The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top

by Janet M. Davis

A century ago, daily life ground to a halt when the circus rolled into town. Across America, banks closed, schools canceled classes, farmers left their fields, and factories shut down so that everyone could go to the show. In this entertaining and provocative book, Janet Davis links the flowering of the early-twentieth-century American railroad circus to such broader historical developments as the rise of big business, the breakdown of separate spheres for men and women, and the genesis of the United States' overseas empire. In the process, she casts the circus as a powerful force in consolidating the nation's identity as a modern industrial society and world power.

Davis explores the multiple "shows" that took place under the big top, from scripted performances to exhibitions of laborers assembling and tearing down tents to impromptu spectacles of audiences brawling, acrobats falling, and animals rampaging. Turning Victorian notions of gender, race, and nationhood topsy-turvy, the circus brought its vision of a rapidly changing world to spectators--rural as well as urban--across the nation. Even today, Davis contends, the influence of the circus continues to resonate in popular representations of gender, race, and the wider world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Book Club

515 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Cam's Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Davis’s The Circus Age gives a vivid history of an under-looked aspect of American culture- the circus. Davis argues “that the turn of the century railroad circus was a powerful cultural icon of a new, modern nation-state” (10). Divided into seven engaging chapters, Davis deep dives into the rise and fall of the circus in the United States during the turn of the twentieth century. She explores themes such as “gender, race, labor, sexuality, monopoly formation, nationalism, and empire” (xiii) and how the Big Top shaped such aspects.
Davis’s book is successful and insightful for several reasons. For one, she demonstrates to the reader how preparation for an incoming circus was a meticulous process- especially when it came to advertising. One circus company in particular, Barnum & Bailey, “had four advertising cars… [which] typically had eight to eleven billposters, a boss-billposter, several lithographers etc.” (43). Each car had its own duty- Car One was to scope the route out months in advance to secure accommodations such as food, licenses and hotel rooms; Car Two dealt out contracts while handling the bulk of the advertising by “bombarding every small hamlet, farmhouse, [and] crossroads as they roared past” (44); Car Four verified/confirmed contracts given out by Car Two and advertised the upcoming event to rural residents that were within a fifty-mile radius of the circus stop; and finally Car Six, with up to two weeks before the show, did one last check on everything the previous cars had done. By using Barnum & Bailey circus to highlight the seriousness of advertising, Davis spotlights the organized nature of the circus.
Another success of this book is Davis’s mention of the UniverSoul Circus. To be frank, I was pleasantly surprised that she included the “exclusively African-American circus” (235). In 2012 my mom surprised my best friend and I with tickets to this exact show in Miramar, Florida- and to say I was amazed is an understatement. Representation was displayed in every aspect of this Big Top: from the audience to the ringmaster, to the jugglers, to the tightrope walkers; an all-Black everything I never would have thought to experience let alone need. It was truly inspiring to Black people jump and twist and do things with their bodies that have usually been associated with “white” if one thought of the circus. This Black-American centric space is extremely significant because opportunities for Black individuals who wanted to be a part of the circus were extremely limited at this time. They were primarily hired to “play roles reinforcing racial stereotypes that confirmed white supremacist ideologies” (70) and were segregated from white coworkers.

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most useful little gems on circus history, looking at it through its people and traditions rather than purely the logistical nuts and bolts. This is an eye-opener if your only knowledge of circuses comes through modern pop culture. I refer to it quite a lot. Davis is a gift to the study of the circus.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my Victorianizing America class! This book was a super detailed and interesting look at the Gilded Age Circus, and a wider examination of Gilded Age society as a mirror to circus life. I really loved this read, all of the specific details were facinating to learn about, and I loved our class discussion! 4 stars.

[Nic Rueth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid analysis of the intersection of the growth of the circus with the growth of industrialist capitalism and modernism. Worth a look. And a relook for me.

