1768-1770 European Origins

• Philip Astley retires from the British Army and opens a riding school. Astley had learned track riding from a traveling equestrian. He would also marry the daughter of a trick rider, and she was also an accomplished equestrian.

• Astley begins to stage equestrian performances in an enclosed arena, near Waterloo Station, London.

• Astley discovers that the combination of both centrifugal and centripetal forces could keep a standing rider on a galloping horse. This results in the standard 42-foot ring size.

• In an attempt to expand his presentations Astley introduced non-equestrian performances, a classic clown act, and even the first side show.

1770’s

• Philip Astley takes his show to France (Paris). Although not successful, this will ultimately result in the creation of the first Parisian circus. The popular French circus Franconi’s Cirque Olympique is the descendent.

1780’s American Developments

• Astley trains others and his students become his competition. These include Charles Hughes, who in turn trains Bill Ricketts. Charles Hughes Takes his circus to Russia resulting in the birth of the Russian circus.

 

• It is suggested that Thomas Pool, at this time, presented the first circus acts in America, which included clowning, equestrian acts, and the first animal exhibitions.

1780’s (Mid-late)

• Beginnings of the circus in America with exhibitions of equestrian and clown acts.

1792

• John Bill Ricketts, an equestrian, brings Astley’s format to the United States; Ricketts built a structure and presents the first circus performance in Philadelphia, including riding acts, rope walkers, tumblers, pantomime presentations, and dramatic readings.

 

• Ricketts would build other amphitheaters for his shows, keeping a troupe together and moving to various cities, e.g., New York, Boston, Hartford, Baltimore, Charleston. Ricketts proves that it is possible for a traveling circus to be successful if it moves to large population centers.

 

1825-1830

• Early circus performances were often held in more or less permanent buildings, or in the open air with a fence or canvas siding.

 

• Introduction of the circus tent which can hold the 42-foot ring and the spectators/audience. The circus now became a traveling show, moving from town to town, setting up, performing for a day or two, and then moving on to the next town.

1830’s and on

• The era of the traveling “mud shows” is in full swing combining the traditional circus performances with the exhibition of wild or exotic animals.

1849

• Up until this time all circus advertising had been done in black and white. Two shows, R. Sands & Company’s Hippoferean Arena and Carne & Co.’s Great Oriental Circus began to use color, thereby transforming circus advertising.

1871-1917

• The so-called “Golden Age of the Circus,” witnessed the creation of many small show, as well as the mergers and acquisitions of these shows, and the formation of enormous tent shows which traveled by railroad.

 

1871

• Barnum joined with W.C. Coup and Dan Costello to form Barnum’s Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, Hippodrome, and Circus. This huge wagon show was moved by 600 horses and showed under three acres of canvas.

1872

• Coup put the entire Barnum show on sixty plus railroad cars and used the railroads to move from one location to the next, but, this was not the first show to take to the rails. In actuality, Spalding & Rogers had had their show moving on rail in the mid-1850’s. Coup, however, was probably the first to really work out the “bugs.”

1873

• With growing expenses and growing audiences, who needed unobstructed views of the show, W.C. Coup introduced a second ring for the Barnum show. This is the first two-ring circus.

 

1880

• Barnum and Coup joined with James T. Bailey and James L. Hutchinson to form P.T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth, Howe’s Great London Circus, and Sanger’s Royal British Menagerie.

1881

• The Barnum show adds a third ring to become the first three-ring circus, creating a need for additional acts/performers, and a ranking system develops which gives top billing to center ring acts and secondary status to the second and third ring acts.

1884

• The Ringling Bros. of Baraboo, Wisconsin form their own circus and take it on tour as a wagon show.

1887

• The Barnum show was reorganized to form the Barnum & Bailey Circus

1890

• By this date virtually all circuses had adopted the three-ring format, becoming so large that the old pattern of having clowns talking and interacting (jokes, witticisms, oratory) with their audiences was abandoned for pantomime. In general, spectacle was gained at the expense of intimacy between performer and audience.

• Ringling Bros. changes from wagons to railroad transportation.

1897-1903

• Following Barnum’s death, Bailey took the Barnum & Bailey Circus to Europe. During the show’s tour in England the term “human prodigies” was introduced for the human exhibitions show.

1901-1902

• Continued growth and success for the Barnum and Bailey Circus had led to the show’s growth, using three-rings and two platforms when they showed in Paris during the winter.

1903

• Following its successful European tour, the Barnum and Bailey Circus returned to the United States to find that the Ringling Bros. of Baraboo had now become large enough to be a serious competitor.

1907

• Ringling Bros. bought the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The two shows, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, were operated separately, from Baraboo, Wisconsin and Bridgeport, Connecticut respectively.

1918

• The two shows. RB7BB, were merged to form The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows working out of Bridgeport.

1924

• The Ringlings moved their winter quarters to Sarasota, Florida.

1920’s & 1930’s

• Railroad circuses moving on 20 to 30 car trains. By the 1930’s RBBB moves on 4 trains (sections) with a total of approximately 100 cars.

• At the same time, the development of motorized transport led some shows to abandon traveling by rail.

• The circus becomes a way to survive during the Great Depression.

1956

• RBBB give up showing under canvas and move indoors to play in arenas.

1960

• RBBB Circus moved its winter quarters to Venice, Florida.

1969

• RBBB organizes the Red and Blue units to play about 80 cities. RBBB had played about 130 cities when they went out under canvas.

• The Red unit has a new show each year, while the Blue unit repeats the Red’s show on a different route during the following year.

• .RBBB uses two trains of roughly 40 cars each to move from one city to the next.

1980’s

• Cirque du Soleil introduces America to a “new version” of the circus.

1990’s and on...

• See the return of the one-ring show with circuses such Circus Chimera and Kelly-Miller.