The arrival of the circus in Lorain used to be quite a big thing in the old days.
My parents used to tell me about how the circus would set up over where George Daniel Field is today, which back in the 1930s was the outskirts of town. There were other locations over the years, including the field at 14th and Washington, as well the former Kew Gardens property on Colorado Avenue.
Even in the 1960s, a circus would generate a lot of interest and some Journal coverage. Above is a page from the July 31, 1963 Journal that has two articles about the Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. Circus, which was in Lorain for a one-night stand on Colorado Avenue.
Well-remembered staff writer Lou Kepler's article profiles several of the performers.
She felt Jembo the Clown was somewhat aristocratic, with his "gold-colored nose, gold shoes and sequin-studded forehead." Jembo had previously had a career as a male nurse, as well as playing character parts on stage and on TV.
Other circus performers included a handsome young man playing the calliope who had studied three years at Juilliard School of Music; Deyanina Campa, a young Mexican mother with a trampoline act; "Snooks" Swain, a drummer whose entire family (including her parents and all eleven of their children) were all performers; and Johnny Joanides, a Greek juggler.
Joel Sugarcane's Journal article focuses on the Joanides family: Johnny, his wife Vanda (who he met when they both worked in the Ringling Bros. Circus) and their four children.
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The circus has been a regular topic on this blog over the years, with posts devoted to the Adam Forepaugh and Sells Brothers Circus (1901); the Hagenbeck Wallace Circus (1923); the Sam B. Dill Circus with Tom Mix (1934); the Paul A. Miller Circus (1960) here, (1962) here, and (1963) here and here; and the Cristiani-Wallace Brothers Circus (1965).