A Day at the Circus Free Ebook

FREEA DAY AT THE CIRCUS EBOOK

Strange facts about the circus are plentiful. The circus is — simply put — weird. Part of its appeal is that it's outside the realm of normal: We don't usually pet tigers, swing from a trapeze or watch clowns pile into a A Day at the Circus. Since there's a lot that's "weird" about circus acts, we chose to include facts about its origins and legacy that may surprise you. Here's a start: It might shock you that the circus is still a wildly popular business. Feld Entertainment, which owns Ringling Bros. Let's take a look at some strange circus facts that made the bizarre and fantastic circus what it is today. While we think of elephants as circus stalwarts, they actually became popular in an arena a little more sophisticated than the Big Top. Although elephants had performed in various menageries and tours for a while, they became a big hit in the august theatre. Ina play called "The Elephant of Siam" was performed at the Adelphi in London and later toured the country. It featured A Day at the Circus trained elephant that went by the rather hoity-toity name of Mademoiselle D'Jeck. Mlle D'Jeck was trained to complete a number of actions — ring a bell and steal a crown with her trunk, then place it on someone's head, for instance [source: Speaight ]. This bit of theatre A Day at the Circus quite popular, and soon A Day at the Circus circus promoters began advertising elephants that performed tricks in the ring, as well. But it wasn't just elephants: Trained lions were first used on the stage in breathtaking productions. Queen Victoria was in the audience for some of them, which ignited the public's appetite for performing cats [source: Speaight ]. Not to paint with too broad a brush, but it's probably fair to say that many A Day at the Circus us watch tightrope walkers and feel pretty much undiluted fear. But that's a modern audience, bombarded with any kind of scintillating entertainment we want on-demand. It was a little different in the early days of circus, when the sight of a lady wearing trousers could rouse a serious blush. Think about it — high-wire- walking ladies were going to give everyone an eyeful if they were wearing skirts. The leg-baring doublet and hose women wire walkers wore allowed men to gawk at women's bodies A Day at the Circus a way that certainly wasn't socially appropriate for the time [source: Victoria and Albert Museum ]. One review even describes how a wire walker's dexterity might translate well in the bedroom [source: Speaight ]. Apparently, watching a wire- walker proved to be a very chaste way to get one's jollies. But let's peel our eyes from the lady dancing on the rope to learn a little more about the weird origins of the word circus. So perhaps you're a classical studies scholar and familiar with Roman entertainment, or you've seen "Spartacus" one time and vaguely remember it. Either way, you're probably under the impression that the famous Circus Maximus the ring where chariot races took place gave the contemporary circus its name. You're kind of right, in the sense that it's the same word. But that's pretty much where the similarities end. The first modern circus, founded by Philip Astley in 18th century Britain, was actually referred to as an amphitheatre. In George Speaight's entertaining book " History of the Circus ," the author suggests the word was initially adopted because it sounded fancy, which is as good a reason as any. It was only when equestrian showman Charles Hughes decided to perform a show he called "The Royal Circus" did the circus moniker come to be associated with the acts we see today. It probably had nothing to do with the Circus Maximus of ancient Rome but instead was derived from the "circus" ring around Hyde Park where rich people would exercise their horses [source: Speaight ]. By the 19th century, "circus" was the accepted nomenclature. Infamous characters populate circus history, like the snake-oil salesman P. Barnum and those guys from the Insane Clown Posse. Totally counts, don't try to argue. But did A Day at the Circus know that because of a simple twist of circus fate, one of the most villainous characters in modern U. John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, was born on American soil as a result of some circus-related drama. His father was Junius Brutus Booth, a well-regarded British actor. In Liverpool, England A Day at the CircusJ. Booth got into a fight with the Portuguese circus performer and rope dancer Il Diavolo Antonio, and Booth injured him badly [source: Speaight ]. Booth decided to make a quick getaway to avoid the long arm of the law — and his wife, too. He left for America with a flower-selling girl to make a clean break. John Wilkes Booth was born to the couple in But let's return to the ring, where you might be amused to find acts that were once considered incredible acrobatics but aren't as impressive today. We demand a lot from circus performers these days. We not only want to see them defy gravity, but we also need other twists to make the show super-exciting. Perhaps they could do wild contortionist routines while hanging from their hair? Or maybe perform a high-wire act with no net while balancing on a chair? But in the early days of the circus, the demands of the audience were a lot less