After seven years without a circus, two visited Springfield in 1867, Lake's Hippoolympiad & Mammoth Circus and Orton Brothers Great American Circus.  Considering the nearest railhead was just west of Rolla, it was no small feat to get to Springfield, and early shows tended to lack elephants and exotic animals that required special transport.  The emphasis was on acrobatic horsemanship, clowns, brief dramatic renditions such as Mazeppa and Romeo & Juliet and perhaps a hot air balloon ascension.  Later, after the railroad arrived in 1870, the shows became more elaborate.

In an era when entertainment often consisted of church socials and school spelling bees, circuses generated intense excitement and drew large crowds.  There was frequently a rough, rowdy element among them, which sparked a surprising number of violent incidents at the shows.  Madam Agnes Lake, mentioned prominently in some of the ads below, was available to marry Wild Bill Hickock some years later because her husband, the circus clown, was murdered at Granby in 1869 when he got too rough with a drunken patron who hadn't paid.

Although some of these circuses proved to be disappointments, "humbugs" in the parlance of the day, the ads published in Southwest Missouri newspapers during this era at least show what they claimed to be and what their propietors thought would appeal to a contemporary audience.  These newspapers are available on microfilm through the State Historical Society of Missouri.  The Society has begun a project to digitize its microfilm of historical newspapers, and images of some newspapers may be available online.  Ad images are from the Society's microfilm, either scanned from a paper copy or clipped from the online digital image.

THE CIRCUS IS COMING
Lake's Hippoolympiad & Mammoth Circus ***** Springfield Leader October 3, 1867	Orton Brothers Great American Circus ***** Springfield Leader October 17, 1867	Orton Brothers Great Southern Circus ***** Carthage Banner April 9, 1868	Monster Show of Dan Castello ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield October 1, 1868
Lake's Hippoolympiad & Mammoth Circus ***** Carthage Banner August 12, 1869	Haven's Great Sensation Circus ***** Springfield Leader June 23, 1870	Jas T. Johnson & Co. United Circus ***** Neosho Times July 21, 1870	O'Connor & Co.'s Great Western Circus ***** Carthage Banner July 21, 1870
Hemmings, Cooper & Whitby's Menagerie & Circus ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield September 9, 1870	Cole's Collosal Circus & Animal Exhibition ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield May 25, 1871	Cole's Collosal Circus & Animal Exhibition ***** Neosho Times May 25, 1871	Lake's Hipo-Olympiad & Mammoth Circus ***** Neosho Times August 24, 1871
Dan Rice's Paris Pavillion Circus ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield April 18, 1872	Jas. E. Cooper's Menagerie, Museum & Circus ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield October 3, 1872	Trans Atlantic Exposition ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield July 10,1873	John Robinson's Mammoth Menagerie and Great Circus ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield September 18,1873
Jas. A. Bailey & Co., Great International Menagerie, Museum, Aquarium & Circus ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield September 24, 1874	Cooper, Bailey & Co.'s Great International ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield April 13, 1876	Cooper, Bailey & Co.'s Great International ***** Neosho Times April 20, 1876	Castello's Great Double Circus ***** Missouri Weekly Patriot, Springfield October 5, 1876

Home: Historical Items from Southwest Missouri

This site created by Bob Banks. Comments, corrections and suggestions are welcome.