May 19 – Birthday of the Ringling Brothers Circus

While the Ringling circus was still growing, the last two of their brothers joined with the show. By the 1900s, the Ringling Brothers began to buy other, smaller circuses, and when both P.T. Barnum and James Bailey died, Ringling even bought Barnum and Bailey!

By the 1910s, the brothers’ circus had more than 1,000 employees, 335 horses, 26 elephants, 16 camels, and many other assorted animals—all of which traveled on 92 railcars!

What makes a circus a circus?

When the Ringling Brothers first started their circus, it was more of a singing-dancing show—what we would call a vaudeville act—than what we think of when we say circus. They soon acquired animals and taught them tricks, however, and later hired circus-y performers like acrobats and clowns. It is those three things—animal trick acts, clowns, and acrobats—that defined circus for a long time.

The word circus is Latin for “circle” or “ring”—and this refers to the circular or oval area in which the Ancient Roman entertainments were held, surrounded by rows of seats for spectators. However, the Roman entertainments tended to be bloody and the audiences bloodthirsty. Gladiators would often fight wild animals or each other to the death! Of course, modern sensibilities mean we might want to watch “death-defying feats” – but we do NOT want to watch actual death.

In the past few decades circuses have had a huge problem.