challenging, and leaping was a big deal. Leaping, you say? Literally leaping over things. Which is still not considered "uncool," I suppose, if you're a big parkour fan. But jumping over stuff horses, people, carriages, whatever really was a prime attraction. While we might think of acrobats as aerial or contortionist acts, in the late 18th century and early 19th century, leapers got the pulse beating. In a clown named Dewhurst a fairly staid name for a clown was jumping over ten horses and A Day at the Circus balloons and the like [source: Speaight ]. But the act provided one of the circus' first secrets: Trampolines or springboards were hidden to assist the high jumpers. The glitz and glam of the circus is pretty much taken for granted in standard shows. Companies like Ringling Bros. The pre-show parade, which heralded the circus into town, was no pokey affair. One parade in is said to have taken five hours as it crawled A Day at the Circus the streets of New York, and others boasted themed floats nearly 30 feet 9 meters high [source: Speaight ]. The cool thing is that the parades were basically free spectacles for the public. As the railroad and larger trucks caught on, however, circuses no longer caravanned into town with as much majesty. You'd think that the circus sells itself, with its death-defying acts and feats of amazing ability. But the circus was actually a well-oiled machine of public relations and became more heavily promoted than pretty much any form of entertainment on American soil before it. How did they do it? So much paper. Posters became a booming circus business spearheaded mostly by Strobridge Lithographing, a printing company in Cincinnati that met the high demand [source: Duke University Libraries ]. And boy, was the demand high. The Forepaugh Circus alone had over a hundred different posters for promotion, and it's estimated that by Ringling Bros. And kind of hilariously, there were serious turf wars over poster space. Circuses would spend loads of money printing up a jillion posters, and rival circuses would come and post right over them. There was so much strain that the Showman's Association even tried to address it in a Code of Ethics, a code that was pretty much ignored, which might tell you something about the ethics of the circus [source: Speaight ]. We've talked about how circus parades came into and went out of vogue, but another transportation option spawned a new American circus tradition that was quite popular. While traveling with wagons was all well and good, circus proprietors, who desperately depended on the ability to build and strike a tent quickly, began to see the appeal of setting up on the banks of rivers. They could ship their equipment quickly from town to town without much travel. But by the middle of the 19th century, an even better idea was hatched. What if the circus itself was on a barge? The Floating Circus Palace offered such a sight. It contained a foot It traveled up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers for years, until the Civil War effectively shut down the operation. Nevertheless, it provided a permanent house for the circus and became one of the first A Day at the Circus in a long history of American entertainment. In Julyone of the most horrific accidents in American entertainment occurred. The Ringling Bros. It caused a stampede, which resulted in deaths, including that of at least 67 children [source: Daily Kos ]. It was a horrific tragedy in circus history, but it put a spotlight on some much-needed safety regulations. After the fire, Hartford — and Connecticut in general — took a look at the laws in place regulating things like A Day at the Circus exits. Temporary structures like the Hartford circus tent were not stringently regulated or enforced. In response, the city and state adopted some extremely strict safety regulations, among the toughest yet in the nation, to prevent another disaster. The American Standards Association adopted new regulations for temporary structures to create a national code, and in the 70 years since the Hartford fire, nobody has died in a commercial tent fire [source: The Hartford Courant ]. Look up there, flying high above the circus ring! No, that's no flying trapeze artist. It's a Does that check out? Turns out, it actually A Day at the Circus. Balloon ascents became a popular part of the British circus tradition in the 19th century. While it might seem pretty strange to a modern audience, remember that the hot air balloon and flight in general was a gigantic deal back in the day. It was as bizarre and strange as an elephant calmly taking commands or contortionists bending themselves into nearly inhuman shapes. And at one of the original British circuses — A Day at the Circus would A Day at the Circus Philip Astley's in — the pilot of the balloon decided to bring a leopard onboard to add some interest [source: Victoria and Albert Museum ]. Balloon ascents weren't all moonlight and roses, though. 10 Weird Facts About the Circus | HowStuffWorks

