Chicago indoor show, 70–71
of early circus, 27
Enormous Rail Shows (1890), 47
of “Jerusalem and the Crusades,” 107, 114–115
of “Joan of Arc” show, 179–180
of menagerie, 149
of “United Monster Shows,” 29
Reynolds, Richard J., III, 113, 171, 190–191, 202, 206, 209–210, 214
rhinoceroses, 149, 149–150
Rice Lake, Wisconsin, 17, 27
Richardson, James, 35
Richardson, Vic, 26
Richland Center, Wisconsin, 91
Ringling, Albert “Al,” 2, 5, 6–7, 26, 90, 111, 194, 221
as animal trainer, 36
Baraboo residence, 140, 140
death of, 193
hall show and, 13, 15–16
as head of performers, 72
marriage to Eliza “Lou” Morris, 17, 18
as performer, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 158
role in circus business, 23, 117, 184, 194
theatre in Baraboo, 174, 185, 203–205
Ringling, Alfred Theodore “Alf T.”, 3, 5, 23, 23, 26, 88, 209, 221
on attendance, 64
death of, 207
Greenfield Township farm, 80
hall shows and, 13, 15–16
harness-making business and, 9
on lots available for shows, 82
as musician, 9, 11
as press agent, 135
on prison show, 80, 82
role in circus business, 23, 72
on winter season preparations, 92
Ringling, Annie, 142, 169
Ringling, Aubrey, 210, 211
Ringling, August Albert “Gus,” 6, 12, 17, 24, 142, 221
advertising and, 24, 40, 45, 57, 72, 130
Ringling, August Frederich, 1–4, 2, 5, 6–7, 16–17, 42, 221
death of, 77
Ringling, Carl Edward “Charles,” 3, 23, 23, 23–24, 26, 78, 154, 182, 221
death of, 209–210
hall show and, 13, 15–16
harness-making business and, 9
on income taxes, 176
letter planning 1914 season, 187–188
as musician, 11, 24, 210
role in circus business, 23–24, 107, 108, 179, 193, 207
on shortages during WWI, 198
shows written by, 199
Ringling, Della, 95
Ringling, Edith, 209–210, 211
Ringling, Eliza “Lou” Morris, 17, 18, 81, 95, 111, 204
Ringling, Henry William George, 3, 12, 24, 27, 170, 221
Baraboo theatre and, 204
death of, 200
as partner in circus, 167–168
role in circus business, 24, 72, 78
Ringling, Ida Belle, 200
Ringling, Ida Lorina Wilhemina, 8–9, 42, 81, 95, 221
Ringling, John Nicholas, 3, 15, 26, 210, 221
control of circus by, 210–211
death of, 214
hall show, 15–16
as performer, 10, 26–27
on psychology of the circus, x
railroads constructed by, 24
role in circus business, 24, 24, 142, 177, 181, 207
Ringling, Martha “Mattie,” 142, 169, 170
Ringling, Richard, 95
Ringling, Salome Marie Julia, 1–2, 2, 95, 137, 221
Ringling, William Henry “Otto,” 3, 23, 23, 26, 167
correspondence with “Butch” Parson, 159
death of, 167–170
financial role of, 23, 33–34, 72, 138–139, 161, 164
as hall show agent, 15
hall show and, 12, 15–16
harness-making business and, 9
managerial responsibilities, 141–142
as musician, 9, 11
on politics and the economy, 150–151
role in circus business, 72, 88, 117, 120
Ringling Brothers Carnival of Fun, 22
“Ringling Day” in Baraboo, 57
Ringling Hotel, 55–56, 196
“Ringlingville,” 92, 215
buildings and properties sold, 215–216
construction and expansion at, 36, 60–61, 83–84, 97, 115, 159–160, 166, 174, 193
as portable city, 183
post office, 85
on the road, 85–86
shops and construction in, 55
term first used, 42
winter employees, 73
River Falls, 99
Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center, 216
Robinson, Fayette Lodawick “Yankee,” 15, 18, 18, 19, 20, 22, 229n22
Robinson, John G., 78
Rock Springs, Wyoming, 76
Rodems, A. M., 154
Roeders (performers), 188
Rooney, Elizabeth, 179
Rooney, Mike, 52, 69
Roosevelt, Theodore, 97
Rowan, George, 15, 16
Roy, Charles W., 72
“rubes,” 21
Rungeling, August Frederich. See Ringling, August Frederich
S
“sacred ox,” 121
safety laws, 180
St. Louis, Missouri, 71, 73, 78, 79
Sam MacFlinn’s Great Eastern Circus, 55
Samuel Nichols circus, xv–xvi
sandstorms, 99–100
Sandwina, Katie, 49
San Francisco, California, 96, 105
Sarasota, Florida
Charles Ringling’s residence in, 182
Ringling residences in, 208–209
as winter quarters, 210–211
Sauk City, Wisconsin, 12, 20, 35–36
Scarff, Sally Veit, 6
scheduling
demands of schedule, 20
of hall shows, 14
rail travel and, 44
Scofield, Edward and Agnes, 38
Sedalia, Missouri, 98
Sells Brothers Shows, 64
Sells-Floto Circus, 163, 164
