181855 9/16/03 10:29 AM Page 1 historyfj ^^m/lfll^l^ulmiS5Ty A Gigantic Little Circus An Equal Voice in Milwaukee The Menomonie Photographs of Albert Hansen i ' - 181855 9/16/03 10:29AM Page 2 WHS Image ID 7953 uring his youth and as a young man, Albert Hansen pho­ tographed small-town life in Menomonie and at Stout Institute. DThe Red Cedar River, ca. 1910, provided the backdrop for this young woman, whose face graces the front cover. Hansen's images of early twentieth-century Menomonie reveal the cultural transformations many small communities throughout the nation experienced as techno­ logical and societal changes affected life on the former frontier. More of Hansen's photos and a brief essay about him appear in this issue. m State Historian Michael E. Stevens Editor J. Kent Calder Managing Editor Diane T. Drexler Associate Editor Margaret T. Dwyer Production Manager Deborati T. Johnson Reviews Editor Masarah Van Eycl< Research and Editorial Assistants Joel Heiman, John Nondorf, Dave Wasl<owsl<i, John Zimm Designer The AVS Group The Wintermutes' THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY, Gigantic Little Circus published quarterly, is one of the many benefits of membership in the Wisconsin Historical Society. Indi­ By Milton J. Bates vidual memberships are $37.50 per year; senior citi­ zen individual, $27.50; family, $47.50; senior citizen family, $37.50; institutional, $55; supporting, $100; sustaining, $250; patron, $500; life (per person), $1,000, Speaking with an 18 To receive the Wisconsin Magazine of History, Equal Voice join the Society! To join or to give a gift membership, send a check to Membership, Wisconsin Historical The Reform Efforts of Milwaukee's Society, 816 State Street, Madison, Wl 53706-1482, or call the Membership Office at 888-748-7479. You Mary Blanchard Lynde can also join via e-mail, [email protected], or at the Society's Web site, www.wisconsinhisto- By Ellen D. Langill ry.org (click on "Become a Member"). You can support other Wisconsin Historical Soci­ ety programs by making a donation to the Wisconsin Historical Foundation (608-264-6585). A Menomonie Perspective JO The WMH has been published quarterly since 1917 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Phone The Photographs of Albert Hansen 608-264-6400). Copyright © 2003 by the State His­ torical Society of Wisconsin. Permission to quote or By Anne Hansen othenA/ise reproduce portions of this copyrighted work may be sought in writing from the publisher at the address above. Communication, inquiries, and manuscript submissions may also be addressed to [email protected]. Information about the maga­ An All-American in 38 zine, including contributor's guidelines, sample arti­ cles, and an index of volume 84 can be also be found All Respects at the Society's Web site by following the "Publica­ tions" link from the home page. The Letters of Dave Schreiner Photographs identified with PH, WHi, or WHS are By Ellen D. Goldlust-Gingrich from the Society's collections; address inquiries about such photos to the Visual Materials Archivist, and Kurt Gingrich 816 State Street, Madison, Wl 53706-1482. Many WHS photos are available through the Wisconsin Historical Images digital service available on the Web site. (From the home page, click "Archives.") The Wisconsin Historical Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by con­ tributors. ISSN 0043-6543. Periodicals postage paid at Madison, Wl 53706-1482. Back issues, if avail­ Editors' Choice 50 able, are $10 plus postage (888-748-7479). Micro­ filmed copies are available through University Letters from Our Readers 55 Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. Back Matters 56 On the front cover: A serene face provides a compelling study for photographer Albert Hansen, ca. 1910. WHS Image ID 7953 VOLUME 87, NUMBER 1 / AUTUMN 2003 181855 9/16/03 10:30AM Page 2 The hand-carved marionette used in the Wintermute Brothers' Circus now sits in the Bark River Woods Historical Society in Hebron, Jefferson County. Joel Heiman 181855 'ilX&lQ^ 10:31AM Page 3 <> WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY THE WINTERMUTES' By Milton J. Bates NTE^KiUTE'S DOUBLE SHOW <d ^y Circus World Museum Wintermute Circus lithograph poster, ca. 1908. he Hebron Town Hall, in Jefferson County, has red and white striped clown suit occupies the case, along with served many hinctions since it was built in 1902. an animal trainer's whip, a fez with tassel, two juggler's Indi­ TToday it is on the National Register of Historic Places. an clubs shaped like bowling pins, an aerialist's harness, sev­ It is also the home of the Bark River Woods Historical Soci­ eral big top tent stakes, a circus handbill, and an assortment ety, which maintains a small museum on the second floor. of photos and newspaper clippings. The people who used Mounting the stairs, the visitor