Sixty years ago this month, Paul A. Miller's Wild Animal Circus came to O'Neil - Sheffield Center for a free show – just in time for kids being on summer vacation.
Above is the ad that ran in the Journal on June 7, 1962.
I've written about the Paul A. Miller Wild Animal Circus before.
The Paul Miller Circus came to Ridgeview Shopping Center in June 1960 (the subject of this post). It is also the one that came to Lorain and put on a show in young Bill Nahm's front yard at his home near Clearview High School in September 1963 (which I wrote about here and here).
As the ad above notes, the circus included lions, bears, a baby elephant, aerial acts, clowns, and juggling. There were also seventeen exciting thrill rides for which you had to buy a ticket.
Anyway, it's kind of sad thinking how today the classic circus that we all remember is no more – thanks to rising costs of transporting them, dwindling attendance and animal-rights activists. Oh well.
Yes, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is poised to make a comeback in 2023. But it will be without any animals at all. What good is that?
I'm sorry, but if I'm going to go see a circus, I want to see animals. At the very least: a lion, a few elephants and maybe some trained seals honking some horns. Oh, and some non-threatening clowns that won't provoke nightmares.
Both my mother and father used to tell me about how a circus would come to Lorain, and set up where George Daniel Stadium is today (which was on the outskirts of town back in the 1930s). There was usually some kind of circus parade too, from the train to the circus grounds. But those days are over.
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I've done a few posts on other circuses, including a 1901 visit to Lorain by the Adam Forepaugh and Sells Brothers Circus, the Sam Dill Circus featuring movie cowboy Tom Mix (my Dad's favorite) which came to town in 1934, and a 1965 appearance by the Cristiani-Wallace Brothers Circus.
I'm with you, Dan, I remember going to the circus at El Rey Grotto Park, and later at Long's Airport. I got to ride an elephant when I was seven( I think it was the Sells and Gray Circus; I do remember that it was at El Rey Grotto), and the animals were such a huge part of the experience. Personally, I don't believe a lot of the accusations levied by PETA and some of these grass-eater groups; they just want to tear everything down. Oh, the year after I rode the elephant, we went back to the circus. We entered the big top between a line of elephants and other animals. As we passed one of the elephants,it reached out with its trunk, and clasped my hand. The same elephant? Who knows? I miss the circus, and it's sad that they're not part of the childhood experience anymore.
ReplyDeleteHI Dan,l recall attending the Barnum Bailey Circus in Lorain. It was around 1950-1952. Lorain Lions Club sponsored the event, my Dad was a member.The Big Top tent was set up south of G.Daniels field.on Oberlin ave.I remember talking with Ted Evans ,tallest man in the world at that time,in the side show.I was very impressed as he was an Englishman and was famous at over 8 feet tall......Good times for sure.....Harrison
ReplyDeleteEven though circuses were and are cool.Just think how the animal must feel being prodded and whipped into doing a "trick" for our enjoyment.And if they don't do said trick they are beaten until they perform the trick.So it's good for the animals that they aren't forced to perform anymore.It's no different than when they used to have real live human circus "freaks".How about the Elephant Man?You think the Man liked to be put on display for our jollies?
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