The Circus Age: Culture & Society Under the American Big TopA century ago, daily life ground to a halt when the circus rolled into town. Across America, banks closed, schools canceled classes, farmers left their fields, and factories shut down so that everyone could go to the show. In this entertaining and provocative book, Janet Davis links the flowering of the early-twentieth-century American railroad circus to such broader historical developments as the rise of big business, the breakdown of separate spheres for men and women, and the genesis of the United States' overseas empire. In the process, she casts the circus as a powerful force in consolidating the nation's identity as a modern industrial society and world power. Davis explores the multiple "shows" that took place under the big top, from scripted performances to exhibitions of laborers assembling and tearing down tents to impromptu spectacles of audiences brawling, acrobats falling, and animals rampaging. Turning Victorian notions of gender, race, and nationhood topsy-turvy, the circus brought its vision of a rapidly changing world to spectators--rural as well as urban--across the nation. Even today, Davis contends, the influence of the circus continues to resonate in popular representations of gender, race, and the wider world. |
Contents
Ringling Bros circus parade Oneonta N Y July 22 1905 | 4 |
Hillside view of show grounds at Red Wing Minn Ringling Bros 1915 | 5 |
Barnum Bailey bigtop interior from advertisement in route book for tent maker 1904 | 6 |
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Adam advertising African agents American amusement animals audiences Bailey's Barnum & Bailey BBPCB became big top Bill Bill's Wild West body boys Brothers Buffalo Bill's Wild cars century circus City Civil clown Cody Collection color Congress contracts courtesy Culture dress early elephant exhibition female Figure Folder Freak gender girls Greatest Show helped History horse human Indian industrial James JMRMA John labor Lady live male managers marketed Museum Native natural newspaper noted Official performers physical played popular position presence Press production Program proprietors race racial railroad railroad circus Riders ring Ringling Bros RLPLRC Route Book Season sexual Show on Earth showmen sideshow social society South spectacle stage tent tion town train traveling turn United University Press wagon Wild West woman women workers World York