One who goes to a town before the circus comes, in order to make arrangements.
aerialist
A performer who works high up in the bigtop tent.
Auguste
A clown with a sad, bumbling persona. ‘Auguste’ is French for idiot. The crowd in a Paris cirque shouted "Auguste!" at an equestrian who decided to change to clowning after he showed up drunk one night and accidently put on a funny show.
automata or autotrons
Mechanical people and animals. See the movie Hugo.
bally, bally act, or ballyhoo
A free, enticing preview in front of the sideshow tent.
barker
A man who stands outside, especially at the sideshow, and encourages people to “come on in...” for a small fee, of course.
benders
Contortionists, also called posturers, India-rubber men, incomprehensibles, or nondescripts.
Big Bertha
What folk in other circuses called Ringling.
big top
The main tent, containing the rings and hippodrome.
A "steam piano," often pulled in parades by horses with plumes. It can be heard a mile away.
cameleopard
The mysterious, thought to be mythical, beast that we now know as a giraffe.
candy butcher
Concessions hawker.
clown alley
The clowns get their own dressing tent because their make-up and costume changes are so extensive. It's the closest tent to the big top as clowns go in and out constantly.
daredevil
One source of antipathy from some clergy was that circus performers with dangerous acts were daring the devil.
disaster march
The Sousa march Stars and Stripes Forever was played when a fire, stampede, or other catastrophe began. All circus hands rushed to the scene.
entreé
Extended clown act.
equestrian
Horse rider: at the circus equestrians do tricks. Female riders are equestriennes.
first of May
An inexperienced newcomer. The circus season traditionally started in the beginning of May.
flier and catcher
Two of the three performers on the flying trapeze. The third, who sends out the trapeze timed so that the flier can return, doesn't seem to have a title.
Just what it sounds like, an act performed in the air by a woman or man who is suspended by a gizmo tied up in his or her hair. The thought makes my scalp itch.
hatching
A “matching” couple from acts within a circus company gets married and has a child.
hippodrome
The track around the rings, where the spec takes place. Clowns and dancing girls often work in the hippodrome, and sometimes there are races.
hold your horses
A phrase born in the circus.
humbug
Flimflam. Philosophical fol-de-rol. Putting a high polish on the facts.
An aerial act in which a woman, often wearing wings, puts a bit in her mouth and is raised high where she swings or spins depending on the bit. The act is also called a Human Butterfly.
jargo
Clown act in animal costume.
Jumbo
The name given to one very large elephant. Jumbo is the Swahili word for chief. Jumbo the elephant was so famous that his name became an adjective.
kinker or kinko
What the workers called the performers. But not to their faces.
leotard
The shocking costume first seen on Jules Léotard, the man on the flying trapeze.
liberty act
A horse act, classically eight white, or black and white, Arabians. The horses in a liberty act are free, untethered, doing a set of steps as directed by voice and hand gestures. Herd instincts help this happen.
A liberty act can be dangerous if the horses become panicked.
long mount
Elephants lined up, each with her forelegs on the elephant in front of her. (Elephants were generally referred to as bulls but most were female as males were harder to handle.)
make the nut
In early circuses, local officials removed a critical nut from the wheel of a key wagon before the show,
as collateral against a specific amount owed to officials. Once that amount is brought in,
the nut can be bought back.
making canvas
Lacing together the pieces of canvas that form the large tents. It had to be done at each new location.
menagerie
A collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition
midway
The area between the entrance and the big top, containing shows, concessions, and sometimes rides.
outside
Everything but the circus.
pillar, or three man column
An act where men stand on each other's shoulders. There are many variations.
pinheads
Sideshow artists with small heads, in some cases with microcephalia. Not all pinheads were mentally disabled.
Workers who install and change the rigs (cages, trapezes, high wires et al.) during the show.
They are in the public eye, so are the aristocrats of the workers.
Also, show property, the many objects that are sat upon, juggled, or otherwise used in performances.
rain or shine
Another phrase born in the circus.
ringmaster
And yet another word born in the circus.
red light
Throw a member of the company from a moving train. If this is done on a trestle, the circus need not worry
about a victim's complaints. Obviously, humane managers did not do this.
Risley act
An act like that of Richard Risley Carlisle, who lay on his back and juggled his partner on his feet. He did this in Japan in the first Western circus to visit the nation. The Japanese then took Risley acts to new levels.
Roman rings
Two rings hung at the same height, from which aerialists hang and do tricks.
Men still work on Roman rings in the Olympics.
ropedancer
Someone who walks on a rope. AKA ropewalker.
A wirewalker walks on a cable. The ropes and wires may be slack or tight depending on the act being performed. Some artists also walk up rigging in or outside of the big top.
roustabouts
Workers who raise and lower the tents and pack and unpack everything from the trains. Roustabouts traditionally were often black, as black men had trouble finding other work.
rube
An outsider. “Hey, Rube,” is the circus rallying cry. It brings all circus personnel to defend one of the group.
sheeted up
Describes a town that has been covered in circus posters prior to the opening day.
Siamese twins
Conjoined twins got this label because the first famous pair were Chang and Eng Bunker who were born in Thailand, called Siam until 1939.
Chang and Eng were joined at the lower chest.
They quarreled often but married sisters and fathered 22 children. They were rich and respected.
spec or spectacle
A richly costumed parade around the hippodrome track inside the big tent or arena. The spec opens the show.
Specs often have themes such as battles, coronations, Bible stories, or fairy tales. The costumes are more flamboyant than historically accurate: they start with history but add contemporary elements and bling, and show lots of legs.
The shows often end with races: sometimes there's an invitation to an "after show" such as a Wild West Show.
star
Another word with a definition that was born in the circus.
ten-in-one
(10-in-1)
A sideshow tent with many acts.
throw your hat in the ring
In 1916 Woodrow Wilson threw his top hat into the center ring to indicate his political intention.
towners
Local residents.
walk around
Clowns doing shtick in the hippodrome
to entertain the audience while the
equipment for acts in the rings is being set up.
whiteface
Classic clown based on Pierrot, generally wearing a ruff and little cap, with a gentle and optimistic persona.