The Day the Circus Came to Town

THE DAY THE CIRCUS CAME TO TOWN

by Jack Ward Skinner

Man-o-man! I had the best seat in town when the circus arrived. Why, my family and I could just sit on the front porch and watch it all take place.

In 1948, my family move in to what would forever be known as “The Green House.” It had dark green, cedar siding and a red, metal roof. The house set on top of a small hill, looking down on empty fields on all sides. We had 4 acres, with a barn, chicken house, and wash house. We were 5/10s of a mile from the city limits, and 6/10s of a mile from the courthouse. Today, that house is white with a dark roof. The outbuildings are all gone. But there is a road running off of Z Highway, right along side the property, and the newer shoe factory sits just across that road. And the most distinguishing feature that was there in 1948, and still there today, is the concrete garage that is build into the hillside, out in front of the house.

I mentioned that the fields around us were empty. Today, there is a whole subdivision between that house and town, a quick-shop down on Z Highway, and storage sheds and a Senior Center behind the house.

Back in 1948, and on for several years later, that was all farm land owned by Goff Holmes. Goff rotated his fields between corn and hay crops. Though today, the road in front of that house is called Z Highway, back then it was just a gravel road and was referred to as the Goose Creek road.

Across that road, from the front of our house, is a very large field. It stretched from the edge of town, all the way East to where the railroad trestle used to stand, now a fairly new concrete bridge leading to the industrial park. In the years that Goff planted corn in that field, we knew there would be no circus. But when it was a hay field, there was that possibility.

And then would come the announcement in the Democrat News, the circus was coming to town. And we circled that date on our calendars.

The day dawned bright and clear. Goff had mowed and harvested the hay. The field was ready. Our first indication that the circus was arriving was a loud roaring. Running to the front porch, we could see a whole fleet of brightly painted trucks, turning into Goff’s field, down close to town. They drove up through the field to the mid-point and stopped. To me, it looked like they were unorganized, but they knew what each truck carried, and where it needed to be.

Pickup trucks, pulling trailers for living quarters, pulled on around the big trucks and began setting up toward the East end of the field. Then men and women began swarming all over the place, like a bunch of ants. Each appeared to have a certain job to do.

One truck with a long trailer carried several long poles; these were unloaded first and spaced out on the ground. Then a large group of men began carrying big tarps (which turned out to be the tent) and began fastening them together. From out of no where came some elephants. They had been on one of the trucks, and unloaded, while I was watching the tent being put together. With a system of blocks-and-tackle, the elephants began raising those tall poles to a vertical position with the tent attached to it. Today, tents, usually, have a telescoping pole that can be raised by a few men, then cranked to the desired height. But back in those early days, the poles were solid, and required the strength of the elephants to raise them.

Once the main tent, usually, with 3 center poles, was set up, then a series of smaller tents were set up for the side shows. The side shows may consist of “The Fat Lady”, “The Sword Swallower”, the “Snake Man”, games of chance like shooting galleries or a booth where you got 3 balls and had to knock over some rubber milk bottles to win a prize. Also, depending on any local ordinance, there might be a tent show for “Little Egypt” with the requirement that all males had to be 21 years old to enter.

The main tent had a show each night and a matinee if the circus was there on Saturday. It had lions and tigers, elephants performing, beautiful girls riding on horses, and aerial stunts, like the trapeze and tight wire. There were clowns galore and a razz-matazz band, dressed in gaudy red jackets with gold piping.

Of course, the lions and tigers were kept in cages, but it was funny to see those big, strong elephants, cable of raising huge, tall polls, being kept tethered to a small stake. When not performing, they were allowed out in the open. A small stake was driven into the ground and a chain was connected to it and the elephant’s leg. The elephant never tried to pull the stake out of the ground, though it could have easily, because it had been trained, as a baby, to stay attached.

During the daytime, when there were no performances, it was common to see members of the circus troupe visiting the stores in town. They always seemed to be a friendly lot, though some town people were cautious around them, like they were gypsies.

This was back in the days before television, or maybe just a few televisions, so the only entertainment was the Mercier theater or sporting events. As a result, crowds turned out in droves every night. There would be hundreds of cars, and they parked on the west end of the field. By some miracle, it never rained on the days before, and during the time the circus was there. Otherwise, that field would have been a quagmire.

So, for 2-3 days, I had a circus right there in my front yard. Well, maybe in the field, on the other side of the road, but it was close. And exciting. And we, usually had relatives and friends, who, for some strange reason, would drop by just for a visit, during the times when the circus was in town. Yes, I would, usually go to one show. But I had the best seat in town to watch the set up and the taking down of the circus, the day it came to town and the day it left.

Today, that field is still setting there. The only change is Chuck’s Short Stop on the West end, a new bridge over “Town Creek”, and a concrete bridge on the East end, toward the Industrial Park. It’s just waiting, once again, to see the lions and tigers, elephants, horses, and people in bright, flashy uniforms, bringing a little joy and entertainment into a community’s world.