The Coolidge examiner., 1935-09-13
an all-night struggle they literally
had dug their way through.
Rivalry Used to Be Fierce.

had dug their way through.
Rivalry Used to Be Fierce.
Previous to 1929 most of the big
circus units battled with one an
other up and down the country from
Maine TO California and from Cam
ada 10 the Gulf Sometimes they
employed the most vitriolic phrases
in characterizing rival clrcuses as
worthless. When electricity first
was used to illuminate a circus tent,
competitors solemnly warned the
public TO stay away from that show
because electric lights are known
to be extremely dangerous and
binding to the eyesl'
Most interesting were the paper
wars conducted by the big and
little shows prior to the late sum-
mer of 1929 The big circuses often
bought advertising space on barns
and buildings In the dead of win
ter, so that the location would not
be snapped up by rival concerns.
Some of the shows had a playful
little habit OF covering each others
posters when two shows saw fit to
play the same city on the same day
or few days apart.
One OF these paper wars became
so intense when two circuses chose
TO book a California city within a
few days OF each other that the
barns and blllboards OF the sur
rounding countryside were plastered
with a covering Of circus pictures
% sheets deep. The opposition bril-
| gade OF circus number one went out
each morning 10 cover the adver-
tisements OF the rival show. The
brigade OF circus number two went
out every evening 10 recover with
It's own billing. They watched each
other so closely. these tireless ad-
vance men. that each knew when
the others crew left town to cover
paper In the country.
At. last one OF them played a
master stroke. Two nights before
the first show was due to arrive.
the brigade hired n hearse. climbed
inside with posters. paste, and
brushes. and quietly left town TO
do their work without attracting
the attention OF their competitors.
The advance advertising cars OF
| the big shows carry large crews OF
ambitious workers who often aver
age n posting OF 10000 to 1900
sheets OF circus Autographs a day.
crew OF 80 men can bill large
city in a single day. so well do they
understand their work.
The flaming circus Autographs
that herald the approach of the
| spangled caravan must be printed
in several different languages in a
number OF places: Posters with
Hebrew lettering In New York city's
Jewish districts, italian In both
New York city and Chicago, French
| In parts OF Montreal and Quebec,
and Spanish In certain Southwest
ern cities.
White Elephant Competition.
Sometimes the tented enterprises
| tried to duplicate their rivals ace
attractions. Barnum once import
| ed a sacred white elephant from
Siam. II wasn't pure white, but
rather a cream color. and 1t cost a
lot of money and trouble. Adam
Forepaugh, then Barnum's leading
| competitor, copied the Siamese al
bino by applying generous coating
of white paint to unclothed parts
OF a gray pachyderm. His elephant
was so much whittier than Barnum's
| that the public decided Forepaugh
had the real article-until one day
during a street parade in Philadel-
phia. when a cloudburst exposed
the imposture.
Even then skeptical show-goers
refused to believe that Barnum's
white elephant was any more genu-
inc than the one they had seen
exposed. Somebody asked Barnum
what he was billing as his chief
attraction that season. He smiled
and replied, "I've got a white ele-
phant." Then and there he sup
piled a distinctly American angle
to the age-old white-elephant allu-
sion that to this day is used to de-
scribe something expensive which
cannot be disposed of to any ad-
| vantage.
The big shows fought each other
until the summer of 1929, when a
great consolidation was effected.
Now six of the largest tent shows,
all Ringling-owned, contend for pa
tronage in friendly rivalry and try
to keep out of one another's way.
Most outsiders think that every
circus picks its. complete route at
the beginning of each season. In
reality, they are routed only about
| six weeks In advance. Agents must
study crop and factory conditions,
epldemics of disease, and proximity
of rival attractions, and must ar
range to send the circus where
there is a probability of doing good
business. Routing a circus Is q
business science. r.