Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-28
ON THE CIRCUS BILLS

~-
Yep. observed the nearly middIe-agsd
fat man to his COMPANION on the rear seat
OF the open car. as the car darted by a big
billboard covered over with Autographs
illustrative of the siory and the grandeur
OF the greatest show on EARTH sthe circus
posters are just as much fun for me. and
just AZ mysterious. as they were when
went around wearing only two garments
buttoned together around or near the mid
die. always stop to look and marvel at
the circus posters when I'm walking just
IKE did when l was boy-stop and look
at sem for q long. long time. The circus
poster pictures have got lot to say to me
that don't appear on the surface OF EN- at
all. For one thing the sight OF 'em now
-adays takes me back across a period Of
about thirty years Of more or less useless
bother and stamping and gyrating around
ana a. 1 gase at the posters today can
feel something Of the vague wondering.
titivatfng. anticipatory JOY percolating
through my system as II used to percoiate
when first caught sight of the circus pos
out yonder-waving his hand toward the
weSt-"when was q shaver
The arrival OF the poster-pasting brigade
ahead OF 9 circus-about two months ahead
was pretty nigh as big an event in the
lives or the youngsters of my day as the
arrival of the circus itself. When the big
gatly-pafnted poster car would pull onto q
siding In the little station, and the reckless
the posting business would fall to mixing
their barrels Of paste and spreading out
their stands OF bills, az they called 'em.
we'd experience the first keen thrill Of 10Y
over the then-certain approach of the cir
Gus. There'd always be a sort of untraceable
rumor In our little town. before the appear
ance of the bill-posters for the circus that
the circus was going to slip by US that year
and give no performance nearer than thirty
hve miles or SO. at the next town, which,
OF course. would have made attending Ii
out of the question for us kids for any
body. excepting the most opuent. But
when the bill-posting car heaved along
the great fear would be dispelled We were
going to have the circus right in our midst,
after all.
They wouldn't be pasting up no bills
If they wa'ant goin to have no circus here
we would declare triumphantly to the dis
seminators of the dark notorious rumors
used by the biif-posters and watch 'em as
they spread out to the full light of day
their enhancing pictures OF the glories that
were sure to come.
circus posters-sure do. Got to. Can't
help it. Born in me. Whenever find that
I'm getting skeptical about the things
see ON the circus posters, then I'll feel for q
certain thing that I'm getting old.
OF course. there are a lot Of things on
the circus posters that still puzzle me just
as much as they ever did, but I'm willing
to give the circus folks the benefit of the
coubt and to make certain allowances for
poetic license In these instances that worry
me.
THE tendency Of the people who make
the circus posters. you see, Is toward IDEAL
ization. and that's why there Is often just
a-er-just slight difference between the
things you see on the posters and the
things you actually see at the circus when
1t comes along.
For example. take these equestrian and
eQueetrienne posters of the fine riders, the
men In red coats and top hats. and the wo-
men In the beautiful riding habits. Die
ever see anything so perfectly graceful and
fashionable and stunning In your life as
those riders as they appear on the post
ers? They look like folks belonging to
some swell hunt club. The rosy-cheeked
and Observation-Disclosures relocated men in
the pictures are taking the most tremendous
sex en-foot- high green hedges with the most
consummate ease holding the reins with
the left hand. while with the right hand
they're doffing their silk hats in response
to vociferous applause from the folks who
are following the hunt In traps and the
women are sailing along on their prancing,
high-mettled Arabian barbs with the skirts
of their gorgeously-tailored habits Tapping
In the breeze, and their patrician features
spiration of the chase. Now, when you real
ly see those misunderstanding riders
there's slight difference. of course. The
relocated men look unshprn and unshaved
their cheap and bunchy appearing red coats
seem to be often splattered with axle grease
from the wagons, and covered with dust,
and most of 'em wear an expression as If
they were tired OF living and mad with
the hull blamed universe And the patri-
cian-featured, superbly-habited women Of
the posters make their real appearance
in the parade, say-in bunchy-looking rid
ing habits, too. and they not honest
1njun patrician featured al all, but gener-
ally snub-nosed and hard looking. and their
hair nearly always looks as If it needs
lfv,or hnr h<,or, hrtry 10 6A rn0te u
the hastily-applied curling irons, and
they're feathery and linty and untidy and
sore looking through and through. But, as
say. I make all due and proper allowance
for the dealing habits of the poster max
ers, and l haven't got a kick a-coming.
THE acrobats and the trapeze artists
as they appear on the posters do lot Of
incredible things. too. that somehow or
another I've never just happened to see
EN- do at the real, sure-enough show, but
I always take 1t for granted. in these
cases. that maybe they do these almost
In possible feats somewhere else and omit
them when I'm present at the show for
good and proper reasons of their own.
Take the immense pyramids of smiling and
on the bill boards for example. My, but
I've seen those pyramids that actually con-
tanned as high as seventy-fve smiling and
handsome young acrobats, ,heaped grace
fully one on top of the other with their arms
affectionately and easily resting upon each
others shoulders used to count 'em with
great pains, and I'm sure I've counted as
many as seventy-1ve In pyramid on the
bills. But. dye know. at the ure-enough
show. I've never seen anything like seven
ty-five acrobats in one of these pyramids
about eight or ten would make about the
highest number I've ever noticed, In fact,
with three of the strongest of 'em for the
others to stand upon.
Same way with the marvellous trapeze
artists. men and women. On the bills you
see picture of an enchantingly beautiful
young maiden in tights with her hair,
caught by a ribbon. flowing to the breeze
as she makes an enormously difficult leap
through the air from one trapeze to ano her,
where self-contained looking young gen.
tleman Is waiting for her with his head
hanging down and a confident smile on his
lips. She's flying from one trapeze to the
other clear across the entire length of the
tent, in the pictures. and while she's right
In mid-air--in the pictures-doesn't she
gracefully and wfnsomely kiss the tips of
her fingers at the marveling audience be-
low? Sure she does! But at the really
and-truiy show / never saw one of these
trapeze ladies take up any more time than
necessary In kissing her fingers to the audi
ence while actually in full-hying career in
mid-air. and I've often been quite surprised
to notice, when they passed In or out of
the tent close to the seats, that most of