End of an era
There will be those, The Legal Genealogist is sure, who welcome with whole hearts the end of this particular era.
Who greeted the news with relief and with joy.
The circus will no longer come to town.
This past week, the announcement came in a press release:
Ellenton, Fla. – January 14, 2017 – Feld Entertainment Inc., parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® and the world’s largest producer of live family entertainment, announced today that the iconic 146-year-old circus would hold its final performances later this year. Ringling Bros.®’ two circus units will conclude their tours with their final shows at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., on May 7, and at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21, 2017.
And, yes, I really do understand all of the issues involved in making animals perform in circuses and other public arenas. The training, the confinement — it certainly fits within the definition of inhumane.
But spare just a moment for the cherished memories of childhood.
Because there wasn’t anything in my young life that was quite as exciting as when the circus came to town.
Growing up in suburban central New Jersey as I did, there weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for excitement.
No farms within walking distance with their machinery and animals. No city streets with their bright lights and hawkers. And the most exotic creature we ever saw around, unless you count the possums, was an occasional Siamese cat.
Oh, there were a few things. Putting pennies on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and waiting just a few delicious steps away until the train had passed before retrieving the flattened circle of copper. The thrill of playing hooky from elementary school (we always always always got caught).
Beyond those, really, there wasn’t much that was exciting in that suburban New Jersey life.
Except for once a year, for the few years when we children didn’t so greatly outnumber our parents.
Once a year, when the circus came to town.
The adventure began with a train ride from our central New Jersey home into New York City. That by itself was a treat. The swaying of the cars and the clickety-clack on the rails. The seats that could be turned to ride backwards or forwards. Hearing the conductors walk through the cars and pronounce the names of the towns in ways we’d never heard before — and I never have since. “Rawwwwwwwwww – way.” “EEEEEEE – eeeee – liz- BETH.” And finally in a chanted cadence: “Penn – syl – van – ia Sta – tion New YORK.”
The circus in those days was in what’s known today as Madison Square Garden III, an indoor arena located on 8th Avenue between 49th and 50th street. And that meant a second adventure before we ever got to the circus: a subway ride. Again the swaying cars and the clickety-clack, but this time underground. In the dark, even.
And then there was the circus.
Oh, the circus.
With its great big clowns riding little bitty cars. Its acrobats tumbling and twirling. Its high wire walkers and flying trapeze artists.
And the animals.
Animals the likes of which we had never seen.
Elephants.
Lions.
Tigers.
(We were and are cat fans…)
We never had the best seats in the house. By the time we first went to the circus there would have at least four tickets needed — two adults and two kids — plus transportation plus babysitting in the very early years when my younger brother and sister were too young to come along. Soon enough, first my younger brother and then my younger sister joined the annual outing.
And of course we begged for every treat the circus hawkers tried to hawk. The cries of “Peanuts!” and “Popcorn!” filled our ears… the scents filled our noses.
I don’t remember our parents giving in all that effort to our pleas for the food treats.
But there was one thing we begged for the hardest and sometimes even managed to cajole our parents into buying.
They were small, rectangular, colored flashlights, on a short beaded chain.
And at some point, I remember, the lights dimmed, the command was given … and all around the indoor arena the tiny lights began to shine… and not only twine but twirl … as every child lucky enough to own one of those flashlights joined in twirling it around a finger by its chain.
Everywhere you looked, around nearly 20,000 seats, there was a sea of twirling fairy lights.
It was magical.
By the time the 1960s arrived and my youngest brothers came along, well, with that many kids, the trips to the circus came to an end.
But here I sit, 50 years later, and I can still remember the sights, the smells, the excitement.
Yes, it’s a good day for animal rights.
But it’s a bittersweet day for memories.
Memories of a time of excitement and of magic.
Memories a younger crowd will never know.
Memories of when the circus came to town.
NOTE
Image: Cover art, Circus Procession (New York : McLoughlin Bros., 1888); digital image, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov : accessed 21 Jan 2017).]
The Big Apple Circus is also going under this spring. It was a yearly adventure, a one-ring, up-close-and-personal experience for my children (and their parents who had just as much fun) and it will be missed. Delightful, magical memories.
