus. An ad could be placed in the journal seeking the whereabouts of the model. A library or historical society closest to your grandfather might also be consulted; they may have clippings or photographs of his work. There was once a very active circus colony in the Los Angeles area, which in part fueled a thriving group of model builders (Al G. Barnes Ring?). That group may have been the publisher of a very popular newsletter that went out to many enthusiasts. You might also seek copies of it. Most well-known members of the LA group have now passed away or relocated, but some remnant may survive. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 27 Jan 2013 - Dear Duncan: Yes, circuses in Russia performed during WWII, and circus groups even went out to entertain the troupes. The Soviet government also used the great popularity of the circus in the USSR for anti-Nazi propaganda. There are interesting videos of the great clown Karandash (Mikhail Rumianstev) doing ferocious and not too subtle attacks of Nazi Germany in the ring, including impersonations of Hitler. Best, Dominique

Reply: 16 Jan 2013 - In regard to Clarence A. Wortham, see message 1288 on this board for some basic information. You will find an abundance of information about him and his multiple railroad carnivals by doing simple Google searches for his name and variations thereon, and also for such combinations as "Wortham shows" or "Wortham carnival" and so on. You will also find much material about Wortham and his operations in the pages of Billboard and New York Clipper. These can be found by going to the links provided in message 4131. Generally the findings will be of a proprietor and employment nature. If the individuals you seek visited home, were married or divorced, had children, that sort of news might be found in the news columns. Do not be too hopeful, however, as these were trade journals for outdoor show business, and not published for general biographical or genealogical purposes.
    The 1930s Billboards are not yet online or available with key word searching. Once you establish the gentleman's date of death there's a chance that an obituary may have been published under the Final Curtain column in Billboard.
    A quick Google check revealed a 1928 entry published in Circus Report of April 25, 1977, page 14B. The Robinson & Schilder show featuring trained animals played the Los Angeles area under an 80-foot top with three 40-foot middles. This was an independent outfit, doing what is known as a "still date," without a sponsor. It must have been booked by Robinson as a back end show on Wortham's railroad carnival in 1930.
    A recollection by Bob Taber said that Bert Robinson left the Cosmopolitan Carnival, a pretty good sized operation of the early 20th century and took his lions and ponies to frame a show under an 80-foot top. He wintered in Orange County and then opened elsewhere. Taber also related that Robinson died as a result of injuries sustained in an encounter with one of his lions while in Idaho. [Bandwagon, Nov-Dec 1967 http://www.circushistory.org/Bandwagon/bw-1967Nov.htm] You should find reference to such an accident in newspapers, and there will also be coverage in Billboard. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida

CHS Convention, July 17-20, 2013   Information

Reply: 29 Jan 2013 - Sorry nothing about the knife but we are proud on our Hagenbeck’s Tierpark collection. Take a look here http://bit.ly/XHMw7e. Herman

Reply: 31 Jan 2013 - My question is a little woolly so let me summarise it better. Are their records or playbills from the Chipperfield tour of Ireland in 1956 that would include the names of performers? Tony

Reply: 05 Feb 2013 - Hello Tony, my late mother and her brothers were the Directors of Chipperfields Circus. I was only 3yrs old in 1956 so have only vague memories, I remember the tour of Ireland in 1959 better! "Roma" is a distinctive name, I wonder if you might be referring to Roma Lammin ? She and her twin sister Rita Lammin, were part of a famous troupe of young people known as the 'Digger Pugh Girls,' troupes of young ladies put together and trained in all sorts of circus skills by Digger and Sheila Pugh? They rode elephants, worked trapeze, whatever was needed. They were with Chipperfields throughout the 1950s, I am fairly sure they would have been on the show in 1956. Google "Digger Pugh" or visit their page at http://www.diggerpughgirls.freeserve.co.uk. jim@stockley.co.za

