The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-16
ORIGIN OF PINK LEMONADE.
How a Circus Clown Met "a Texas
Emergency.


Emergency.
New York Commercial Advertiser.
THE origin of pink lemonade" said an
old circus clown to a reporter, has long
been shrouded in mystery, like some other
beginnings in history. But here is the true
story: In 1857 was travelling in the South
with Jere Mabie's big show. ! was doing
a tumbling and acrobatfc act in the ring,
and had not yet begun to aspire to the cap
and bells. One afternoon, just before the
doors were opened Mabe came to me IN
great distress and told me that the clown
had jumped the show A circus without
where, but in Texas in those days it meant
destruction to our property, and, possibly,
bodily harm to ourselves. You see, those
Texans didn't have much else to do, and
so they found time to study the bills care
fully. They insisted upon getting their full
moneys worth, and wanted everything
printing couldn't be put up in Texas at all
because, you know, there are things on cir
Gus posters which are beyond the POSSIBLE
ity Of fulfillment. We showInen look upon
those pictures with the artists eye, and
we got to feeling sorry to think what the
Texans were missing.
well to come to the point went into
the ring as clown and made hit. l Kept
it up for couple of weeks, doing my other
act as well, and all for one salary.
zone morning I went to the manager and
told him that would have to have some
more sequins il he wanted me to play
clown any more He answered that. was
could quit. He thought he had me there
for Texas was not the kind or country
a man would enjoy being left in. But |
was youngster then and didn't mind TAX
ing chances. Besides, l had saved about
$40 and felt rich. / quit the show right off,
bought q couple of mules and an old COW
cred wagon, and had just enough left to
invest in some peanuts, sugar, tartaric acid
and one lemon. Talk about good friends!
Why, that one lemon stuck to me to the
end followed the circus with my wagon
and pair, and every time the tents were
pitched 1 would mount box and sing out:
Here's your ice-cold lemonade,
Made in the shade
BY an old maid.
Stick your finger in the glass,
It'll freeze tight fast;
The deeper you dip
The sweeter it grows,
lust like honey from rose;
So good, so sweet, so sour,
It'll give you joy for half an hour.
1.-THE lemonade sold splendidly and
couldn't wait on the negroes fast enough
One day, while l was surrounded by mob
scrambling for the liquid refreshment, |
noticed suddenly that my water supply had
about run out. There were no wells or
springs in sight, SO l rushed into the big
ten to get some water. The elephants had
just been fed and Watered, and all the
tanks were empty. In the excitement of
the moment / invaded the dressing tents.
Fannie Jameson, the old-time queen Of
bareback equestrianism, was standing In
front of a tub, Wringing out pair OF pink
tights that she had been washing. The an
iline dye had stained the water deep pink.
l didn't stop to ask any questions, but
grabbed the tub and ran. AS / mounted
the box ! threw in some acid and the prop
erty lemon, and called out to the custom
ers to come up quickly and buy some fine
strawberry lemonade My sales were
doubled that day and since then no we'll
regulated circus is without pink lemonade.
IT'S not easy to get the better of show
men," continued the old clown. They're
pretty we'll up to the tricks of the average
community and have a few of their own
/ was with the first steamboat show that
ever sailed down the Mississippi, and it was
almost swamped by the big, licenses de-
n'anded wherever we landed. Finally, at
Memphis, the thing eliminated. The mer-
chants were up in arms against the show
because they said we would take too much
away from the city. We were notified that
no license would be issued and that we
would not be allowed to give our show at
the wharf. So we steamed out into. the
middle of the river, started our calliope
a-piping and had our little tug ply back
and forth between the shore and the steam
boat. The idea of a circus on board of a
steamboat hit the Memphis, people hard.
That night we were crowded to the guards
and we played three 'mid-stream return
dates in the neighborhood within week"