James W. Cook: He knew that the circus had a morally suspect reputation on many different levels, and what he does really, in a remarkable way, is create a kind of marketing campaign with testimonials from clergy, from famous writers, and other celebrity figures, who attest to the wholesomeness of his circuses. Its amazing to see that. Dominique Jando: She had those shoulder dislocation, which were very well staged because there were moments when the hairpins went away and her hair get while she was doing that. And each had their own little ways about doing things. Narration: The tent had grown so largeno longer round, but oval that people left their seats to get better views, creating pandemonium. Dominique Jando: Leotard was a gymnast. Forepaughs biggest coup was his creation of the first truly giant opening pageant called a spectacle or spec for short. It took him two years to feel strong enough to come back. American Experience is a production of WGBH, which is solely responsible for its content. Christopher D. Anderson, C.A.S. The following day, Lillian Leitzel succumbed to her injuries. Even that wasnt enough to make ends meet. They came from Hungary and Italy, Germany and Russia, Norway and China. Its life on the Mount of Transfiguration. But perhaps more famously he introduced a revolving cast of so-called human freaks. There were fat boys and dwarfs, bearded women and a family of albinos. Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin It had been Forepaugh and Barnum for so long, that the death of that rival was significant. Anxious to minimize his losses, Barnum arranged for a taxidermist to preserve the countrys most celebrated elephant. Directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Andrew Stanton from a screenplay written by Stanton, Donald McEnery and Bob Shaw and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton and Joe Ranft, the film stars the voices . Barnum join together to great the greatest show of all. Troupe leader Karl had become a tightrope walker almost by accident. Cinematography The scale of the endeavor, the exuberance of it all and the way its packaged for a broad mass audience is totally transformative. When the circus opened two days later, there was a scramble for tickets. Jennifer Lemmer Posey: John Ringling North had to reflect on everything that had gone wrong. Deborah Walk: All the boys, at that point of time, in 1884, did something. He got intimately involved in understanding all the local conditions that are so important in a circus being successful that another circus man years later said, Any fool can start a circus. Museum of The City Of New York Boston Public Library, Richard Dale Mcmullan Collection Historical Society of Pennsylvania And so, this operation was something that was really invisible to the likes of Barnum & Bailey. Oddball Films Narration: James drifted from place to place, picking up work as a farmhand and stable boy. His father thought that could be a pretty good act and started developing an apparatus where his son could jump from one trapeze to another. And so, they approached him and they wrote him and said, Would you be interested in doing, you know, getting together with us?. After a long bout of ill-health, Alf T. Ringling, creator of the great spectacles, passed away at the age of fifty-five. James W. Cook: He was a beloved creature in London, and schoolchildren are weeping over the departure of Jumbo, newspaper editors are writing about the horror of the idea of Jumbo leaving behind his buns and his good diet from the London Zoological Society and eating waffles and popcorn at an American circus. The world doesnt stop for your pain. Smithsonian Institution Archives Narration: North was determined that his second season would be a success. Frantic people jumped off bleachers. It took 245 horses pulling one hundred wagons to move the show. And I will admit, it was rare for anybody to shower every day because it isnt practical. Narration: Within a year of John Ringlings death, his nephew John Ringling North was able to secure a loan to wrest the circus from its creditors. It transforms America into a nation with a shared cultural identity. While Al grew to be loved on the lot, his younger brother John came to be feared. Heather Merrill Matthew Wittmann, Assistant Editors Mariboe Collection, Museum of Copenhagen Richard Flint Matthew Wittmann: You can see in the circus both the good and the bad. Even a cross-eyed man cant look at three rings at once, wrote one irritated spectator. Circuses put money into advertising in a way that no other business did. This four-hour mini-series tells the story of one of the most popular and influential forms of entertainment in American history.Through the intertwined stories of several of the most innovative and influential impresarios of the late nineteenth century, this series reveals the circus was a uniquely American entertainment created by a rapidly expanding and industrializing nation; that it embraced and was made possible by Western imperialism; that its history was shaped by a tension between its unconventional entertainments and prevailing standards of respectability; and that its promise for ordinary people was the possibility for personal reinvention. They're just on the ground. It just lifts you beyond anything you can imagine. In the spring of 1906, as he was in Madison Square Garden frantically throwing together his show, Bailey started to feel unwell. Janet M. Davis: Areas on the route are facing quarantine, and show dates have to be abridged. Whether you were a child or an adult, seeing a giraffe was totally unheard of and seeing wild cats, zebras, African animals, Asian animals. But it wouldnt stay that way for long. Ringling Mansion Archives It was the largest audience for a sporting event ever. Janet M. Davis: We often like to think about running away with the circus as a kind of stereotype or a clich. But still, as the show took to the road, the tragedy was on everyones mind. Dominique Jando: Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey was still touring with more than one thousand people, traveling with the show. Within a decade, the Ringling Brotherswent from being a tinyregional circus to this large circus that's traveling across the country. In 