Sensation Circus, 5
Sherman, Texas, 128
sideshows, 72
Smith, Charles, 100
Smith, Frank, 102
Smith, Thomas, 156
snakes, 17, 73, 93, 194
Souder, Pearl, 38, 72, 73, 102–103, 109, 111, 129
Spanish-American War, 77, 79
Spanish Flu, 199–200
Sparks, Frank, 26
Speedy, human high diver, 69–70
Spencer, Alexander “Delavan,” 171, 172
Springfield, Illinois, 107
stake-drivers, 124, 124–125
Stanwood, Barry, 15
Sterling, Illinois, 180
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 102
Stillwater, Minnesota, 9
Stoughton, Wisconsin, 29
strongmen, 135
success, measures of, 25, 58
suffrage movement, 175
Sullivan, John L., 156
T
Taft, William H., 151
Tama, Iowa, 47
tapirs, 55, 232n36
Tattersall’s building, Chicago, 67–71, 73, 84
taxes, x
exemptions considered, 185
relocation to Connecticut and, 202
state income tax, 173–176, 185
war tax, 199
Taylor, F., 15, 16
Taylor, Robert, 72
technology
as attraction, 56–57
inventions, 45
mechanical stake-driver, 124, 124–125
tents
blow downs, 48, 98–99, 122, 127
canvasmen, xix, xx–xxi, 72
collapse of, 20, 48, 74
dining tent, 95
dressing room and trapping room tents, 182
erection of, xix, xx–xxi
fires, 180
hand
bills advertising largest tent, 75
interior, xxii
lowering of, xxii
mechanical stake-driver, 124, 124–125
motion pictures in “black tent,” 76
sidewalls, 98
size of, 29, 31, 48
stake pounding, xx
use of, xv
Texas, 103, 104
Thayer, Stuart, 5, 54
theatre, see Al Ringling Theatre
Thomas, Richard, 205–206
Thuerer, G. T., 176, 204
ticket department, 72
Topeka, Kansas, 95–96
train wrecks, 59, 102, 128
transportation
circus as model of efficiency, 188
employees in transportation department, 72
pre–Civil War circuses, 5
railroads as, xviii, 40, 41–42, 59
Ringlingville as portable city, 183
see also wagons
Trinkouse, William, 13
Turnour, Jules, 85, 86, 86–87, 128
U
“United Monster Shows,” 29
handbill for, 29
V
Van Amburgh, 40
Viet, Charles L., Sr., 6
violence, 35, 48, 111
W
W. B. Reynolds Circus, 74
wages, for employees, 51, 54, 64, 128, 155, 187, 197
wagons, 120
bell wagon, 56, 56
“cottage” wagons, 83
parade wagons, 104, 106, 106
pipe organ wagon, 118, 119
teamsters, 73
train transport of, xviii
as transportation, 40
wagon shows, 21
Wahpeton, North Dakota, 99
walruses, 88–89, 235–236
Walters, C. E., 99
wardrobe department, 72
Washington, D. C., 91, 94
water buffalos (bovalapsus), 44, 46
Watertown, Wisconsin, 102
Waupaca, Wisconsin, 58, 174
weather, 98–100, 107
blow downs, 98–99, 122, 127
lighting strikes, 99
rains and mud, 21, 33, 57, 82–83, 103, 127–128
sandstorms, 99–100
Weatherby, E. S., 13
weddings, 102
Weldon, William F., 54, 72
westward expansion, 45
Whitewater, Wisconsin, 48, 174
Wilson, Woodrow, 196–197, 202
winter quarters, 92, 93
Bridgeport, Connecticut, xvi, 104, 181, 200–202
communities offering facilities as, 175
Delavan as, xv–xvi
map, 186
Sarasota, Florida, 210–211
see also Baraboo, Wisconsin
winter season activities, 92–93
Wisconsin as home to early circuses, xv–xvii
women
ballet dancers, 128, 199
employees of the circus, 43, 128
suffrage movement, 175
wages for, 128
Workmen’s Compensation Act, 185, 242n47
World’s Columbian Exposition, 61, 61
“World’s Greatest Shows,” 50
World War I, 190–191, 196–198
Y
Yankee Robinson and Ringling Bros. Great Double Shows, 18–22
Yankee Robinson’s Double Show, 15
Young, M. A., 13, 14, 15
Youngstown, Ohio, 111
Z
zebras, 93, 111, 170–171
Ziegfield Follies, 161, 163, 163
Zingaro, Thomas, 184
Jerry Apps is the author of more than thirty-five books on Wisconsin and U.S. history. He is especially known for his histories of rural and country life. He has won numerous awards for his writing from such organizations as the Wisconsin Library Association, the Wisconsin Council for Writers, the Robert F. Gard Foundation, the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. In 2010 Jerry received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. In 2012, he was elected as a fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. He splits his time between his home in Madison and his farm, Roshara, in Wild Rose, Wisconsin. His website is www.jerryapps.com.