Explore, Enjoy circus history with Bandwagon, join CHS today! Membership

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 09 Jan 2013 - Your great, great grandmother performed what is now called an iron jaw act. A shaped appliance was fitted inside the mouth with a means affixed to it to connect it to a rope. One was then suspended in the air, the neck supporting the weight of the body. It was an act that broadened beyond suspension to include motion, acrobatic maneuvers and sometimes the use of props. The act wasn’t really feasible to do, with appropriate distance to the ground, until the height of the pavilion was increased. This change gave the act greater popularity in the 1870s. Normally conducted by women, these daring ladies were often aggrandized in advertising by names other than their own. That may be one reason why she’s not readily found in the record. The leading biographical finding aids, Bill Slout’s Olympians of the Sawdust Circle [on this website] and Stuart Thayer’s Annals of the American Circus 1793-1860, seem to not list any suitable people by the name of Vaughan. There are some 1840s listings, and one for a man that died in 1869. You might check George C. D. Odell’s Annals of the New York Stage. If anyone hit the big time they eventually played New York City and Odell’s dragnet of the newspapers would confirm their presence. Another possibility is that they didn’t perform in the circus but on the variety stage. Some may have likened that to a circus, in terms of the moral level that was given to it. My only other suggestion would be to peruse circus newspaper advertisements looking for visual representations of iron jaw acts and to gather their names for further research. Perhaps one of them will be revealed as your ancestor. The title Professor was used innumerable times and of itself doesn’t provide a strong research tool. My only other suggestion is to seek additional genealogical assistance. It could be that their techniques might more fully define her life and provide an insight of where to look for further employment knowledge. Lacking data on your great, great grandmother, you might enjoy reading Janet Davis’s edited story of Tiny Kline, another iron jaw performer who achieved modest fame in the 20th century. The book is in print, or available via interlibrary loan. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 13 Jan 2013 - Thank you so much for replying to my inquiry. The information you provided was fascinating, and I can't wait to read about Tiny Kline. I really appreciate your help. I've since learned that my great, great grandmother also went by the name of Payne but am thinking it's another "alias" as I can't find anything under that name either. Still it's incredible to learn about the iron jaw and the artistry and excitement of these acts. Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and setting me off on my own small quest. Leticia

Reply: 06 Jan 2013 - Mr. Ardiff was likely with the Beckman & Gerety Shows, a large and well-known railroad carnival. Many people, including census canvassers, confuse the circus and carnival though they are entirely different operations. The carnival may have been in winter quarters at the park in April 1940, when he passed. The routes of the show will be in Billboard, the weekly show trade journal. You may be able to locate an obituary for him in Billboard, but I don’t believe that 1940 issues are online at this time. Contact your local librarian for assistance in obtaining it. See message 846 on this board for background on B&G. The late Albert Conover marketed a 1930s-1940s set of B&G photos and you might watch for others in online sales sites like ebay. A Google image search will yield other hits for the show, but lacking key word searching in 1940 and earlier issues will make the search a bit arduous. As a cookhouse person, Ardiff was behind the scenes, preparing feeding the show folks their meals. Such employees were usually very mobile, moving from show to show, or about the country, by means of the carnival’s itinerant operations. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 31 Dec 2012 - John Daniel Draper wrote an article, with photos, on the Rooney families of Baraboo, WI. It is in Bandwagon, July-August, 1992, 4-13. He traces two of the Rooney families and lists their children. He provides information on an Elizabeth "Lizzie" Rooney and another Elizabeth Rooney who married Carl Romig. You can order this back issue of Bandwagon, see http://www.circushistory.org/Bandwagon/BW.htm#BACKISSUES.
You will also want to contact the Pete Shrake, archivist at the Circus World Museum Parkinson library in Baraboo: http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org/About/ResearchCenter.aspx. Their phone number is 608-356-8341. Their email address is on their website. - J. Griffin

