Oral History Interview with Traci Cavallini

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Oral History Interview

with

Traci Cavallini

Interview Conducted by Juliana Nykolaiszyn and Tanya Finchum November 19, 2011

The “Big Top” Show Goes On: An Oral History of Occupations Inside and Outside the Canvas Circus Tent

The “Big Top” Show Goes On An Oral History of Occupations Inside and Outside the Canvas Circus Tent

Interview History

Interviewers: Juliana Nykolaiszyn, Tanya Finchum Transcriber: Miranda Mackey Editors: Ashley Sarchet, Tanya Finchum

The recording and transcript of this interview were processed at the Oklahoma State University Library in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Project Detail

The “Big Top” Show Goes On: An Oral History of Occupations Inside and Outside the Canvas Circus Tent aims to preserve the voices and experiences of those involved with the work culture associated with Hugo, Oklahoma’s tent circus tradition.

Funding for this project was made possible by the Library of Congress American Folklife Center as part of a 2011 Archie Green Fellowship awarded to researchers Tanya Finchum and Juliana Nykolaiszyn with the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at the OSU Library.

This project was approved by the Oklahoma State University Institutional Review Board on May 6, 2011.

Legal Status

Scholarly use of the recordings and transcripts of the interview with Traci Cavallini is unrestricted. The interview agreement was signed on November 19, 2011.

The “Big Top” Show Goes On An Oral History of Occupations Inside and Outside the Canvas Circus Tent

About Traci Cavallini…

Traci Byrd Cavallini was born in 1972 in Hugo, Oklahoma to Geary and Barbara Byrd. She is the fourth generation of the Miller line to be involved with the Carson and Barnes Circus. Her grandparents were D.R. and Isla Miller. As with most children of circus parents, Traci’s first act in the circus was the swinging ladder, which she performed around the age of seven. She later performed with horses and elephants and progressed to the Spanish web.

Traci completed all twelve years in the Hugo school system and after graduating from Hugo High School she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She met her husband on the show and they began performing acts together such as the perch pole and bamboo. After they married, they took over the management of concessions department and continue that responsibility today. Additionally, Traci deals with all the immigration processing which involves obtaining seasonal Visas for performers and working men.

The “Big Top” Show Goes On An Oral History of Occupations Inside and Outside the Canvas Circus Tent

Traci Cavallini

Oral History Interview

Interviewed by Juliana Nykolaiszyn & Tanya Finchum November 19 , 2011 Hugo, Oklahoma

Nykolaiszyn My name is Juliana Nykolaiszyn. Also with me is Tanya Finchum. We’re with the Oklahoma State University Library. Today is Saturday, November 19, 2011. We’re in Hugo, Oklahoma, interviewing Traci Cavallini as part of the Hugo oral history project centered around circus occupations. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Cavallini Thank you for having me.

Nykolaiszyn We’d like to learn a little bit more about you. Could you tell us the year you were born and where you were born?

Cavallini 1972 and right here in Hugo, Oklahoma.

Nykolaiszyn Okay, and tell me a little bit about growing up in Hugo.

Cavallini Well, when I think about my younger years, probably the circus jumps out more than actually growing up in Hugo. But I always felt very fortunate. I thought I had the best of both worlds, because I had a home base. I went to school here at Hugo my entire life. I graduated from high school here, but yet I got to travel on the circus with my family for the majority of the time. I wasn’t actually in Hugo full-time until I started middle school. That’s when my mother stayed home with us, and we went to school for the full school season and only traveled on the circus during the summer months.

Nykolaiszyn You come from a circus family, what is your earliest circus memory?

Cavallini I don’t think I’ve ever thought of that. I don’t know. Sometimes, I think, you can get memories confused with pictures and stories that you were told.

Finchum Maybe your first job on the circus?

Cavallini My first job. Well, my first job on the circus was probably like how most of the little kids start. We have a parade, and we—I say we. There were quite a few children my age, and my sister, she’s three years younger than me. We were always in the parades. My first, I’d say, aerial act was called swinging ladder, and it’s literally just like a little ladder, and it has a loop that hangs at the top of it. It only hangs about four feet off the ground or so, and you hang by your hand and foot, your ankle, and you do tricks on that. And I did that, probably, when I was about seven, seven or eight. Being in the parade, I’m not exactly sure what age, but you always get stuck doing that as a little kid. (Laughs) My children, my daughter and son, have both done the parade, and it’s fun. I mean, kids enjoy dressing up and being a part of it.

Nykolaiszyn Well, talk a little bit about some of the other acts or performances you may have gravitated to as you were growing up.

