Home of the American Circus

The word “circus,” borrowed from Latin, originally described the circular stadium in which entertainments were held in ancient Rome. Most frequently, these displays involved chariot races and gladiatorial combats. In the 18th century, circuses emerged in Europe as demonstrations of equestrian skills, with riders performing inside circular rings around which spectators gathered. Displays of horsemanship and acrobatics formed the foundation of Philip Astley’s circus in London, which gained popularity in the later 18th century. John Ricketts, an employee of one of Astley’s rivals, emigrated to Philadelphia and in 1793 began the first American circus. Ricketts’s circus combined performances of clowning, equestrian skills, and acrobatic displays like rope-walking to impress spectators who gathered in the galleries around the rings.

Somers, New York, is a town of around 20,000 people located in Westchester County and is the hometown Freya returns to in Home of the American Circus. It calls itself the “Cradle of the American Circus” because, according to the town’s historical society, a farmer named Hachaliah Bailey acquired an elephant in 1804, which he named Old Bet, and began exhibiting her for money. (As Larkin has Freya observe in the novel, sources differ on whether Bet was an African or Asian elephant.) Bet became a popular attraction, and others from Somers and neighboring areas joined in efforts to exhibit menageries of exotic elephants. Celebrating his success, Bailey built the Elephant Hotel in Somers in 1825 and erected a statue of Old Bet in front—the same statue Freya writes a paper about during her college years, questioning why the town valorizes a man who exploited the elephant. The building is now a National Historic Landmark and is home to a Museum of the Early American Circus. When Old Bet died, Bailey acquired new elephants, one of whom he named Little Bet, and continued touring.

In 1825, Joshua Purdy Brown, a touring showman born in Somers, encountered cities that had passed a ban on public entertainments like the circus as being potential sites of disruption. Brown hit upon the idea of erecting a canvas tent outside the city limits to house his attractions. This adaptation suited the touring nature of the circus and was widely adopted as railroads provided avenues for circuses to broaden their reach as traveling spectacles. In 1867, two Wisconsin entertainers, Dan Castello and William Cameron Coup, united their traveling caravan with the exhibitions of famous New York showman P.T. Barnum, who capitalized on the exhibition of unusual artifacts and distinctive people as attractions. In 1881, Barnum’s circus, which he labeled as “The Greatest Show on Earth,” merged with the circus led by James Bailey, a distant relative of Hachaliah’s, to form the Barnum and Bailey circus.

The town of Baraboo, Wisconsin, also advertises itself as a home of the American circus as the Ringling Brothers began their circus there in the 1880s. For several decades, Baraboo provided winter quarters for the circus staff and animals. The Ringling Brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey circus in 1906 and eventually merged the organizations. With some lapses in operations, the Greatest Show on Earth continued to tour throughout the 20th century. In 2017, due to increasing concerns about the welfare of circus animals, particularly elephants, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ceased using animals in its performances. The show currently tours with only human performers, incorporating acrobatics, music and dance, and clowning. The former Ringling Bros. winter quarters in Baraboo are home to the Circus World Museum, which hosts circus performances during the summers.