Reply: 02 Jan 2013 - Much of Dan Draper’s voluminous research into the history of equestrians and equestriennes, and riding troupes has recently been made available online, with reference documentation. It’s an enormous lead file for anyone doing biographical, employment and other history research. Here’s a link: http://www.ringlingcircus.org/equestrian/ A simple search for “Rooney” yielded 293 hits.
    The references can be checked in the many issues of Billboard [1894-1922] and New York Clipper [1853-1924 and Annuals], that are now available online at Fulton History, with later Billboards online via Google Books, with key word searching. Here are some links:
http://www.fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/all%20newspapers/Billboard/index.html
http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/All%20Newspapers/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201853%20-%201924/index.html
Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 31 Dec 2012 - Itinerant menageries, moving over land, commenced their trade in the early 1810s. The overland tent circus wasn’t an entity until 1825. These outfits would stop and make a show where there was a good prospect for an audience to purchase admission. Along a road, in the countryside, was normally not such a locale, especially just two miles from a large community. Often shows played at the county lines and then in the county seat, distances between which were a reasonable walk for animals and humans alike, given the other work attendant to staging a presentation later in the day. The majority of known pre-1860 routes for circuses are in Stuart Thayer’s book, Annals of the American Circus, 1793-1860, which you can likely borrow via interlibrary loan. Routes for menageries have yet to be published.
    Dan Draper read many of the Hagerstown, MD newspapers and his findings might be available for consultation via a query to the Circus World Museum, or perhaps at a Hagerstown library or historical society. Further searching in local newspapers, especially Hagerstown and Sharpsburg, might reveal a story about a traveling show making a stop locally. Given that itinerant shows sometimes needed to stop and overnight en route, a convenient farm with feed, water, a barn and land, and a hospitable owner, could have been a good layover for a night. Bad weather may also have forced an unscheduled stop. Perhaps that is what took place at your property many years ago, the passage of time having enhanced the experience into a full-blown show? Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 01 Jan 2013 - The RBBB employment records for 1938-1956 are at the Circus World Museum. Write to librarian Peter Shrake via their website and ask him to check the documentation for a card on Jack Thorn Bishop, or any name variations or aliases that he may have used. It will provide a home address, and next of kin, as well as his employment history. If you are a descendant you might also check with the Social Security Administration for work records. A local library or genealogist may enable you to find the record you discovered on www.ancestry.com. You can also do some limited searching online at: https://familysearch.org/ From some of your other postings it appears that you may have already accessed such sites. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 02 Jan 2013 - Thank you for the information Fred. I have looked at Ancestry and Family Search. I am trying to discover if this Jack Bishop is the same man as my great-grandmother's cousin Gerald "Jack" Bishop. A lot of information that I have found on the two men is similar. I'm just trying to find something to connect it all together or disprove it. Kisha, Wichita, KS

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 22 Dec 2012 - The quickest means to identify shows and show people in the Tampa, FL area in April 1940 will be to seek the available files of the local Tampa newspapers and to check them for advertisements placed by the various enterprises. If you’re not in Tampa, check with your local interlibrary loan person and ask about the availability of loanable microfilms. You might also Google a bit and discern if any of the Tampa papers have been digitized and made available online. A second means is to search the weekly issues of the trade journal "Billboard." It has news columns, routes for shows of all types, etc. If not available locally, again seek the counsel of your local librarian. Extend your search back into March 1940, as routes and sometimes advertisements appear well in advance of the actual event. Once you’ve identified the show, that will present a different line of research. If you’re seeking information about an individual for whom you have a name, that is an entirely different line of research. You might actually be seeking the identity of a show or show person that only wintered in the Tampa area, a respite from winter weather elsewhere, and then went on the road, starting out in a different city. In that event, identifying the shows in Tampa in April 1940 will be of no value to identifying whatever you’re seeking. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 22 Dec 2012 - The fastest and easiest way to find out is to simply scroll through the microfilmed copies of the April 1940 Tampa newspaper. You may find a couple shows played different parts of the town. Usually the microfilms are found in the Public Library, sometimes in the Historical Society and there is the chance they may be available for an interlibrary loan through the State. Good Luck. Bob Cline

