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CHS Main page  Membership Application
Circus History Links
CHS is not responsible for the accuracy or content of the sites listed.
General
- Early History www.hanneford.8m.com/history/early_history.htm History of the circus from the Roman era to the 19th century.
- Circus World Circus World's America's Circus Museum website provides information about this National Historic Landmark.
- Let's Go to the Circus Take a visual trip back in time to see what the circus was like from the 1860s to the 1960s. 158 Circus photographs/images from Wisconsin Historical Society.
- Listen to WPR Interviews www.wpr.org/book/020602a.htm The Sideshow - Todd Robbins, P.T. Barnum's America - Benjamin Reiss, Circus Animal Rights - Janet Davis, Showman Dan Rice - David Carlyon. From To The Best of Our Knowledge on Wisconsin Public Radio. Real Player needed.
- Great American Circuses hartlandsmith.tripod.com Hartland B. Smith's collection of circus memorabilia. Photos, information, posters, and more.
- Golden Age of the Circus www.johnshepler.com/articles/circus.html Short article summarizes circus history.
- Step Right Up! www.history-magazine.com/circuses.html Bob Brooke presents the history of the circus in America. Includes the beginnings of the circus in America, P.T. Barnum, Golden Age of the Circus, Circus Trains, Barnum & Bailey, Ringling Bros. From October/November, 2001, History Magazine's History of the Circus.
- Circusweb www.circusweb.com Circus Present and Past. Circus history and lore (Going to the Circus, Circus Life, The Circus Lot, The Circus Tent, Circus Superstitions, Circus Terms). Find current U.S. and foreign circus websites. Click on Fans for information on circus organizations. Sponsored by Graphics 2000, "the leading producer of circus printed materials in the United States."
- Australia's Circus History
www.pennygaff.com.au/index.html Mark St. Leon's website with various aspects of Australia's circus history, photos, reminscences, routes, biographies, genealogical information, links, etc.
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Circuses
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Biography
- Mollie Bailey
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/fba12.html Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey, "Circus Queen of the Southwest." Biography from Handbook of Texas Online. Try the search engine for this site (type in circus) to explore more circus history.
- P.T. Barnum www.barnum-museum.org/ Barnum Museum.
- P.T. Barnum www.ptbarnum.org Take a look at Photos, History and Humbugs.
- Barnum Family Genealogy www.barnum.org/intro.html
- Buffalo Bill www.bbhc.org Buffalo Bill Historical Center.
- Buffalo Bill www.travelphotobase.com/s/CODY.HTM. William Frederick Cody, "Buffalo Bill," biography and chronology in photos. Site also has photos of Circus World Museum wagons, posters, trains - click on Country Index, then Wisconsin, then Baraboo.
- Herr Driesbach, lion tamer Obituary and biographical information
- George W. "Popcorn" Hall freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wirockbios/Bios/bios1832.html and www.evansvillehistory.net/CIRCUS.html
- James L. Hutchinson freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hutch/JLH/index.htm "Hutch" was part-owner of Barnum, Bailey & Hutchinson from 1881-1887 and was with various circuses from 1862-1887. Rootsweb site, at times this service provider is not available, check again later if you get a "page cannot be displayed message."
- Linda Jeal Linda Jeal, equestrienne, Queen of the Flaming Zone.
- Karl King karlking.us/ Circus bandleader and march king. Karl King trouped with several circuses (Sells-Floto, Barnum & Bailey, Buffalo Bills Combined Shows, etc.) from 1910 through the 1918 season as a band member or as director of circus bands. He was the most prolific American circus music composer.
- Julia Lowande Julia Lowande, equestrienne.
- John Patterson www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/johnny_patterson.htm the "Rambler from Clare", a celebrated circus clown in the late 1800s.
- Sells Bros. www.shortnorth.com/CircusTown.html Circus Town! Sells Brothers' Show Called Columbus (Ohio) Home. Short North Gazette 1999 article.
- Anna Swan, giantess www.collectionscanada.ca/cool/002027-2404-e.html Anna Swan's life is a detailed story containing many photographs and links to various articles written about Anna. Also an illustrated version of the story of Anna Swan. Anna's husband Martin Bates at www.tngenweb.org/scott/fnb_v7n2_martin_van_buren_bates.htm
- The Flying Wallendas www.wallenda.com/history.html One of the most famous high-wire acts of the 20th century.
- The Flying Wards Jennie Ward, trapeze artist. Site also had articles on Julia Lowande and Linda Jeal.
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Exhibits/Museums
- Circus World Museum www.wisconsinhistory.org/circusworld Baraboo, Wisconsin.
- Ringling Museum of The Circus www.ringling.org The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Click on Museum of the Circus for contact and access information, The Ringling Family Show: A Short History, John Ringling, the Circus King, The Circus: Sarasota's Unique Heritage The Ringling Museum of the Circus & Its Collections: An Overview, and a Virtual Tour of the Circus Museum.
- Barnum Museum www.barnum-museum.org, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
- Internation Circus Hall of Fame circushof.com, Peru, Indiana, was home to some famous shows, including Hagenbeck-Wallace, Sells-Floto, Terrell Jacobs, John Robinson, and Howes Great London.
- Circus City Festival www.perucircus.com, Peru, Indiana. Loads slow.
- Miami County Museum www.miamicountymuseum.com/history.html, Peru, Indiana.