I understand the reasons… but regret the loss of those memories… 🙂
Anyone doing research on circus ancestors should check with the Circus World Museum located in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the home of the Ringling Brothers.
Great info, thanks.
Do they still hold old-fashioned circus parades in Baraboo? That would be a sight worth seeing.
Like Judy, I am saddened. Even though its glory days had passed, the circus always remained, for me, a living link to the life-style of generations of my small town New England ancestors. It was one of the few things we all actually experienced with the exact same wide-eyed sense of excited amazement, over more than a century and a half’s worth of time. The first circus I ever saw took place under canvas. I knew at the time I was having an Important Experience, because Mom and Dad had had a big argument over whether it was safe for us to go after the terrible fire that had destroyed the Ringling’s Big Top in Hartford, and my father had won the argument by pointing out that it might be the last chance I would ever have to witness an important piece of Americana before it disappeared forever.
And now how will kids threaten to run away and join the circus? It is too bad they could not have settled someplace like Florida and put on shows just like any other entertainment venue. They could have had humane areas for the animals, even if only horses and dogs. Animals get bored and like having something to do when treated well.
My great-great grandmother was a Barnum,(her name was Elizabeth Thankful Barnum) and apparently, it was a close enough connection to the Barnums, of circus fame, that even her grandchildren always got a discounted rate to the circus, or so it went according to family legend. I haven’t done enough research to confirm the discounted tickets, nor have I explored the connection between Elizabeth and P.T. Barnum. It is a good story though.
It’s a great story, and I hope someday you’re able to confirm it!!
You two inspired me to take a quick look at the US Census records, to find P.T. Barnum (Occupation: Museum Man), his wife, Charity, and all three of their children who survived to adulthood all enumerated together in 1850 (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRR8-SH?mode=g&i=2&cc=1401638). The most striking thing was the value of Barnum’s real property. For those whose property was substantial enough to be worth mentioning, the values hovered around $1,000-3,000, but Barnum’s holdings were valued at $150,000, a number so long it barely fit into the allotted space on the census form. According to one inflation calculator, that would be the equivalent of about $4,000,000 today!
Then I discovered this passport application dated January 8, 1844, for Phineas T. Barnum, Sherwood and Cynthia Stratton and Charles S. Stratton (a/k/a Gen. Tom Thumb), Emilia Guilledeau, and George Ciprico (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99DH-XTQ3?mode=g&i=32&cc=2185145). This date coincides with the famous European tour during which Gen. Tom Thumb performed for Queen Victoria and the British Royal Family.
Another quick census check showed the Stratton family in 1850 holding real property worth $40,000 (present value appr. $1,000,000) not quite so wealthy as the Barnums, but still way ahead of the average Bridgeport CT family, thanks to that 1840 tour.
By the time of Barnum and Stratton’s next trip to the Continent, it appears the US had tightened up the passport application process (although they still accepted pretty rudimentary proof of identity and citizenship, because Barnum and fellow traveler George Wells were allowed to attest each other’s applications)
(Barnum: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99DH-J97M-B?mode=g&i=104&cc=2185145 )
(Wells: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9DH-JWQ5?mode=g&cc=2185145 )
(Cynthia Stratton and son, Charles https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9DH-JHSK?mode=g&i=389&cc=2185145 )
Many memories. Not only the circus itself but also seeing the elephants in the train cars as they waited for the march to the circus site. It was such a great memory that I made sure my two children also got to experience that many decades later. I was hoping to share that with my grandchild as well. Oh well, life goes on.
I saw the “Big Top” Ringling Brothers circus in Dallas, Texas, years ago. Since I am 70, it was a LOT of years ago. Not only did I get to see the circus but my father took me to a small hill so we could watch the big top and other tents being set up. I will never forget the magic. I feel sorry for my younger grandkids who will never get to see it. All so sad.
I grew up in Peru Indiana which claims the winter quarters of Wallace Circus in their history. The town still puts on a circus every year and many of the kids I went to school with participated. Because of growing up there I think there are ways to keep the heritage of circus life alive. https://youtu.be/WIFOjzWdtKs