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 22 Dec 2012 - Your query is not unlike many, in that there’s some basis for the story but the elements aren’t consistent. Howes [with "s" included, not Howe] did not have the Great London subtitle added until 1871. This is 26 years after your ancestor took leave of the road. Given his 1818 birth, at the earliest he might have been on the road in his teens, unless he was a child apprentice, or a concessions "butcher," either of which is possible.
    A man named Nathan Howes was active as a traveling showman from 1826 onwards through 1849. His younger brother, Seth, was active from about 1826 into the 1870s and in conjunction with two nephews was associated with the formation of the Howes Great London for 1871. You can find cameo biographies for these showmen on this website, in the Virtual Library, in Slout’s "Olympians of the Sawdust Circle." There has been much written about them. It seems like the story as you told it associates a later Howes show element with possible earlier employment.
    The primary reference for rosters, routes and other information about the American traveling circus of 1825-1860 is Stuart Thayer’s "Annals of the American Circus," initially issued in three volumes and then later as one. You’ll want to obtain a copy via interlibrary loan for perusal. There is no specific entry for your ancestor’s name therein, but perhaps there is data of use to your search. Also look at alternative name spellings, like Snider. The volume includes a large array of show routes, but frankly, if you know Snyder settled in Kingston there seems to be no need for routes.
    The practice of veterinary medicine was not a well-defined one in the early circus. I don’t recall the first specific person to fill the post, but generally shows did not have a staff vet until the 20th century. Generally, horses and large mammals would have been treated by their handlers and keepers, perhaps in consultation with local horsemen or large mammal vets [those practicing on cows and horses]. It could be that his activity as a "veterinarian" grew out of caring for horses, perhaps as a performer involved with them, or as a driver or groom.
    Kingston, NY is just north of Westchester and Putnam Counties, the area most fertile with circus and menagerie activity in the 1820s and 1830s. The Howes brothers were out of Brewster and that would seem to be an area where you might focus your research. Consider scheduling a visit to the Somers Historical Society, a repository with many early traveling show documents. Perhaps you’ll find something mentioning Levi Snyder. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 20 Dec 2012 - I believe our friend Ivan henry has already made contact. I gave him Marlin's address to pass on to you. He is alive and well. If you email me, I'll pass his address on to you. Bob Cline fivetiger@shtc.net

Join CHS today! Membership

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 04 Dec 2012 - Dan Shelby (1838-1895), the circus man, born Daniel J. Macher, started out in theater work, moved to blackface minstrelsy, then became a circus clown and moved into show management and ownership. No well-researched biography of him has been published. His identity as Macher was discovered/confirmed in a New Zealand newspaper, which likely quoted an unidentified American newspaper or journal: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW18950418.2.192&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0--
    Basic data is given in Edward Le Roy Rice’s book "Monarchs of Minstrelsy," pages 122-123, which you can consult in Google Books. His portrait is on page 41 of that volume. http://books.google.com/books?id=nvY5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=%22dan+shelby%22+circus&source=bl&ots=p_IZLl1esx&sig=klvSb0DwC7QuSAsGzk3rr6IjOvQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nNe8UKu0JqnQyAHF8YDQDw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22dan%20shelby%22%20circus&f=false
    There’s a brief listing of Daniel Shelby in Slout’s "Olympians of the Sawdust Circle," which is on this website. http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansS1.htm It provides a specific date of death, which would enable you to seek his obituary in “New York Clipper” and elsewhere. It’s likely that additional quick references to his activity will be found in the notecards of the George Chindahl collection at Circus World Museum.
    He attended the December 1881 auction of the Van Amburgh menagerie in Amenia, NY, per the New York Times coverage of the event. Clipper references to other 1880s activities are here: http://www.circushistory.org/Clipper/Clipper1880s.htm
    The auction of his 1888 circus was announced in "New York Clipper," November 10, 1888, page 565. It was held in Richmond, VA on November 21 and was likely covered by the local newspapers. A profile of Shelby, Pullman & Hamilton by Charles Bernard is in "Billboard," March 28, 1936, page 64.
    Sounds like you’ve covered the various aspects of his family life. Sometimes there’s relationships between family situations and the professional life, but not always. It’s not often mentioned in accounts of employment. Going further becomes a matter of how much research you desire to do on his career. Doing a simple Google search "Dan Shelby" + circus revealed many hits, plus others for show name variations. Digitized newspapers will contain information, as will the pages of "New York Clipper." There are newspaper ads from his outfits, perhaps some handbills/heralds or couriers, and some lithographs (Shelby, Pullman & Hamilton), and perhaps other items. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 03 Dec 2012 - I'm not sure what you are referring to as one entry but it sounds like you have concrete documentation somewhere. I would suggest you contact the Circus World Museum's Research Library in Baraboo, WI. (Its easily found in a search of the Internet.) Pete Shrake is the Archivist or his assistant Ralph Pierce will be able to look in their "Yellow Tickets" which are basically index cards with reference points for any information that has been found in their collection. Anything that you can relate to them such as a certain year or the source of your knowledge would possibly help them in their search for you. As to Ms. Cook opening a Boarding house in New York, do you have any address, dates or such? You should go to the Records room of the Courthouse and research the files there for more details such as lease agreements perhaps but more likely title transactions, taxes paid etc. Have you done any research on Ancestry.com? Good Luck. Bob Cline

