In the 1890s. circus paarades such as this one in Montpelier, were regular summer events.
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August 5, 2026 Journal Opinion
In August 1927, the Sparks Circus came to Woodsville for a single-day performance. Arriving by circus train, it included 800 people, 500 horses, and “the largest collection of wild animals in the world.”
Among the outstanding features were the Liberty Horse Act,
three herds of elephants, including a herd of baby elephants, and a mammoth
historical pageant whose 700 participants included a group of Sioux natives.
What was it like to go to a tented circus such as this? One
described it as “a deliberate, joyful assault on the senses by the completely
overwhelming activity in all three rings simultaneously.”
Today’s circuses are no less exhilarating.
The performers, animals, and the humorous antics of the
clowns are a thrill to watch.
The noise of band music mixes with the sounds of the crowd,
the barkers, the ringmaster, and human and animal performers. One's senses are
assaulted by smells of popcorn and cotton candy mixed with the odors of
animals, sawdust, and grass, the canvas with its rigging, and a tightly packed
crowd in the summer heat.
This summer staple became part of the American way of life
in both urban areas and small towns in New Hampshire and Vermont.
While there were circus troupes in America after the 1780s,
there were few locally prior to 1860. In the 1820s, the Vermont Legislature
enacted restrictions on their performances in the state. Religious groups, such
as the Methodist churches, discouraged attendance because of their
“exploitation of God’s animals” and their questionable moral distractions.
In 1867, Vermont relented and authorized local leaders to
permit a circus to appear for up to two days. Circus groups then began to make
regular local appearances. The first one mentioned was the appearance of The
Great European Circus performance in Bradford village in 1867. It featured a
massive parade with camels, lions, and ornate wagons.
The Great United States Circus made a single-day stop at the
Piermont Bridge in 1867. The following year, Bradford was the host to Stone
& Murray’s Circus with its dancing dogs and comic mules. In 1869, this same
show, “the best in the world,” appeared on Haverhill Corner’s common.
A circus was literally a small town that moved from town to
town. Advance publicity of posters and newspaper advertisements teased
expectations. A “24-hour man” arrived the day before to scope out the field and
prepare it for the arrival of the troupe.
Circus enterprises were initially transported by horse-drawn
wagons. After 1860, railroad trains allowed performances to move from one
location to another more rapidly. Large operations used their own designated
trains, with special cars for transporting the various departments.
During World War I and World War II, circus trains were
often sidetracked in favor of war needs. In the post-war period, circuses began
to abandon rail in favor of large trucks.
When the circus arrived in town, often before dawn,
spectators gathered to view the unloading of wagons, animals, performers, and
paraphernalia.
Special teams of roustabouts worked to erect the gigantic
performance tents and smaller auxiliary tents for the sideshows and refreshment
sales. Workers needed facilities for housing, cooking, and performance
preparation.
Early circuses in Bradford used Aldrich’s meadow east of the
village, with later performances moved to the old Fairground near the present-day
Bradford Elementary School.
When the performances were over, the entire camp had to be
packed up and loaded for transportation to the next location.
The spectacle of the circus was not always positive for the
temporary stops. Patrons were warned against pickpockets, gamblers, conmen, and
other grifters who followed.
When OBrien’s Circus
came to Bradford in 1877, the newspaper mentioned that it was “followed by the
usual number of accidents, hawkers, swindlers and clothes-line robbers, to say
nothing about liquor selling and liquor drinking.” Not all appearances were so negative.
Over the entire history of American circuses, safety was a
major issue. Newspapers carried news of train accidents, collapsing tents, as
well as injuries to performers and animals.
Fire was always a major danger, especially when it happened
in overcrowded, highly flammable tents. The most tragic occurred on July 6,
1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, when the big top of the Ringling Bro & Barnum
& Bailey Circus caught fire, killing at least 167 and injuring over 700.
That fire led to new restrictions on the industry.
Despite the
occasional negative headlines, most reviews were overwhelmingly positive. When
Maginley & Co’s Circus and Menagerie exhibited in Orford in 1871, the
following appeared in the White Mountain Review: “A large number of people
attended both in the afternoon and evening. Everything more than equaled our
anticipation. The hitherto virtuous people of Orford have no reason to complain
of any disturbance occasioned by any of this large company.”
“It would be almost impossible for so large a number of men
to have been more orderly and quiet than they were all day Sunday. If we never
have the ‘Circus Epidemic’ any harder than this time, we might perhaps stand to
have it once a year.”
Newspapers reported on other circus companies that came to
the area after 1870.
In September 1875, Adam Forepaugh’s Wild West Combination performed at both
Bradford and Wells River for one-day stands. Forepaugh had conceived of the
idea of exhibiting Buffalo Bill Wild West under tent covers.
The local publicity for the show mentioned that it included
1,000 men and horses, 1,500 wild beasts, and 10,000 museum wonders.
Exaggeration was common for such publicity.
A grand procession
with a full military band, 8 monster lions, 5 trained elephants, and brightly
painted circus wagons down Main Street was just a taste of what could be
expected at the performances. Tents were
erected on the circus grounds for the thousands of expected viewers, with
admission at 50 cents for adults and half that for children.
In 1877, The Rutland Daily Globe described the show as “one
of the most successful troupes traveling this season.” It referred to William
“Buffalo Bill” Cody's appearance as the first since his return from the “Late
Indian War.”
Cody worked with
Forepaugh until 1883 when he launched his own famous Wild West Show. The show
toured the United States until its demise in 1915. During that time, Cody took
his show to Europe on two occasions, where it was widely popular.
