Highlights Archives
The Circus Is In Town — 10,000 Historical Images Now Available
Continuing the ongoing project to digitize images from its collection of more than 2 million items, the Wisconsin Historical Society has now made a selection of circus photographs spanning almost 75 years available in our Historical Images. The Web site's sample collection depicts a wide range of circus activity, illustrating the excitement as well as the hard work that went into putting on the show. Included are performers, clowns, animals, wagons, and many behind-the-scenes activities.
Circus history can be traced back to ancient Rome more than 2,000 years ago. Thomas Pool introduced the clown to his equestrian entertainment exhibit in Philadelphia in 1785 to start the circus in the U.S. By the 1830s the traveling circus was developing into a major source of entertainment, especially for people in rural areas. The expansion of the railroads across the United States led to the Golden Age of the Circus in the 1880s, and Wisconsin became a major player in the circus world. Not only were the world-famous Ringling Brothers getting their start in Baraboo in 1875, they helped their cousins, the Gollmar Brothers, start their own circus in Baraboo in 1891. The George W. Hall and families circuses made Evansville, Wisconsin, their home beginning in the 1870s, and there are many colorful stories about their impact on daily life in Evansville.
In 1905 there were 100 traveling circus shows in the U.S. and their popularity continued to grow. In the 1950s television drastically cut into the audience base. Today there are less than two dozen. While its form has changed over the years, the circus cannot yet be called "a thing of the past."
The Historical Society has mounted 10,000 images on its Web site. Images may be found by searching with a basic or advanced search. In this case, images may be viewed by searching "circus" in the keyword search at www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi. Part of the Society's collection of more than 2 million images, they may also be viewed by visiting the Archives Research Room at the Society headquarters, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin. An even larger collection of circus photographs and memorabilia can be enjoyed at the Wisconsin Historical Society's Circus World Museum historic site in Baraboo.
:: Posted July 21, 2004
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