A Day at the Circus names pass from generation to generation: Wallenda. They're some A Day at the Circus the world's famous circus families, and have been for decades. Centuries even. You might think the somewhat vagabond lifestyle of a circus performer would lose its appeal in these modern times. But for many in these vaunted families, it absolutely does not. Why are there so many multigenerational circus performers? The circus becomes a way of life, and performers from circus dynasties often marry each other. Plus, the job is so time-consuming -- with copious amounts of practicing, performing and traveling -- that performing with your family members is sort of obligatory if you want to see them [source: PBS ]. Circus life must also get in your blood. And stay there. The bareback rider was performing up until he was And Karl Wallenda, head of the Flying Wallendas, was still walking the high wire when he died at age 73 [sources: PonsiWallenda ]. The Caveagna family is on its way to multigenerational circus prominence. A comical-musical clowning group, the fun began in Italy with patriarch Elicio Caveagna. Elicio was both a talented musician and skilled clownso he combined these two skills in an act he performed for Circo Nando Orfei, a famed Italian circus. Eventually Elicio trained his son, Artidoro, to follow in his clown-musician shoes, and Artidoro, in turn, passed on the skills to his sons Jones and Steve [source: Ringling Bros. The act also has performed throughout Europe, both in circus A Day at the Circus and as part of other circuses, such as Switzerland's renowned Circus Nock [source: Ringling Bros. The Clarke circus dynasty stretches back to the very beginning of modern circus-hood. In the early 19th century, famed horseman John Clarke began to work for Englishman Phillip Astley, the gent credited with inventing the modern circus in the late s. A quick aside -- supposedly Clarke served as the model for Sleary, the circus owner in Charles Dickens' novel "Hard Times. Two of the grandsons, Ernest and Charles Clarke, perfected the triple back-somersault in [sources: JandoThe A Day at the Circus ]. Although the family act broke up during World War II, when the men were called to serve their country, Ernest's daughter, Ernestine, soldiered on alone. Ernestine was a talented A Day at the Circus rider and trapeze artist hired by the Ringling Bros. She was so talented, the company gave her a solo riding spot in its show, plus her own flying act. Ernestine left the circus in the s to raise the two daughters she had with husband Parley Baer, a circus performer and A Day at the Circus. Both girls followed in their mother's footsteps, becoming trapeze artists. Inthe Clarke family was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame for their collective bareback skills, and in Ernestine was inducted on her own [sources: International Circus Hall of FameThe Telegraph ]. Nelson is not this famous circus family's real surname. It's Hobson. But when actor Robert Hobson and his family left England for the United States in and formed a family acrobatic act, Hobson dubbed it Professor Nelson and Sons as an homage to his former stage partner. The troupe expanded over time, incorporating other performers in addition to family members. Not surprisingly given their talents, the family starred in circuses around the globe and in every major American circus, including the Cole Brothers and the Ringling Bros. Hollywood soon came calling. InHobson's granddaughter, Hilda, was tapped to teach actor Lon Chaney to walk the wire in "Laugh, Clown, Laugh"; in the same film, she was Loretta Young's double on the wire. The entire troupe also appeared in the A Day at the Circus "Circus Rookies. Many people are familiar with the Flying Wallendas, not surprising, since family members regularly perform newsworthy acts. To wit, Nik Wallenda's partially blindfolded tightrope walk between two Chicago skyscrapersfeet meters in the air [source: Grinberg ]. The family got its start in the late 18th century, operating a mini-circus in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A Day at the Circus members performed as acrobats, clowns, aerialists, jugglers and animal trainers. The family soon gained notoriety after creating a seven-person chair pyramid performed on the high wire without safety harnesses or a net [source: Wallenda ]. The Wallendas performed their pyramid trick for more than a decade untilwhen, tragically, the pyramid collapsed. Two people died and Karl's son, Mario, was paralyzed. After patriarch Karl died at age 73 from a fall off the wire, the family became as well known for its tragedies as its triumphs. But the Wallendas persevered. Inthey snagged a Guinness World Record by creating the world's first and only person pyramid on the tightrope. The name "Flying Wallendas," incidentally, came from a newspaper headline in the midth century that, ironically, described four family members' graceful A Day at the Circus from the wire; in that case they were unhurt [source: Wallenda ]. Especially if you're a performer. Which is probably why a promoter changed this English surname to the more exotic "Hodgini" sometime in the late 19th century. The family genealogy isn't easy to trace, but this much we know: The Hodginis have been talented performers for years, beginning in Europe and then coming to America. Albert Hodgini, for example, was a bareback rider and horse trainer with the Ringling Bros. His kids Harriet and Albert were also great with horses ; Harriet somersaulted and busted dance moves while on horseback. Other extended family members were aerialists