Between those foreign appearances, the show appeared in New
Hampshire and Vermont. In 1888 and 1895, the show was in White River Jct,
Montpelier, and St. Johnsbury.
Between 1899 and 1911, the show visited New Hampshire cities
at least 5 times. A 47-car train was required to bring his show to Portsmouth
in 1911.
The 3-4-hour extravaganza allowed spectators to experience
the history of the American frontier. It included vignettes on native
Americans, frontier scouts, pioneers, cow-punchers, and the express riders.
These shows were publicized with posters and newspaper
advertisements. Local railroad companies offered special excursion rates.
One of the great giants of the circus world was P.T. Barnum.
Barnum made his first visit to Bradford and Wells River in June 1874. The
advertisement promised 1,000 men and horses, giraffes, and lions along with
15,000 “superb living wild animals.” An amazing talking machine and a group of
Fiji cannibals were part of the show.
The United Opinion suggested that patrons “prepare
themselves for an epidemic attack of emotional insanity.”
Barnum was a master in humbugging the unsuspecting. His
sideshow included a number of human oddities such as the bearded lady or the
giant man. These exaggerated oddities were often outright fakes, but along with
the legitimate performers, drew the crowds. It was said, “no-self-respecting
circus dares to be without them.”
James Bailey was another circus impresario. His first
success was with the Cooper and Bailey Circus. In 1880, he merged his business
with that of rival Barnum.
Barnum loved the
spotlight and was a world-class promoter.
Bailey was a genius at organizing, especially in transporting the large
enterprise from one location to another.
Following Barnum’s death in 1891, Bailey not only managed
the circus but also helped in the management of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
The show visited Vermont in 1896 with shows in Brattleboro and Rutland.
The circus made appearances in New Hampshire with shows in
Manchester in 1885, Portsmouth and Nashua in 1889, and again in 1903. At that
time, the train carrying the circus had 88 cars and 3 engines. When Bailey died
in 1906, the circus was sold to the Ringling Brothers.
The Ringling circus visited Vermont in August 1894 with
shows in White River Junction, Barre, and St. Johnsbury. Many locals took
advantage of the special railroad excursion rates to view “the biggest of the
big shows.”
The tented show, featuring a hippopotamus, 350 high-bred
horses, and “the strongest man in the world,” was preceded by a full-mile
parade with 10 different kinds of music.
In 1919, Ringling’s operation was merged with what remained of
Barnum and Bailey to become Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Advertised as the “Greatest Show on Earth,” it dominated the circus industry
for decades.
The local area hosted many other traveling tented circuses.
The Kay Brothers Circus was a medium-sized show that traveled by train and
truck to the area between 1932 and 1938.
It was famous for its trained wild animals, including a herd
of dancing elephants, trained seals, clowns, and acrobats. Its bright, colorful
posters featured the elephants and built enthusiasm for the show.
When the Kay show came to Bradford in 1935, it was the first
time there was a circus in town for two decades. It returned again in 1936 and
1937. It was billed as Vermont’s favorite circus and received positive reviews in
The United Opinion.
The paper described the acts as exceptionally good. It noted
that the circus was “not accompanied by any riff-raff as is so often the case
with a circus.”
Several circuses found Woodsville to be a lucrative location
for repeat performances. Circuses arrived by train until the l940s. Circuses
paraded through the village to locations at the high school ball field, the
Smith lot, or the Community field.
The Sparks Circus
came to Woodsville in 1921 and 1923. Its 1921 appearance featured “a
comprehensive assembly of the world’s best performers and the finest trained
animals.” It promised a clean family performance with no gambling or immoral
shows.
In 1935 and 1937, it
came back as the Downie Brothers Circus.
The Groton Times described the 1935 appearance with its
features of dancing horses, wire-walking elephants, and high-wire artists. Bill
Cody, popular cowboy performer, was highlighted.
The mile-long street parade “radiated all the color and
splendor that has made this part of the circus day one of the outstanding
features.”
When the circus returned in 1937, the Groton Times welcomed
it by suggesting “the town must have its circus each season, for without it,
one feels as if life has lost the joy and kick that goes with each circus day.”
King Brothers was another circus that made repeated appearances
in Woodsville. The circus was the latest in a series of circuses formed by
Floyd and Howard King as early as 1919. They operated under names such as the
Sanger Circus, Walter L. Main, and Cole Brothers.
The Walter L. Main
operation came to Woodsville in 1922 and 1924. It came back three times between
1945 and 1948. The 1948 show was held in a tent that seated 5,000 spectators
and promised 150 artists and a giant menagerie.
When it returned in the 1950s, it still held an immense street
parade. In 1965, the circus was held at
the North Haverhill Fairgrounds.
Over the following years, fewer circuses came to the local
area. Decline in ticket sales, concerns over the treatment of circus animals,
and competition from other forms of entertainment adversely affected the
traveling circus.
Those seeking the
excitement of a visit to the circus attended those held at the Plymouth Fair,
Essex Junction Fairground, Eastern States Exposition, Boston, and New York.
One contemporary exception to these changes is Circus
Smirkus. Established as an international youth circus in 1987, this
Greensboro-based circus is known for its tours of New England.
When searching for circus events locally after 1965, the
most frequent examples are small home-grown events sponsored by local
organizations and featuring local talent.
With community support, these local events were
entertaining, but they lacked all the excitement of a parade with calliope and
elephants leading crowds to a three-ring big top. Those were circuses that came
and went in a single day, leaving many good memories behind.