- Shelburne Museum, Inc. www.shelburnemuseum.org/collections/detail.php?id=13 Shelburne, Vermont.
- Buffalo Bill Historical Center www.bbhc.org.
- Barnard Family Papers www.lakelandgov.net/library/oldspeccoll/bernard/photos.htm. Photographs documenting the long vaudeville and circus career of the Bernard family of Lakeland, Florida. Individual photographs of Floyd Bernard (aka Floyd Merrill and Don Bernardo), his wife Maude, son Howard, and granddaughters Jean and Mary. Also photographs of the Bernard family performing under its various stage names, including the Four Bernadino's, the Merrill Brothers, the Merrill Brothers and Sister, and the Four Merrill's. Folder labeled "circus performers" contains photos of a variety of circus and vaudeville performers with whom the Bernard family shared billing. Collection housed at Lakeland Public Library, Lakeland, Florida.
- Brewster, New York http://www.southeastmuseum.org/html/american_circus.html Southeast Museum's page on the early circus in Southeast and Brewster, NY. Many showman and circus people came from Southeast. Nathan Howes and Seth B. Howes began their show business careers at early ages, in Southeast.
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Organizations
- Circus Fans Association www.circusfans.org CFA was established in 1926 to enjoy and preserve the circus as an institution. CFA has an annual national convention with a focus on circus-theme seminars and other circus-related events and activities. Their magazine, The White Tops, is published six times a year, with national and international circus news, tent and top interests, performer profiles, updates about legislative initiatives, and historical facts and photos of circuses past.
- Showfolks of Sarasota www.showfolks.org Showfolks of Sarasota was conceived in 1964 as "An International Alliance of Circus Artists and Executives". Since that time, Showfolks membership has grown to encompass individuals from all aspects of show business and the entertainment world, to include "friends of the circus" who are members of supportive organizations such as Circus Fans of America, Circus Historical Society, Circus Model Builders, and Windjammers Unlimited (musicians).
- Showmen's League of America http://www.showmensleague.org Founded in 1913, by a group of outdoor showmen meeting at the Saratoga Hotel in Chicago. Buffalo Bill Cody, the Wild West performer, was elected the club's first president. The Showmen's League of America is the oldest organization of its type in North America.
- Windjammers www.circusmusic.org Dedicated to the preservation of traditional circus music.
- Circus Model Builders www.circusmodelbuilders.com.
- Circus Saints & Sinners Club of America circussaintsandsinnersclub.com.
- Circus 4 Youth www.circus4youth.org Sponsored by Circus Fans Association of America - CFA.
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Posters
- Circus Posters. History of the circus poster, including original manufacturing procedures, types of posters produced, component parts of posters (which are now often altered or lost), and how posters were originally used within the context of the circus. WAAC Newsletter, Volume 17, Number 2, May 1995.
- Circus Posters, Princeton University has placed a number of circus posters in their collection online. libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/Circus/TC093.html.
- Ringling Museum of Art, circus poster collection, over 4,000 images. Ringling Museum of Art, circus photographs.
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Other
- Charles Eisenmann Photographs, digilib.syr.edu, 1,412 photographs, primarily side-show and dime museum performers, but some photos of circuses. click on browse, comes up with Erie Railroad Glass Plate Negative Collection, use the pull-down menu and select Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs.
- Simply Circus community.simplycircus.com/research/thesis_papers.htm. Abstracts and links to masters and Ph.D theses. Topics: Social circus, new circus, clowning, circus linguistics, circus history, other.
- Buckles Woodcock Blog bucklesw.blogspot.com. Discussion of everything Circus and American Circus History in general.
- Sawdust and Spangles circustents.blogspot.com. Bob Cline's Blog, sharing circus history.
- Bill Strong's Blog yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com. Circus of days gone by.
- Raffaele De Ritis' Blog raffaelederitis.blogspot.com. Facts and pictures about the history (and sometimes the present) of circus, magic, sideshows, burlesque, and other curiosities.
- Ivan Henry's Blog www.thecircusblog.com. Circus history, starting in the 1800’s to the present.
- Lost Museum (P. T. Barnum) www.lostmuseum.cuny.edu/home.html Recreates one of the most intriguing places in American history. The Lost Museum is an intellectual and spatial exploration of P. T. Barnum's American Museum. For almost a quarter-century the American Museum epitomized popular entertainment and education in the U.S. It also articulated, sometimes in unusual ways, the major issues confronting American culture, society, and politics. Barnum's American Museum was destroyed on July 13th, 1865 in one of the most spectacular fires in New York City's history.
- Through the "Front Door" to the "Backyard": Linguistic Variation of the American Circus. Thesis, Lisa Burns, Illinois State University Anthropology Department. www.soa.ilstu.edu/downloads/anthro_theses/linguistic_variation_of_the_american_circus.pdf. Focuses on the language of the circus in the Traditional American Circus and the New American Circus from an anthropological standpoint.
- Circopedia, the free encyclopedia of the international circus, a project of the Big Apple Circus. Artists and Acts; Acts by Specialty; Owners and Directors; Circus History; Oral History; Photo Archive; Video Archive; Glossary.
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Copyright © 2002 - 2008
Circus Historical Society, Inc.
CHS webmasters J. Griffin and Bob Cline, last modified September 2008.
Circus Historical Society, on the web since May 3, 2002.
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