and tightrope walkers. Everyone performed for all of the major circuses of the day [sources: GrossmanHeise ]. And the show still goes on. Tom and Betty Hodgini of Peru, Indiana, retired from performing inafter 27 years. Then local businessmen talked them into training some of the town kids to put on a mini circus show. That was the start of today's Peru Amateur Circus, where kids annually put on 10 A Day at the Circus in Peru every July before tens of thousands of appreciative spectators. Many alums have gone on to professional circus careers [sources: GrossmanPeru Amateur Circus ]. The Konyot family is famed for its equestrian skills, honed in Europe for more than a century. Their story begins inwhen teen Leopold Konyot of Hungary ran away from home and joined a circus. Over time he married a circus performer, started a family and created Circus Leopold. The Konyots quickly became known for their acrobatic and equestrian skills, especially bareback riding. Traveling all over Europe, the family caught the attention of John Ringling inwho lured them to America [source: Cristiani ]. The Konyots performed for Ringling Bros. The family began to focus increasingly on the equestrian side of their show when they moved to Spain and Portugal in The Konyots and their growing number of descendants performed in various circuses across the country, A Day at the Circus together and solo. Eventually, they dropped out of the circus business; many family members opened equestrian centers. One of the more prominent circus performers today is acrobat Christian Stoinev. Not surprisingly, there are deep circus roots on both sides of his family. Dad Ivan Stoinev left Bulgaria with a teeterboard troupe at the tender age of 13 to perform with the Ringling Bros. Stoinev himself first began performing at age 6, and spent much of his childhood under the big top at the Big Apple Circus, where Ivan served as performance director and Maritza worked in administration. InStoinev became a Big Apple company member. Stoinev is mainly known for a hand-balancing act performed with his dog Scooby [sources: Christian StoinevCircopedia ]. This fifth-generation circus performer is the first college graduate in his family, holding a degree in broadcast journalism. One of Italy's largest circus dynasties, the Togni family has been in action since the s, when founder Aristide Togni A Day at the Circus his studies at the university and headed for the big top. Once Togni had a little experience, he created his own operation, the Circo Togni, with his wife and, subsequently, their eight children. Their circus quickly grew and excelled A Day at the Circus everything from equestrian acts and tumbling to acrobatics and animal training. In addition to their children, outside performers were incorporated into the company, including some from other prestigious Italian circus families such as the Milettis and Casartellis. Eventually, three of Togni's sons decided to split the operation into three different circuses. While the circuses morphed over time and some family members got out of the business, many remained. Circo Lidia Togni, for example, is one of the largest circuses in Europe. The dynasty is also known for producing talented acrobats, animal trainers and circus managers. In addition, the family is heralded for its talent in circus engineering; the Tognis created the world's most popular big top systems: the round cupola, the Italian oblong cupola, the quarter pole-free and the round-cupola-quarter-pole-free [source: Di Ritis ]. Urias performed in his globe all across America and beyond. Soon his sons joined him, then his grandsons. A Day at the Circus, Urias' great-grandsons and their families are still performing in his original Globe of Death, riding customized cc motorcycles inside it at speeds up to 60 mph 96 kph. The family has toured with the Ringling Bros. Along the way, the Uriases have piled up an impressive list of "firsts. The family was the first to place a woman in the globe's center while motorcycles A Day at the Circus around; the first to feature a female motorcycle rider in the early s ; the first and only to feature two female riders the s ; and the first to stick three motorcycles and a woman in the globe. One trick features Jodie Urias performing a neck spin while hoisted by rope, as her family members careen on bikes inches away. The two met in Hungary in Napoline was a clown street performer and Ermenegilda an equestrian ballerina. Ermenegilda's dad disapproved of the match -- he deemed clowns beneath equestrian ballerinas -- so the pair fled to Italy and created their own circus. The couple and their troupe traveled across Europe via horse-drawn wagons, performing outside of churches [sources: PonsiZoppe ]. North agreed. Alberto ended up staying in America, where he produced circuses for Ringling and started his own family. Like the original in Italy, it's an intimate one-ring A Day at the Circus where star Nino the clown tells the audience a story, which is punctuated by various acts and audience participation. No doubt Napoline and Ermenegilda would be proud [source: Zoppe ]. HowStuffWorks looks at the history of magician's assistants, what they do and why the assistant is usually a woman. Women Join The Circus For A Day

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