Cavallini Well, I had a horse. Xanadu was his name. He was a black quarter horse. And I did dressage, and then I performed with the elephants. I rode on the elephants, and then all young women learn web, the Spanish web, which is just the rope with the loop at the top. You climb up, and you hang by your foot and your hand while it’s spinning. So I did that, and as I got a little older, after I met my husband, when we were dating we actually performed together a couple of acts. I always enjoyed performing. I’m kind of a shy person, but I enjoyed the performing part of it. We did perch pole, which is just, literally, a pole that someone balances on their shoulder or their head, and you climb up and you do tricks on the top of it. And we did bamboo, which he hung by his foot, and then you do hand-to-hand tricks. So we performed, like just in the show, my husband and I, for a year. And then after we got married, we took over the concession. My mom was pretty happy when the performing part was over, and we were just doing something else on the show. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn And did you think you wanted to gravitate out of performing and more into other aspects of the business?

Cavallini Yes, yes. I mean, I always knew that I wasn’t made out to be a grand performer. (Laughs) It was something I enjoyed, but it’s hard on the body. I was happy to move into the next stage.

Nykolaiszyn Well, backing up, you went to school for the most part in Hugo…

Cavallini Yes.

Nykolaiszyn …and what was that like for you?

Cavallini It was wonderful. I mean, we always had close friends that were here in Hugo. When I look back it doesn’t seem like it was anything abnormal. I mean, they knew we were with the circus, and it was just a part of our daily life. I remember at elementary school, we would take some costumes down and show everyone and talk about it. Or sometimes they would schedule tours, which they still do, with the schools and come out and see the animals. And that was always fun to show off and feel important with your friends at school. But, really, it was just a normal life. I mean, everyone growing up in Hugo, there’s a circus here so it’s part of life.

Nykolaiszyn And you went on to college?

Cavallini Yes. I graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio.

Nykolaiszyn Okay. Did you have aspirations to return to the family business?

Cavallini Yes, always. But my mother—I know my sister would say the exact same thing—she never pushed us to come back. I actually think she, in her own way, was not pushing us away, but wanted us to be sure and know that there were other opportunities out there. It’s a wonderful life, but it’s a hard life at the same time. Getting a college education and knowing that we had the choice to make our own decisions in life, that was always there.

Nykolaiszyn Well, could you talk a little bit about your memories of your grandparents?

Cavallini Yes, wonderful memories of my grandparents because, in a way, they raised us almost as much as my parents did. After middle school my mom came home and would stay with us for a couple of years. But then my grandparents got older, and it just seemed like the right time for my grandparents to stay home and my mom and dad to stay on the show. So we were with my grandparents all through high school. They were the ones that we lived with. Well, we’ve always lived together. I mean, we always were in this house together so they were just a very special part of my life. I feel very fortunate to have been that close to them and had that relationship with them.

Finchum Do you have any favorite stories about your grandmother? Would she let you help in the kitchen or teach you certain things?

Cavallini Well, I don’t know. My grandmother was just a good person, I mean, a good heart. And I don’t think anyone would say anything different. So

when you did hear her say like a bad word, it was always funny. What always would get her riled up, they had some good friends, Ione [Stevens] and Donnie [McIntosh], who were in the business. And I’m sure if my mom heard their names she could tell you tons of stories about them with my grandparents. But they would come over and visit, and my sister and I would be back in our bedrooms. And just to hear them laughing and screaming, and saying cuss words and talking about the old times, I mean, it was always fun to hear them. And it’s sad because they were a different generation. They had different stories than we have to tell, but very special.

Finchum Did you get to make some of your own costumes?

Cavallini Seamstress does not seem to be my talent, maybe because I just never tried. But, no, I didn’t make my own costumes. But I do have memories. There are some memories. They used to, downstairs in our basement, is where they would sew. They would have all the costumes—I remember my grandmother, my mother, my Aunt Lisa, who I don’t know if you guys have met, but she’s here in Hugo. She’s my cousin, actually. And her mom, Barbara June [Fulton], who’s passed away, but they would make the elephant blankets. I remember rolls and rolls of yarn where they would make the tassels to hang on the blankets. All that took place right down here in the bottom of this house. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn Well, as a youth growing up on the circus, what were some rules, some things that you could not do on the lot?

Cavallini Well, we had our schedules, we had our curfews, we had our times we had to be in. When the show was over you had to be back in the house, but growing up we played hard. We loved to play in the tent. We loved to be behind the seats, swinging on the bars, acting like it was a flying trapeze, playing on the webs. I don’t know, the circus is a wonderful place, I think, for children to grow up. It’s like a small community, and you feel very safe within your community, with the people, because they are hard-working people. There’s a lot of families. You travel together, and everyone really looks out for each other while you’re together at that time. So you didn’t wander off the lot. You didn’t go outside of your area. But within that area, as far as just a lot of restrictions, that doesn’t come to my mind.