Reply: 18 Dec 2012 - Could you be referring to the Frank Cook, who was the lawyer for Barnum and Bailey and later Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey? His last wife, last of three if I recall, was Evelyn Joyce Cook, daughter of the Jack Joyce, Sr., and sister of Jack Joyce, Jr., both fine horsemen. Cook’s second wife was Lulu Davenport, sister of the great rider Orrin Davenport. If this is the Frank Cook you are looking for, I have lots of information on Evelyn, to whom I became close in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Evelyn had two daughters, Joyce, from a previous marriage and Barbara, who was the only child she had with Frank. Evelyn was on the Ringling show through the 1920s and 1930s and loved to talk about her days on the Big One. Frank was the legal guardian of Clicko, the African Bushman, aka Franz Taibush. Evelyn told me lots of Frank Cook stories. She was a great friend and I miss her. Fred Pfening

Reply: 04 Dec 2012 - Motorcycle motor "dromes" and silos were part of carnival, amusement park and fair midway history. I don’t recall one ever traveling with a circus - possible, but very uncommon. They gained popularity in the 1910s, the early traveling ones managed by J. Frank Hatch about 1915. Al Stencell has coverage in his book "Seeing Is Believing." Tight rope or wire activity was a circus staple, since 1793, but also presented as a free act at street fairs, on midways, even with carnivals. Your posting is for an era 1938-1942 and before, during which key word searching is not yet possible for "Billboard" magazine. The carnival and amusement park columns of that periodical are likely where you will make most of your discoveries about Johnny and Eileen Mack. Rope and wire walkers often garnered name identification, unless they were part of a troupe, like the Wallendas. Motorcycle riders were sometimes identified, sometimes not. Independent attractions were booked by Coney Island showmen, but most circus type acts appeared in the rings at the two parks operating in the 1920s to 1940s era, Steeplechase and Luna Park. There are some online compilations for both facilities, but often they do not reach to the level of personnel identification. It’s again back to searching page by page.
    Having the date for their embarkation to Buenos Aires, I’d recommend searching "Billboard" for a couple weeks before and after that date. You might find some coverage of their departure, the identity of the group they traveled with, etc. I would look more along the lines of a carnival, as opposed to a circus. Whether her passing would have been covered by "Billboard" during the war I’m not certain; there were some years in which "Billboard" published an annual mortality listing, after the New Year. You might look in early 1943 for such a listing, or you’ll have to check the weekly 1942 "Final Curtain" listings for her notice. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 04 Dec 2012 - The gentleman’s name was Bert Cole. He had a long and productive career as a circus man. You can find an obituary online for him, in Google Books, in “Billboard,” April 28, 1958, pages 53 and 58. Col. C. G. Sturtevant also profiled him in an article in “White Tops,” February-March 1943, pages 3, 4, 12 and maybe more. Cole’s personal papers survived intact until about six years ago, when they were dismembered and sold off piecemeal. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Reply: 18 Dec 2012 - Bert Cole was one of the best banner salesmen ever. He sold advertising that was either placed over an elephant like a blanket, or as a banner that hung from the quarter poles in the tents. He became quite wealthy doing this. While I don’t have all of his correspondence, I have a lot. He was around the Hagenbeck show and earlier with Sparks. He was a life long friend of show owner Charles Sparks. Fred Pfening

