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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 Oklahoma Oral History Research Program Edmon Low Library ● Oklahoma State University © 2011 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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.

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