Nykolaiszyn What about in terms of mischief, though.

Cavallini Mischief. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn Surely there was some mischief, as kids growing up.

Cavallini Oh, yes. Nothing is just jumping into my mind, but of course you don’t go around the animals. That would be a rule. You stayed away.

Nykolaiszyn What are some terms that us towners would not understand?

Cavallini Donnikers, that’s the restroom. The white elephant, that’s the pump truck that comes out to pump out the donnikers. (Laughs) A straw house, that’s a full house, when people are sitting [everywhere]. Lot lice, that’s the public out walking around, seeing the circus. This, I don’t think is an official circus term, but my granny always called them juice suckers, and they were people who would come and visit and bring their trailer and plug into our lights. (Laughs) But that wasn’t official. I think that was just my granny’s word, juice suckers. (Laughter) There’s tons of words. I’m sure my mom would know a lot more of those than I would, but that’s a few.

Finchum Have you ever blown the arrows?

Cavallini Oh, yes. Oh, yes. That’s not a fun experience when you’re driving a truck and a forty-four-foot trailer, and you’ve got kids and your dogs and everything in there. (Laughs) Nowadays, I mean, with our cell phones it’s just like a different world. It’s amazing to have an iPhone and to be able to punch in everything, your different locations. I remember the first cell phone we had. I don’t know what year it was. I probably was sixteen, seventeen, maybe. Maybe younger than that. Probably younger than that. But it was this huge box, and you didn’t use it. It was just for emergencies, because who knew what it costs a minute to use that phone. But that’s probably some memories from other people, too, just not having access to the phone. So you’d save up quarters and be out on the payphone trying to call home to check in with—when my grandparents were at home or whatever. How things have changed now. (Laughs)

Finchum Do you drive a big semi?

Cavallini I do. I have my CDL [Commercial Driver’s License]. I drive my house, and my husband drives the concessions. Everyone drives. I mean, that’s definitely one of the first things you do. You don’t just learn to drive, you learn to pull a trailer so that’s part of it.

Finchum And park the trailer as well.

Cavallini Yes. (Laughter)

Nykolaiszyn Who taught you how to drive?

Cavallini Just drive a car? We always had golf carts around that you would drive around. So driving kind of seems to be a natural thing that you progress into larger vehicles. My grandfather would let me drive a lot at a young age. My parents spoiled us. I mean, I had my first car at fifteen and a half when I had my permit so I’ve been driving since I was very young. (Laughs)

Finchum I just can’t imagine parking a semi, especially when there’s twenty-two others around. (Laughs)

Cavallini Yes, well, the good thing about the circus is that when you pull onto your lot—right now it’s my husband and my brother-in-law Gustavo— everything has their location where they go, and so they park you, and you’re directed. But when you’re traveling and your kids want to go to McDonald’s, and they don’t understand that you can’t get in and around and out. That’s probably when I get into tighter situations. It’s in the morning driving over when I try to stop some place, and you’re trying to maneuver around them, and you have to fill up with fuel. But when you pull into the lot it’s pretty easy because, literally, you just have to follow directions. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn So take me through, when you’re on the road, a typical day for you with concessions.

Cavallini With the concessions?

Nykolaiszyn Yes.

Cavallini Well, my husband and I, we used to do all the buying. I’ve probably been to every Sam’s and Wal-Mart across the United States. Right now we have a gentleman that actually does the buying for us. But a typical day in the circus is we get up between five-thirty, six, just depending on how many miles we have to travel. I’ve got a really good crew of guys that have worked with us for quite a while. Sometimes you’ll have inspectors that come out during the day. We like to schedule them at around three o’clock, and that way we’ve had time to clean up all the stands, get everything plugged in, and then we open at around three- thirty. And then once you open, it’s open until closing, at around nine- thirty, nine forty-five at night. I order all the stock, the novelty items in the concessions, the popcorn boxes, snow cones. Then we’ll buy daily ice, hot dog buns, apples, for the caramel apples. And, like I said, I’ve got a really good crew of guys. We have a trailer. We have cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn, hot dogs, Polish sausages, nachos, caramel apples, just the typical circus junk. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn Do you give direction to your butchers?