1919, Charles and John hired the best jazz bandmaster in the business, P. G. Lowery. Why? They became a class of people that they hadnt started out to be. The Documentary Investment Group: Narration: The addition of a small animal menagerie by a New York showman in 1828 helped to squash some of the objections. Narration: In the century since a skilled English equestrian had brought the first one-ring show to the United States, the circus had become the most popular of American entertainments, appealing to presidents and farmers, teachers and coal miners, grandparents and school children. Associated Press Narration: Within the big top, as nowhere else on earth, is to be found Actuality. If you were injured on the job, so be it. Michael Lancaster: A tent weighs twelve tons, the sides are now on fire, and basically everybodys inside of a giant furnace thats igniting all around them. You are a performer, and you stay a performer until the day you die. It's that yearning of being able to defy gravity, to fly through the air, to be that princess on a back of the horse that everyone is looking at. The people of America, they declared, are not going to let go of the circus any more than they are going to relinquish pride in the Pilgrim Fathers. And then all of a sudden, if you were so lucky, for one magical day, you were transported from your work-a-day world, into the spangles, into the spectacle that crisscrossed the country: the circus. The crowded circus lot was a perfect breeding ground for pickpockets. Jonathan Lee Iverson, Ringmaster: Theres nothing like circus. To join the circus, to crisscross the country, to showcase the wonders of the world, what a lure to that. To show guys, it was like nirvana to not have to play these little crossroad towns. At least one of them, an indigenous Australian named Tambo Tambo, was brought to America against his will. Janet M. Davis: Those essential elements of using the horse as kind of the centerpiece of the show, then clowning as part of the show too, and rope walking, those are defining elements of the circus. The Outpost at Wgbh, Post Production Assistant Editor You know, today, we talk about big oil and big pharma. Narration: To inspire public confidence for the first performance under canvas, a fire marshal tested the flame-proof canvas with matches, and a cigarette lighter. She used her toe to write out cards for individual people and date them. Ann Marie Costain This sounds like the coolest place. The success of the tour had shaken up the established wisdom in the show trade. Michael Lancaster, Great-Grandson, Charles Ringling: Whats really important about the Ringling story is that it isnt just a circus story. Narration: When the show hit the road in April 1873 after a two week run in Manhattan, everyone was astounded to see how much bigger it had become. In Boston, when his hoax finally stopped attracting paying customers, Barnum came up with another one. It wasnt necessarily respectable, but it was work and it was a way, not just for white people to hear black music, but for black communities to connect to what was happening in Chicago, New York, and this very vibrant music scene. La Norma Fox: You get half the town, all kids mostly, wanted to help. He ran around in that cage with such energy, and such projection, that he involved everybody. The show must go on. Though they boasted of her strength, the Ringling brothers were keen to present Sandwina as demure and ladylike, particularly to the men in their audiences. Burt Williams This looks like a place that a bad boy running away from home would love to go to because everywhere you turned there was a smell or a sight or a sound that was delectable. Barnum played the West one year, and the East the next. Edward Hoagland: The people who were watching the performance, some of them rather hoped that someone would fall. But the Circus is still here.. Janet M. Davis: the way that he performed, not by his own choosing, was in a boxing elephant routine. Fred Pfening Iii, Author: Coup and Castello had a show that they took around the Great Lakes and made a lot of money in 1870. Stephen Mccarthy, Archival Researchers Scranton Times-Tribune Paul Fouquet, C.S.A James Bailey was a 12-year-old orphan when he ran away from home. The following spring, the showmen opened their combined circus in Madison Square Garden, starting a tradition that would endure into the middle of the next century. Mary Jane Miller: It was over before you knew it. Alisa Placas Frutman Danbury Museum & Historical Society Whereas the first half is on the history of circuses, there are lots of jokes to cheer up our Sad Clown . As the crowds thronged the midway past the sideshow tent towards the menagerie, they could hear the talker who ballyhooed the talent inside. Lenox Library Association, Library of Congress James Bailey faces his stiffest competition yet and tries to hold on to his edge. Michael Lancaster: John just collapsed sobbing. I mean it was over in seconds almost. It is more colorful, better costumed, and better displayed than ever before.. She was, Bailey claimed, the first elephant born in the West since the Roman Empire. Fred Dahlinger Jr.: Its been said that the Ringling brothers were able to pay off the entire loan that they had taken out to purchase the Barnum show in one year. Susana Fernandes, Audience Engagement Editor This idea of colonialism became very interesting, how the Western world could bring its influence to other lands. The Ringling brothers called her Lady Hercules. Narration: By the early 1950s the future of circuses nationwide looked grim. And so, its an act that took real skill. Narration: As the 1874 circus season got underway, the hyperbole heated up. This young lady leaves a trail of chaos but always manages to land on her feet. Gaumont Pathe Archives But the truth was, John was facing a much more precarious business scene than he ever had with his brothers. The dramatic storyof Lillian Leitzel continues. Original funding for this program was provided by These would be broken up with tumblers and clowns. Ben Greenberg, Director of Audience Engagement When they didnt get it, they went on strike. Deborah Walk, Curator: Al Ringling definitely Mr. The most prestigious chariot races were held in Rome's Circus