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Circus History Links

General Information Circuses Biography Exhibits/Museums

Organizations Posters Other

CHS is not responsible for the accuracy or content of the sites listed. Links updated October 2006.

General

• Early History www.hanneford.8m.com/history/early_history.htm History of the circus from the Roman era to the 19th century. Link checked October 2007

• Circus World Circus World's America's Circus Museum website provides information about this National Historic Landmark. Link checked September 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• Great American Circuses hartlandsmith.tripod.com Hartland B. Smith's collection of circus memorabilia. Photos, information, posters, and more. Link checked October 2007

• Golden Age of the Circus www.johnshepler.com/articles/circus.html Short article summarizes circus history. Link checked October 2007

• 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 Link checked October 2007

• 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." Link checked October 2007

• Circus News www.circusnews.com/index.php. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

Index     CHS home page

Circuses

• Al G. Barnes algbarnescircus.blogspot.com Casper "Whitey" Jensen spent time the Al G. Barnes circus as a Boss Canvasman. Photos and more from his time with the Barnes circus. Link added October 2007

• Big Apple Circus theshow.bigapplecircus.org. Link added October 2007

• Charles Lee Circus www.joycetice.com/articles/leeshow.html circa 1887 - 1896. Includes 1890 route. Link updated February 2008

• Cole Bros. Clyde Beatty Circus History when this circus was headquartered in Rochester, Indiana from 1935 to 1940. Link checked October 2007

• Mighty Haag www.darrenruby.com/haag_family_circus.htm circus, family history. Also Fisher Bros. Circus, Lewis Bros. Circus, Barnes and Daily Circus. Link checked October 2007

• Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show www.kaycounty.info/101_Ranch/101_frame.htm, Colonel George W. Miller founded the 101 Ranch in northern Oklahoma. The Miller family fielded the 101 Wild West Show and traveled the United States and the world from 1905 to 1931. Link checked October 2007

• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus www.ringling.com Ringmaster's Journal and History and Tradition (Ringlings, P.T. Barnum, James A. Bailey, Legends & Lore). Link checked October 2007

• Bert Silver & Silver Circus www.rootsweb.com/~mimontca/townships/eureka/eureka_ref_silver.html. Link checked October 2007

• Skerbeck Circus Family www.skerbeck.com/history.php Skerbeck Circus originated in Europe in 1857. The family came to Wisconsin and had their first tenting season in 1884. Link checked October 2007

Index     CHS home page

Biography

• Mollie Bailey www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/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. Link checked October 2007

• P.T. Barnum www.barnum-museum.org/ Barnum Museum. Link checked October 2007

• P.T. Barnum www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/99_fall/theory/noremac/public_html/home.htm Website pages primarily concerned with Barnum's dedication to advertising and promotion. Link checked October 2007

• P.T. Barnum www.ptbarnum.org Take a look at Photos, History and Humbugs. Link checked October 2007

• Barnum Family Genealogy www.barnum.org/intro.html Link checked October 2007

• Buffalo Bill www.bbhc.org Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link added November 2007

• Herr Driesbach, lion tamer Obituary and biographical information Links checked April 2008

• Escalante Family web.mac.com/ckbest/Escalante_Family/Welcome-Escalante_Family.html. Link added March 2008

• George W. "Popcorn" Hall freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wirockbios/Bios/bios1832.html and www.evansvillehistory.net/CIRCUS.html Link checked October 2007

• 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." Link checked October 2007

• Linda Jeal Linda Jeal, equestrienne, Queen of the Flaming Zone. Link added February 2008

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• Julia Lowande Julia Lowande, equestrienne. Link added February 2008

• John Patterson www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/johnny_patterson.htm the "Rambler from Clare", a celebrated circus clown in the late 1800s. Link checked October 2007

• Sells Bros. www.shortnorth.com/CircusTown.html Circus Town! Sells Brothers' Show Called Columbus (Ohio) Home. Short North Gazette 1999 article. Link checked October 2007

• 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 Links checked October 2007

• The Flying Wallendas www.wallenda.com/history.html One of the most famous high-wire acts of the 20th century. Link checked October 2007

• The Flying Wards Jennie Ward, trapeze artist. Site also had articles on Julia Lowande and Linda Jeal. Link checked February 2008

Index     CHS home page

Exhibits/Museums

• Circus World Museum www.wisconsinhistory.org/circusworld Baraboo, Wisconsin. Link checked September 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• Barnum Museum www.barnum-museum.org, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked January 2008

• Circus City Festival www.perucircus.com, Peru, Indiana. Loads slow. Link checked October 2007

• Miami County Museum www.miamicountymuseum.com/history.html, Peru, Indiana. Link under revision, not available December 2007

• Shelburne Museum, Inc. www.shelburnemuseum.org/collections/detail.php?id=13 Shelburne, Vermont. Link checked October 2007

• Buffalo Bill Historical Center www.bbhc.org. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• Circus in Central Illinois www.lakeview-museum.org/pastexhibits/circusPeoria.html Lakeview Museum, Peoria, Illinos. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

Index     CHS home page

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. Link checked October 2007

• 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). Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• Windjammers www.circusmusic.org Dedicated to the preservation of traditional circus music. Link checked October 2007

• Circus Model Builders www.circusmodelbuilders.com. Link checked October 2007

• Circus Saints & Sinners Club of America circussaintsandsinnersclub.com. Link checked October 2007

• Circus 4 Youth www.circus4youth.org Sponsored by Circus Fans Association of America - CFA. Link checked October 2007

Index     CHS home page

Posters

• Circus Posters palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn17/wn17-2/wn17-205.html. 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. Not available December 2007

• Circus Posters, Princeton University has placed a number of circus posters in their collection online. libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/Circus/TC093.html. Link checked October 2007

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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. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link added April 2008

• Buckles Woodcock Blog bucklesw.blogspot.com. Discussion of everything Circus and American Circus History in general. Link checked October 2007

• Bill Strong's Blog yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com. Circus of days gone by. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• Greatest Horse Show On Earth www.staciwilson.com/horsearticle.html Horses in the circus performance world. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link checked October 2007

• 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. Link updated February 2008

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