Cavallini No, they rotate. They rotate their products, and we have a gentleman that counts out, issues the stock. Then they’ll settle up with me that evening, after the second show. And then the next day, I will do the calculations and then turn the money in to the office the following day for that day. That would be the novelty money, the coloring books, and the food items.

Nykolaiszyn And then in the offseason, when you’re back home, off the road, what are your responsibilities?

Cavallini Circus related? When it’s a family business, you just help out wherever. I do all of the immigration work. Most of our workers are on a H2B. It’s a seasonal Visa, actually, for circus laborers. So that’s cool. It would be the same category as tree planters or that type of worker. Most of those come from Mexico. We have gentlemen that have worked for us, there’s one man who pops into my head. He came in ’74 so I was two years old. He’s been with us that long. And we have a lot of guys who have been with us for a long time, good, loyal, hard working men and women. So I do all of that. And it’s not year-round, but I’ll start the paperwork like, in August, and then it’s kind of ongoing. Depending on when we have our show finalized, what performers, the performers come in on a P-1 Visa, and we’ll bring in performers. We have some from all over, the Ukraine, Russia, South America. That’s probably the main project I do.

Nykolaiszyn Has it been, over the years, increasingly difficult working with the government?

Cavallini Yes, I mean, it is more difficult, and I understand why. I would definitely say since 9-11, there were some huge changes in restrictions and just more security as far as confirming that you’re really bringing in performers. But it’s all doable. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn And is language ever an issue, since you deal with so many different people, trying to get them in?

Cavallini Well, most of the performers are Hispanic. I’m fluent in Spanish so that helps out a lot. But over the past, with the Ukrainians, it seems like—or Russians—we’ve always kind of had someone with us that helped translate that language. One year, my grandfather started the Chinese Imperial Circus. I don’t know if you’ve heard of that. It was fabulous. We weren’t involved at all. It was kind of like he woke up one day, and he was going to do this. (Laughs) So you just supported him. And he brought over like thirty performers from the Republic of China, and they were incredible performers, really. But when they got here we went down to our local Chinese restaurant to help translate because we could

not communicate at all with them. (Laughs) But it seems like there’s always someone who can help out.

Nykolaiszyn And how did you become fluent in Spanish?

Cavallini I’ve been around Spanish my entire life, and I minored in it, in Spanish, in college. And then, actually, my husband is from Peru. His family, his mother, his sisters, they’ve all here and most of them work with us still, which is wonderful because my children get to be with both grandparents, both sets.

Finchum How do you handle or juggle being a mom on the show during travel time?

Cavallini During travel time? I’ve always said I think the circus is a wonderful place to raise a family. You’re working, but you’re there. I mean, you’re with your family while you’re doing your work. And the children have jobs, they have responsibilities. We have a school teacher so there’s a schedule. There’s a schedule while you’re traveling. After we get up and drive over, they are usually carried to the truck because they are still asleep. We had a wonderful teacher that traveled with us this year. We had three different classes so my children went to school for about an hour and a half each. They practiced, just because they enjoy it. I don’t think they’ll ever be performers, but I think it’s good for them to practice and appreciate it. And then my son worked in the office. He’s ten, and he does well with money already. He worked in the office, and my daughter did the parade. You’re working, but you’re there together so you get to spend a lot of time with them.

Finchum Do you actually get to go and watch the show some?

Cavallini Yes, definitely. I enjoy watching. The concessions is right there, and I spend a lot of the time watching the show, probably, more than in the concession stand, but just back and forth.

Finchum Do you have a favorite part?

Cavallini I’d say the parade and the aerial ballet. This year it was beautiful. It was butterflies with lots of colors. My cousin, Lisa, and my mom, last year they made some beautiful blankets with the elephants and these wings for the aerial part. It was very pretty.

Nykolaiszyn You’ve probably noticed some changes in the circus.

Cavallini Yes.

Nykolaiszyn What are some of those that you’ve noticed through the years?

Cavallini Well, just with our circus, we’ve downsized a lot. Carson and Barnes, when I grew up, it was a five-ring circus, over two hundred people traveled with us. All of our animals, our elephants traveled with us when I was younger so we had seventeen, eighteen elephants traveling on Carson and Barnes. So just the downsizing over the years. Probably part of it is because when you’re younger it’s all fun and magical and you don’t see, but it’s harder. There’s definitely more restrictions. There’s been a change just that it’s gotten more difficult. There’s more activities for the children, it seems like people are busy so more competition.

Nykolaiszyn Well, as you look back, what’s your favorite part about the circus? Is there a certain smell or a certain feeling when you wake up?

