The Greatest Show on Earth

When digitizing historical newspapers here at the Washington State Library, advertisements are an endless source of amusement. We find baroquely phrased and lovingly illustrated ads for cure-all potions, fancy frocks, watering holes, and the latest entertainments. I will share some of the standouts in future blog entries to give you a taste of some of 19th century Washingtonian's preoccupations. Today, I will begin with one of America's most beloved and derided traditions: the circus.

If you do a basic search for the word circus from our online pioneer newspaper page, you will find many articles announcing the arrival of new troupes with bombastic names: Bartholomew's Great Western Circus Company, McMahon's New United Shows, J.B. Shaw's Great Silver Plate Combination. As you scroll through the pages of the newspapers, you'll also find charming ads announcing the greatest! the newest! the most exciting attraction yet! While some of the reviews suggest that the entertainment was rather stale and repetitive, most embrace the arrival of any circus troupe as an escape from small town monotony. A writer in the Spokane Falls Review (click the link, and see Column 5 for the article "Circus Day") states in 1883, "There is one point in favor of shows coming to the Falls and that is that heretofore amusements of any kind have been so few that the people are willing to sacrifice themselves by patronizing even a poor performance in order to encourage traveling troupes to stop here." Maybe the acts didn't quite live up to the hype, but the ads still tantalize.

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Click the image above to see the advertisement in its original context.

For further exploration: Books The Circus Age: Culture and Society Under the American Big Top - Janet M. Davis The American Circus - John Culhane Web Resources Circus World International Circus Hall of Fame Ringling Museum of Art The Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs Washington State Library Resources Read more about WSL's newspaper project here. Explore the pioneer newspaper collection here.
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The Washington Office of the Secretary of State’s blog provides from-the-source information about important state news and public services.

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