[MH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic, readable history of the 'railroad circus' of the early 20th Century. Davis is an academic writer and she uses a variety of theoretical lenses to look at the acts and events of the travelling shows (gender, Orientalism, post-colonialism), but she's always clear and appropriate when she does so and her use of theory enhances her descriptions rather than feeling like a scholarly expectation. A really solid cultural history.

[Shannon RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

With highly readable prose, Davis employs the railroad circus—a supremely popular amusement at the turn of the century—as an apt lens to view the social transitions of the time. She argues that the circus “was a powerful cultural icon of a new, modern nation-state” and “cultural metonym for national expansion and infrastructural development” (12). With elephant parades, entertainment under the big top, and sideshows full of exotic animals, peoples, and artifacts, railroad circuses “represented a ‘human menagerie’…of racial diversity, gender difference, bodily variety, animalized human beings, and humanized animals” (10). While it represented and promoted diversity on surface level, however, Davis argues that the circus upheld “normative ideologies of gender, hierarchy, and individual mobility” (10), ushering the United States into a modern age.

In successive chapters, the text discusses the “physical production processes” of the circus, as it functioned as an “intricate social system” of deeply hierarchical, but highly efficient labor that traveled by rail and set up vast temporary cities of amusement so popular that schools and workplaces would close. Two chapters specifically analyze gender. Chapter 4 explores the contradictions experienced by women as (often semi-nude) circus performers during a time when the “new woman” was greatly changing women’s roles in the public sphere. Chapter 5 reveals how the circus featured conventional and transgressive versions of masculinity, from the brawny lion tamer to the more effeminate acrobat in tights and the cross-dressing clown. Through circuses, rural and urban residents alike engaged in a global experience of animals, performers, and show plots from international locales, which Davis argues created spectacles that articulated and reinforced America’s expansionist role abroad.

Once a vision of the future, the traveling circus is largely a nostalgic amusement of the past. Davis concludes, however, by revealing the circus-like qualities of present day spectacles, such as Seaworld, Disneyland, and Las Vegas.

[Arnulfo Velasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Éste viene siendo un trabajo de investigación impresionante, con una documentación mucho muy bien trabajada. La autora estudió una gran cantidad de textos, incluyendo las "hojas de ruta" que los administradores de los circos llevaban como una especie de bitácora, anotando todos los hechos relevantes que ocurrían durante las giras. Con eso y una amplia bibliografía, se presenta aquí una historia sociológica de los circos estadounidenses desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta inicios del XX. Una historia que además incluye un acercamiento analítico multidisciplinario, pero estructurado básicamente sobre las cuestiones de la psicología social. No es un libro ameno, pero su seriedad lo vuelve fascinante.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to understand, not too jargony if you're unfamiliar with any referenced theories or concepts. Historical context is laid out simply. Some authors assume their audience is somewhat scholarly but Davis brings her analysis of the railroad circus to a wider audience. Certain passages are more interesting than others. I now know a bunch of stuff about the circus in case I ever go on Jeopardy? Assigned for a pop culture class.
Brief section regarding the animals, the majority of the book is about the human spectacle. No need to be leary of anything.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good commentary on the development of america as paralleled by the growth and evolution of the circus. looks at race, gender, class, and industrialization in the circus as a mirror of america. the circus was definitely innovative, and it took new ideas to the far reaches of the country. lots of cool anecdotes and original illustrations. circus culture is intriguing to be sure; keeps you going through this dense study.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I eventually bought this, and I'm glad I own it for academic reference. While she primarily discusses only the big train circuses of the 19th & early 20th centuries (as it would be overwhelming to do otherwise), her information is neat and a very stylish approach to the socio-economic history of the American circus. Though she uses the phrase "fin de siècle" a bit much.

[Kodiaksm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and kept me interested in circus history. Fantastic illustrations. Circus history and current "circus"events are pulled together in the final chapter. This well written book was thoroughly enjoyed.

[CM · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot of very interesting information, and some very intriguing arguments in this book; but, it often felt like the author was giving too much information with too little direction. This ruined an otherwise very enjoyable read for me.