Cavallini I can say a couple of things jump to my mind. My favorite thing that the circus has given me is the opportunity to be with my family, to have the relationship I had with my grandparents, to have my children be able to have that relationship with my parents. I think that’s, on a personal note, my favorite thing about the circus is the life that it’s given me and the opportunities it’s given me, as a family, to be so close. There’s nothing like being in a circus when there’s a lot of people, a full-house, the elephants come in, and you hear those oohs and ahhs of the children and the excitement, and after the show when you see how much the people have enjoyed it. To see a little kid in a small town in Kansas or Oklahoma, anywhere, come onto the lot and be like, “Wow! The elephants are here!” I mean, there’s nothing like giving that joy to people and really feeling that they appreciate what you’re doing. So that’s a special feeling.

Finchum When you actually go to the show and watch, are you looking at anything in particular, how it’s all working or the peanut pitch or any of that?

Cavallini Yes, I’m sure we look at the circus differently than the public would, but you can’t help but—or I can’t—you kind of notice the things that, “They shouldn’t be doing that,” or you see kind of the things in your mind that are negative that people might not notice. But after you’ve seen it over and over, I guess, I tend to focus in on the things that aren’t just right when you’re watching it. But I enjoy watching the whole show.

Finchum The grand spec, the spec…

Cavallini Yes.

Finchum Has music changed much?

Cavallini Well, when I grew up we had a band. We had a live band so I remember that. My school teacher, Mrs. Reynolds, as I grew up, her family actually had the band. She played the organ and her husband played the trumpet, I think. And so that’s a huge change, to go to recorded music. And I know that was a hard decision when they made that decision to not carry that band along. I remember we used to have the old cassettes, and it was a big deal that we had when we first switched over, and now it’s all on computers. (Laughs)

Nykolaiszyn Are there any other changes that you’ve noticed through the years?

Cavallini There’s a lot of changes, but…

Nykolaiszyn The way you’ve traveled?

Cavallini That pretty much has stayed the same since I’ve grown up. I mean, we’ve always been in our own truck and trailer. We always travel early in the morning. It’s always kind of like a caravan. I mean, as long as I can remember, at five-thirty in the morning, someone’s driving around honking a horn, and that means it’s time to get up. (Laughs) And then the mechanics follow it up. My parents have always kind of stayed towards the back. My dad likes to make sure that the grounds are left in good condition, the trash is all picked up, the manure’s where it’s supposed to be. And then the mechanics follow everyone up to make sure everyone makes it over. As long as I can remember, that’s been our travel procedures.

Nykolaiszyn Any important lessons passed down from your parents or your grandparents that resonate with you?

Cavallini I’m never good at those questions. (Laughter) Nothing ever just pops into my mind. I’m sure later I’ll think of something.

Nykolaiszyn You’ve seen many different parts of the country. Do you have a favorite place you like to play, a favorite venue?

Cavallini Well, there’s wonderful opportunities, there’s beautiful parts of the country. I think, as a child, I would remember the Michigan area, the Great Lakes. In the summertime up there it’s beautiful, and we always had a lot of fun, like Oshkosh, Kenosha, Racine, circus fans, cookouts, bratwursts, piers, being by the pier and walking out. I mean, it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful up in there. This year, we traveled west and we went through Utah and the mountains. There’s just so many beautiful parts of the United States. A lot of people think California, Arizona, nice weather, climate, but I think of dirt. I mean, we’re in dirt fields a lot.

When I was young and I would think of California, they would burn off—if there was a blade of grass they would burn it off for fear of fires. So we would be out in this—just not nice stuff. So probably what normal people would think of isn’t the same reason why I would like an area or not like an area.

Nykolaiszyn As you’ve seen all kinds of different places, you continue to call Hugo home. What’s special about Hugo for you?

Cavallini Just that it’s home. It’s always wonderful to come home. It’s wonderful to know that you’re in a community that appreciates what you do, that welcomes you home. But I think that would be true with everyone, our church family, the schools, it’s nice to feel welcome. We’ve been very fortunate, as I was growing up and my children, that the school system has worked so well with us and let our children go back in and study during our off-season.

Nykolaiszyn As we kind of come to the end [of our interview], where do you see the future, not necessarily of Carson and Barnes, but the future of the circus heading?

Cavallini I believe there’s always a place for a circus. It’s family entertainment, it’s magical, it’s making memories with your family. Circuses have definitely changed, just where it is now, and I’m sure there will be more changes. But I think there’s always going to be a place for circus.

Nykolaiszyn Is there anything you’d like to add that we haven’t asked you about today?

Cavallini I don’t think so.

Nykolaiszyn Well, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.

Cavallini You’re welcome. You’re welcome.

------End of interview ------