enters a large open room with these items are buried, most of them, on a hilltop cemetery a a stage at the opposite end. Stamped tin covers the ceiling and half-mile away. This display case, smaller than a coffin, is the walls, giving the room the appearance of an enormous old- last resting place of a circus that once required fifteen wagons fashioned breadbox. Footsteps echo as one strolls past the to haul its wonders from one midwestern community to exhibits of farm tools, household implements, schoolroom another. furnishings, and American Indian artifacts. Near the stage is The marionette is at rest now, and the stripes on its clown a glass-topped wooden case whose contents seem out of place suit have faded. A century ago, when they were still a vivid in a collection devoted largely to the workaday struggle red, the little wooden figure held the attention of several for subsistence. A hand-carved marionette dressed in a hundred men, women, and children seated on bleachers AUTUMN 2003 # •£> 181855 9/16/03 10:32AM Page 4 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY = ITHEGBEIITMELBOURNIS^ double Arena. MAMHOIH MlSftM M>,^g^ ^^"^^^ Wild Bca-sts and ^^g^fi^n Circus ... rerforming Animals BH^IH A\endgerie ^nH^^^ngk Museum, liippodrome Wallace ^^^^^^^P^^ Hlld Animdl Show Wmf^^W ^'•fPHUNT ACT "^sP^k^^^^^^V ^lu'"3'°.. -r-^l^^ ^K^/l^} ^t^^^^SP^^K^f ^ ^' Joseph I » III ur Big Uniled Sliows m ''HMIML BEMS GKEAr MELBOUHN B g Uniled Shows XRrmEINDOUS JERICHO 2 Performances Dail\ Holiday Parade A courier for the Great Circus World Museum Melhourn show included the elephant Jericho, also called Jargo (ca 1904). i AUTUMN 2003 181855 9/16/03 10:32 AM Page 5 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Thomas, Harry, and Halsey Wintermute. Setting up the Wintermute Brothers main tent in South Shore, South Dakota, 4 July 1906. Circus World Museum Circus World Museum. WINTER - N45-14-5 Interior of Wintermute Brothers main tent, measuring 80 by 140 feet (ca 1905). Circus World Museum Bills posted for Great Melhourn show in Bush City, Minnesota, on 9 June 1904. CF9135 AUTUMN 2003 181855 'il\&l02 10:32 AM Page 6 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY beneath the billowing roof of a great tent. A steady undercur­ tions on the word "Show," such as "Colossal Shows," "Five rent of sound rose from excited children and shushing par­ Big United Shows," "Circus," "Museum and ents, animals in harness and candy vendors, luffmg tent Menagerie," "Gigantic Shows," "New Gigantic walls and straining guy ropes. A heady bouquet of Shows," and "Wagon Shows." Like other business­ canvas, sawdust, animal dung, popcorn, and sweat es, circuses used the word "Brothers" to project suffused the air. Despite these distractions, all eyes an image of solid management and deep pock­ were focused on the center ring, where the minia­ ets. In 1901, after the Wintermutes were well ture clown gamboled on a miniature stage. Laughing established, they began to call their circus the at his physical antics and outrageous repartee, the Great Melbourne United Shows, perhaps count­ audience almost forgot the slim, dark-haired ing on the association with an Australian young man with a mustache who loomed over port to lend their enterprise a touch of the stage, manipulating the marionette's exoticism. This was the name embla­ strings. zoned on their posters through 1909, John Harry Wintermute was the again with variations and some­ man's name. Known as Harry to his times without the final e in "Mel­ family and friends, he was the bourne." driving force behind this circus Apart from the posters, a and a man of many talents. calculated extravagance, the Besides the marionette show, his brothers kept their expenses repertoire included a ventriloquist low by making the most of fam­ act, an "Irish turn" (probably a ily talent. Thomas, the acro­ humorous ethnic impersonation), a bat, trained his son, Thomas magic show in which he appeared as Clarence, as a wire-walker and "Ching Ling Foo, the famous Chinese hurdler. Halsey's wife, Maggie, was conjurer," a balancing act with spinning an aerialist. They filled out the pro­ plates, and a "philosophical fan trick" gram with acts drawn from the pool of wherein he transformed a single sheet of regional, largely anonymous talent. Reflect­ paper into more than fifty objects. He was the ing on the Wintermute rosters in Badger ringmaster and played an alto horn in the State Showmen, their authoritative survey of band. His more prosaic roles included ticket- Wisconsin circuses, Fred Dahlinger Jr. and seller, boss canvas-man, and master of trans­ Stuart Thayer observe that "name after name portation. ^ appears that just as quickly disappears. Even a To another performer it seemed as though seasoned researcher finds none that have any Harry was "pretty nearly the whole show him­ future in the business.