Circus of family fun
On the occasion of the visit of a travelling circus to a small provincial town, the juveniles of the surrounding country were agog with excitement at the large posters and gorgeous procession.
Onmay 20, 1909, the Manawatu¯ Standard included this joke in its pages: ‘‘On the occasion of the visit of a travelling circus to a small provincial town, the juveniles of the surrounding countrywere agog with excitement at the large posters and gorgeous procession.’’
The young son of a notoriously tight-fisted old farmer eagerly rushed in to his father and asked him for sixpence to see the circus.
‘‘What!’’ exclaimed the old skinflint. ‘‘Sixpence to see the circus, and here only last week I let you go up to Farmer Jones’ field to see the eclipse of the moon!
‘‘Young man, do you want your life to be just one round of perpetual gaiety?’’
Ironically, 112 years and modern innovations later, the circus remains a countless round of gaiety, under the billowing Big Top.
There’s a difference, though. Some traditions have disappeared.
Happily, it’s the same Big Top and the same satisfying entertainment.
Let’s take a look back at some local circus history.
According to past newspaper reviews, Palmerston North was particularlywelcoming to circuses. They were advertisedwell ahead of time and charges were affordable.
Before opening day, the circus cavalcade would parade through the main street of town, giving crowds a glimpse of its performing artists, horses, elephants, show dogs and caged lions.
The clowns would run along the lineups of watchers, joking with their soon-to-be audiences.
As they arrived at their designated ground, children would crowd around, watching roustabouts assembling the enormous striped tent – the Big Top.
Back in England, long ago, horse trainer Philip Astley started the tradition of horse shows in a circular arena – a ‘‘circus.’’
In 1825, entrepreneur Joshuah Purdy Brown figured out that circus personnel could take their talents far further field than in large permanent buildings.
So he invented a travelling theatre – a tall tent big enough to accommodate every act in the show, colourfully striped to stand out from a distance. The interior contained (as it does now) two traditional kinds of seating – tiered bleachers, and for a higher ticket price, an array of raised seating.
As a final flourish, it was named the Big Top.
In Australasia, brothers Thomas and George Wirth and their family circus, the largest to tour New Zealand, began its first travels around the country in 1890.
The show played a two-day season at each town: Friday and Saturday nights, and amatinee on the Saturday afternoon. Then on to the next venue.
One of the scariest acts (for the audience) was the trapeze routine, high above them. Leybourne and Lyle’s 19th Century song The Daring Youngman on the Flying Trapeze, inspired by the circus, would stay popular for almost 100 years.
On February 16, 1911, the Manawatu¯ Standard reporter praised ‘‘thehealeys in their marvellous barrel-jumping act; the Franz troupe of society acrobats; Millie Sagmar withher trained dogs and ponies; marvellous equilibrists and jugglers, Misses Daisy and May Harley, aerialists; thewilley Cooke Bros’ bounding jockeys and mashers on horseback; the Lentons, acrobatic comedy actors; and dozens of clowns ... ’’
He also added: ‘‘The huge menagerie includes a herd of seven performing elephants; an arena full of lions, tigers, bears, wolves, leopards, jaguars, kangaroos, dogs and ponies all performing together – truly a strange gathering. And for the first time in our town a real, live hippopotamus, which cost the Wirth Brothers £1250. The large zoo will be open in the afternoon from 4 to 5pm.
‘‘Anew departure, and one that will be greatly appreciated, is an elevated chair platform, which is now carriedwith the show and on which chairsmay be reserved at Park’s. (William Park, a former mayor of Palmerston North, was also a newsagent and the proprietor of a bookshop and novelty store on The Square.)
In the 1920s the St Leoncircus, a much-respected company, which had been touring Australasia for 100 years, came to Palmerston North. It featured no wild animals, butwas famous for its ‘‘equine performers, from the best and cleverest horses known’’.
Managingwild animals had its downside, however.
The Manawatu¯ Standard of November 4, 1931, reported that in Australia, ‘‘a huge African lion bounded through the door of its cage, which had been left open, and entered the ring of a travelling circus at Springbank, Victoria. The lion prowled through the township and ended up in a paddock near the circus. It was recaptured by circus attendants next morning.’’
In later years, several American circus-themed movies were shown here, including The Greatest Show On Earth, filmed in 1952. More recently there’s been the P.T. Barnum biopic, The Greatest Showman.
In 1963 Wirths Circus disbanded. Many others would eventually close, too.
Fast-forward to this week. The small, family-friendly, New Zealand-owned Circus Aotearoa, pitched on the railway land, has been getting lots of attention and audiences.
Overseen by the Gordon circus family, it’s a youthful company of skilled performers in the old tradition: aerial ballet, juggling, sleight-of-hand, hoop skills, acrobatics and clowning.
And no animals at all.
The circus website explains: ‘‘We understand that a touring circus of old was one of the highlights of rural life, filling more roles than it does today for country populations, and providing for many the only chance of seeing an exotic animal.
‘‘But those days have passed, and as society has moved forward, circus has to and should do the same.’’
Circus Aotearoa has three last performances in Palmerston North: 2pm and 7pm today and 2pm tomorrow.