Maximus but by the 3rd century CE other major cities such as Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople also had circuses with which to host these spectacular events, which became, if anything, even more popular in the later empire. What Barnum really does is institutionalizes it, commercializes it. Oh my God, what happened? The showmen knew this, because they had beautiful scenes, gilded and painted on the tops of the wagons, so that people could see that too. Harry Ransom Center, The University Of Texas At Austin Barnum banned drinking on the show grounds and hired detectives from the Pinkerton Agency to keep everyones wallets safe. The circus leaves town and she is left behind to convalescence at a local minister's house. To those in the know it was anything but. These were tight rules. Portrait circa 1850. John and Mable designed a fifty-six room Venetian palace next door. Sakina Hughes, Historian: P.G. Determined to fill seats, John Ringing brought back the cat acts, hiring Clyde Beatty, the most celebrated big cat trainer in America for the opening run in Madison Square Garden. A fun two-act play with songs and 'circus acts', which may be a challenge, the sets have circus themes and props. CIRCUS is a six-hour series that takes you on an unforgettable trip with the legendary Big Apple Circus. Still outraged by the violence, Sen. Michael Bennett joins John Heilemann for a look at preparation for the trial and Alex Wagner speaks with an . The National Archives (UK) Jackie Leclaire: My father turned to me and he said, Jackie, Im sorry, but Im afraid youre going to have a very short life in circus business. He didnt think that theyd ever pull out of this. Everybody was doing something that they liked. James W. Cook: Hes raised as a ward by his eldest sister. New arrivals and homegrown talent did their best to keep the circus tradition alive, but the nation was vast and sparsely populated. He names it that because this is the first elephant born in the United States and its a publicity coup. I shall see that they are presented with fancy articles and small allowances monthly.. During the hard times his tramp clown act took off. Every season men were injured or killed. At one point, he got whales in a big aquarium. He falls in love with elephants, and he learns how to train them. Janet M. Davis: The bandleader, Merle Evans, feared her. By the time the Civil War broke out, he had turned to horse-trading, making a fortune supplying the Union Army with cavalry mount. And you see the lions and they are mentioned in the bible. Framepool Marjorie Cordell Geiger, Aerialist: It is an act of creation, but it has to come from the heart. He saw no option other than sitting out the following season. Holder Printworks In time, Lillian Leitzel, the youngest, would be one of the most famous women in America. You need to go beyond your own possibilities. As much as things could fail, the crowds were there and so was the money. Matthew Wittmann: It really, really stunned people to see women doing these things. She did, of course, somersault from horse to horse. 5. Circus Class Play or Assembly for 5 - 7 year-olds Cast of 30 - easily adaptable up or down. Al. Then she got rid of Louis. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). Steven Bolin Collection To see the great performers, the cavalcade of clowns, everything jam-packed into the three rings and four platforms. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. The person sports a rainbow-glitter beard. There's no elephant on a bicycle but there are the Greek Geeks and have they got a story or two to tell. Beginnings: Castello, Coup, and Barnum P.T. Living players play with living. You cant let it interfere. And I think that unity is really the secret to their great success as showmen. Nigel Rothfels, Historian: His original market was in the city of Hamburg but then, very quickly, he became known by circuses as somebody who could supply animals. Jackie Leclaire, Clown, Aerialist: It's a glory there. 2018 WGBH Educational Foundation Timothy Tegge Circus Archives Wheres Gilbert? Somebody had him. Australian National University By 1928, eight years after the first commercial radio broadcast, a quarter of American households had radio sets. Presidents and First Ladies accompanied them to the circus. Matthew Wittmann: Circuses could spend many thousands of dollars on advertising whether it was newspapers, posters. The ship didnt see land for more than fifty days. There were undoubtedly trainers who were clearly able to use more of the positive techniques that we would call, sort of positive reinforcement now. Dominique Jando, Circus Historian: You saw extraordinary animals that you sometimes had never seen. John Ringling was a teenager. A drama for teens about romance and family written by Tom Cavanaugh. Whereas in years past many New Englanders had seen circuses as immoral, there was nothing in Barnums show, the local paper said, to offend the most refined modesty.. For the first time, the brothers decided to hire a theater director to produce their opening pageant, known as the spectacle, rather than doing it themselves. She never loved him. Dominique Jando: There was an attraction of the circus which was really sexual. Both sides took jabs at each other in so-called rat sheets. Barnum claimed Forepaugh had bought his old dilapidated equipment. At midnight, he was often one of the very last men still on his feet. The performers would be together, the clowns would like to be together, and the working men, they had their own groups, too. The boys are hustlers and no mistake, crowed one local paper. Fight Circus 7: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Sausages Play-By-Play Results. In between he does a little bit of everything. May Wirth did what we call trick somersaults, when you twist the somersault in the air so you go and you start in a direction, you arrive in another one. A visit to the Ringling circus cost three times as much. Narration: In Berlin, he signed four female aerialists. So, in short order, every large American circus is travelling on the railroads. Jackie Leclaire So they did not mount these large spectacles. Mccaddon Collection, Princeton University Library
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