Join CHS today! Membership

Reply: 04 Dec 2012 - This storm has caught the attention of many researchers, and you will find a wealth of resources online. To date, it's the worst tornado in Wisconsin history and ranks among the worst in US history in numbers of persons killed (117). It was well documented by then-contemporary sources, however their focus was on the community itself – the Wisconsin Historical Society has 32 images online taken after the storm for example. In addition, the entire contents of "An Eyewitness History of the New Richmond Tornado 1899" written by a survivor and published in 1900 is available online at: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/65036
    If you can locate a copy of Dean Jensen’s book about Wisconsin's circus history, "The Biggest, the Smallest, the Longest, the Shortest," you’ll find fairly detailed coverage of the incident as it relates to the show. I don’t have a copy, but "My Father Owned a Circus" by Robert Gollmar probably discusses the impact of the storm on the show. In May of 2011, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published a story about the storm's history that includes the following: "The circus tent was set up at the fairgrounds, now where the middle school is located, and appeared to have been spared the storm's brunt. Five circus performers and one of the Gollmar brothers were reported injured." You may already be aware that the Gollmars were cousins of the Ringlings and also based out of Baraboo, so it would seem likely the Circus World Museum has Gollmar information as well. Lance Burton

Reply: 04 Dec 2012 - Lithographs from the original 1891-1916 Gollmar circus are very rare; about four are known to exist, in museum collections. There are some 1890s photographs of the Gollmar show at Circus World Museum, in an album and loose images. There are also some Gollmar ledgers preserved there, but you’ll have to contact librarian Pete Shrake for details on specific holdings. You’ll have better luck finding newspaper advertisements and either handbills or couriers.
    Local and regional newspapers and the "New York Clipper" will be your best resources for coverage of the event, along with local library or historical society and collector holdings. http://nrheritagecenter.org/cyclone.htm A general history of the Gollmar circus, Robert H. Gollmar’s book, "My Father Owned a Circus," will provide context. In 1899 the Gollmar outfit was still moving overland, by horse and wagon.
    The general devastation of the community is documented in a panorama photograph at this site, but the circus may have moved on to Amery, WI, the next date, by the time the image was taken: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=newrichmond-tornado. Click on the image to enlarge it, and a digital file might be available at the Library of Congress website.
    The circus embraced the tent as a traveling house for shows in 1825. The earliest date a circus tent was flattened by a wind or storm, termed a "blowdown," isn’t recorded, but it is believed one took place already in the 1840s. They were among the most common disasters to strike the circus, so showmen always looked warily at the skies if the weather looked threatening. Shows could assure that stakes and such were tight, and reinforced, but if a major storm or wind hit quickly or unexpectedly there was little to be done other than to evacuate the top, putting people directly out into harms' way. In threatening weather they might drop the top and pack up, cancelling shows, if that appeared to be the prudent course. Circuses that toured the Midwest were the most susceptible to big storms, but they’re not unknown elsewhere. Forepaugh-Sells took a major hit right in New York City, thought to have been a downburst, about 1910-1911. Fred Dahlinger Jr., Curator of Circus History, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 23 Nov 2012 - Do you have the correct year, 1964? Chipperfields only arrived in South Africa in December 1964 and had their first show 12 December. They didn't have an office in Johannesburg until the following year, 1965. It may be that she was working for our lawyer, Harry Schuster, he was in Johannesburg. When was she born (how old was she in 1964?) - I will see if anyone else remembers her. Any other info? jim@stockley.co.za

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Why join CHS? Find out here - Membership

Reply: 11 Nov 2012 - Wonderful! Many thanks, jim@stockley.co.za

Keep the heritage of the circus alive, join CHS today! Membership

Join CHS today! Membership

Search results opens in a new window (new tab in Netscape & Firefox).

