Grand Circus Glossary: Hannah's 2017 Advent Calendar

advance man

One who goes to a town before the circus comes, in order to make arrangements.

aerialist

A performer who works high up in the bigtop tent.

Auguste

A clown with a sad, bumbling persona. ‘Auguste’ is French for idiot. The crowd in a Paris cirque shouted "Auguste!" at an equestrian who decided to change to clowning after he showed up drunk one night and accidently put on a funny show.

automata or autotrons

Mechanical people and animals. See the movie Hugo.

bally, bally act, or ballyhoo

A free, enticing preview in front of the sideshow tent.

barker

A man who stands outside, especially at the sideshow, and encourages people to “come on in...” for a small fee, of course.

benders

Contortionists, also called posturers, India-rubber men, incomprehensibles, or nondescripts.

Big Bertha

What folk in other circuses called Ringling.

big top

The main tent, containing the rings and hippodrome.

brass and art

Management and performers.

cackler

A talking clown.

calliope

A "steam piano," often pulled in parades by horses with plumes. It can be heard a mile away.

cameleopard

The mysterious, thought to be mythical, beast that we now know as a giraffe.

candy butcher

Concessions hawker.

clown alley

The clowns get their own dressing tent because their make-up and costume changes are so extensive. It's the closest tent to the big top as clowns go in and out constantly.

daredevil

One source of antipathy from some clergy was that circus performers with dangerous acts were daring the devil.

disaster march

The Sousa march Stars and Stripes Forever was played when a fire, stampede, or other catastrophe began. All circus hands rushed to the scene.

entreé

Extended clown act.

equestrian

Horse rider: at the circus equestrians do tricks. Female riders are equestriennes.

first of May

An inexperienced newcomer. The circus season traditionally started in the beginning of May.

flier and catcher

Two of the three performers on the flying trapeze. The third, who sends out the trapeze timed so that the flier can return, doesn't seem to have a title.

freak

See prodigy... and don't call a prodigy a freak!

gaff

Fake in a sideshow.

hair hanging

Just what it sounds like, an act performed in the air by a woman or man who is suspended by a gizmo tied up in his or her hair. The thought makes my scalp itch.

hatching

A “matching” couple from acts within a circus company gets married and has a child.

hippodrome

The track around the rings, where the spec takes place. Clowns and dancing girls often work in the hippodrome, and sometimes there are races.

hold your horses

A phrase born in the circus.

humbug

Flimflam. Philosophical fol-de-rol. Putting a high polish on the facts.

illustrated man or woman

One covered in tattoos.

iron jaw

An aerial act in which a woman, often wearing wings, puts a bit in her mouth and is raised high where she swings or spins depending on the bit. The act is also called a Human Butterfly.

jargo

Clown act in animal costume.

Jumbo

The name given to one very large elephant. Jumbo is the Swahili word for chief.
Jumbo the elephant was so famous that his name became an adjective.

kinker or kinko

What the workers called the performers. But not to their faces.

leotard

	The shocking costume first seen on Jules Léotard, the man on the flying trapeze.

liberty act

A horse act, classically eight white, or black and white, Arabians. The horses in a liberty act are free, untethered, doing a set of steps as directed by voice and hand gestures. Herd instincts help this happen.

A liberty act can be dangerous if the horses become panicked.

long mount

Elephants lined up, each with her forelegs on the elephant in front of her. (Elephants were generally referred to as bulls but most were female as males were harder to handle.)

make the nut

In early circuses, local officials removed a critical nut from the wheel of a key wagon before the show,

as collateral against a specific amount owed to officials. Once that amount is brought in,

the nut can be bought back.

making canvas

Lacing together the pieces of canvas that form the large tents. It had to be done at each new location.

menagerie

A collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition

midway

The area between the entrance and the big top, containing shows, concessions, and sometimes rides.

outside

Everything but the circus.

pillar, or three man column

An act where men stand on each other's shoulders. There are many variations.

pinheads

Sideshow artists with small heads, in some cases with microcephalia. Not all pinheads were mentally disabled.

prodigies

Sideshow artists, their preferred description.

Do not call them the F word.

props

Workers who install and change the rigs (cages, trapezes, high wires et al.) during the show.

They are in the public eye, so are the aristocrats of the workers.

Also, show property, the many objects that are sat upon, juggled, or otherwise used in performances.

rain or shine

Another phrase born in the circus.

ringmaster

And yet another word born in the circus.

red light

Throw a member of the company from a moving train. If this is done on a trestle, the circus need not worry

about a victim's complaints. Obviously, humane managers did not do this.

Risley act

An act like that of Richard Risley Carlisle, who lay on his back and juggled his partner on his feet. He did this in Japan in the first Western circus to visit the nation. The Japanese then took Risley acts to new levels.

Roman rings

Two rings hung at the same height, from which aerialists hang and do tricks.

Men still work on Roman rings in the Olympics.

ropedancer

Someone who walks on a rope. AKA ropewalker.

A wirewalker walks on a cable. The ropes and wires may be slack or tight depending on the act being performed. Some artists also walk up rigging in or outside of the big top.

roustabouts

Workers who raise and lower the tents and pack and unpack everything from the trains. Roustabouts traditionally were often black, as black men had trouble finding other work.

rube

An outsider. “Hey, Rube,” is the circus rallying cry. It brings all circus personnel to defend one of the group.

sheeted up

Describes a town that has been covered in circus posters prior to the opening day.

Siamese twins

Conjoined twins got this label because the first famous pair were Chang and Eng Bunker who were born in Thailand, called Siam until 1939.

Chang and Eng were joined at the lower chest. They quarreled often but married sisters and fathered 22 children. They were rich and respected.

spec or spectacle

A richly costumed parade around the hippodrome track inside the big tent or arena. The spec opens the show.

Specs often have themes such as battles, coronations, Bible stories, or fairy tales. The costumes are more flamboyant than historically accurate: they start with history but add contemporary elements and bling, and show lots of legs.

The shows often end with races: sometimes there's an invitation to an "after show" such as a Wild West Show.

star

Another word with a definition that was born in the circus.

ten-in-one
(10-in-1)

A sideshow tent with many acts.

throw your hat in the ring

In 1916 Woodrow Wilson threw his top hat into the center ring to indicate his political intention.

towners

Local residents.

walk around

Clowns doing shtick in the hippodrome to entertain the audience while the
equipment for acts in the rings is being set up.

whiteface

Classic clown based on Pierrot, generally wearing a ruff and little cap, with a gentle and optimistic persona.

with it

With the show.


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