You can also try searching the Discussion Board via Google. Their advanced search allow you to search only the Discussion Board. Enter your search word(s) and enter www.circushistory.org/Query in the "Search within a site or domain" box.

Top

Posting Instructions:

Include your name in the body of your message/reply. Your city and state would be appreciated. Email addresses do not appear on these pages unless included in the body of the message or if no name is provided. If you are concerned about spam, do not include your email address in your message and provide at least your given (first) name.

Provide as much detail as possible, be specific. If you receive a reply, a thank you would be appreciated. It takes time and effort on the part of those who reply to questions, it is nice to hear 'thank you' or read a follow up.

Please do not send attachments, graphic images or photos.

Please do not submit questions regarding the value of circus memorabilia or memorabilia you have for sale. This information may be better found by searching on-line for information, such as eBay and other auction sites, collectibles sites, auction house websites, and similar sources. Consider an advertisement in Bandwagon for items you have for sale.

Guidelines and Disclaimer

By accessing this web site, you agree to the following:

Questions and/or information must NOT be posted that include:

      A copyright infringement,

      Offensive or malicious material,

      A commercial, fee for service, or advertising message.

Questions and/or information should not be posted that are inappropriate for the scope of the query board as indicated by the board title, circus history.

Please keep your comments and questions on circus history topics.

Create a brief title that reflects the content of your message. Do not use general titles in the subject line such as "Please help."

Be concise whenever possible.

Word your message with civility. When responding to an existing message, address the issue of the message constructively. Do not go "off-topic" or use another member's message to air your views or dissatisfaction regarding the circus profession or specific circuses, practices, etc.

Use appropriate language. Messages containing inflammatory remarks, personal insults and/or obscenities will be removed.

Do not write using all capital letters.

URLs to helpful applicable websites are welcomed, but please include the proper name and a brief description.

The reproduction of published materials, even from Internet websites is not permitted without the prior consent of the author or owner. Please check any website for consent or denial of reproduction and include the consent with the submission of the quote to this forum.

Feel free to offer helpful appropriate resources when replying to a message. Please note: messages which are blatant promotions, advertisements or solicitations will be deleted.

We reserve the right to remove improperly posted messages as defined above; move messages to their proper location; edit the message subject, without notice for the purpose of preserving board integrity, and to ensure proper indexing and searchability.

Please keep in mind that the persons that respond to messages on our boards do so in their free time. Please be patient. Perhaps the reason your message has not received a response is because it has not been read by someone who is familiar with your circus question.

Thanks for taking the time to read our guidelines! We hope that by using them, it will make your visit here educational and enjoyable!

Disclaimer

The purpose of the Circus Historical Society Question board is to engage in informative discussions with others interested in circus history by exchanging useful resources, offering direction and/or information, defining terms or just shedding light on a confusing aspect of circus history.

The Circus Historical Society makes no guarantee of the accuracy of information contained in any message posted to this board. This discussion board cannot take the place of personal research. You should not take any information or advice presented here in place of personal research. Comments made here may or may not be factual. This is an avenue for discussion and correspondence only, and we cannot verify or attest to the accuracy of any comments. Messages posted do not necessarily reflect CHS's philosophy. Messages posted are expressions of individuals and we advise users to please be courteous and professional. Thank you.

CHS's Message and Discussion Board is a public service. CHS assumes no responsibility for any postings and/or their content. CHS reserves the right to remove any post at any time.

Top