End of the line for the Circus Train.

[Mayerling]

A little unusual for me to discuss this, but I just saw a notice in the news that Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus ("the greatest show on earth") is going to close down after May. The owner, Kenneth Field (I think that is his name) had to tell his employees last week. There has been a long decline in ticket sales based on the changing tastes of the American audience. Radio, television, and the movies (which once gave an "Oscar" for best film to a DeMille movie about the circus called "The Greatest Show on Earth") all stole the audience away bit by bit, and then the internet and electronic games finished the job. But the biggest change in the mood of the audience was that groups like the A.S.P.C.A., the Humane Society, and PETA had assailed the circus for mistreating it's animals. This had a permanent affect with the public, despite the fact that Ringling Brothers actually won a large settlement for libel against several of these a few years back.

As a kid I went to the circus about thee or four times, and I really could not stand the smell from the animal cages (I had a similar reaction in zoos). About 1984 I went to the circus in Manhattan (Madison Square Garden) with a co-worker friend of mine, and his family. That was it. Still I was interested in it's history, and the colorful people involved with it. It saddens me a little to think that such an old established institution in this country (146 years) and older abroad has been wiped out by progress. At what point does the public finally tell progress it has to stop. Eventually it will you know.

[GUT]

Wow, that sad.

[c.d.]

You might like the novel "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. The setting is traveling circuses in America during the Great Depression. Excellent book.

c.d.

[Robert]

I remember seeing a programme where they tried to recreate the machines that Archimedes used to destroy the Roman navy. A physicist worked out the maths involved, but the construction of the machines was supervised by a man who had spent years erecting circus tents.

[c.d.]

"maths" involved? Oh no! Don't tell me there are several. High School was hard enough with just the one.

c.d.

[louisa]

In a way I think it's sad that circuses have almost gone now.

However, I have to say that I am very happy that no more large animals are being used. They used to be caught in the wild in Africa, transported thousands of miles and then live out their lives in tiny cages, the size of somebody's living room.

I have no doubt that some circuses were better than others though so I am not tarring them all with the same brush.

There was a court case against Mary Chipperfield a few years ago where she was (secretly) filmed whipping a tiny baby chimpanzee. It would break your heart to see it, but these are the kind of things that went on.

I still think that some animals could be used in a circus though - those ones that actually enjoy performing - horses and dogs for instance.

All in all I don't think I'll be sorry to see the demise of the circus, although it definitely is the end of an era.

I think it's best for them to be relegated to the history books, where they belong.

[Robert]

Hi CD

We always say 'mathematics' or 'maths' over here. Sorry to cause you pain.

[c.d.]

Hi CD

We always say 'mathematics' or 'maths' over here. Sorry to cause you pain.

Thanks for clearing that up, Robert. I got a bit panicky there for a while.

c.d.

[Mayerling]

Thanks for clearing that up, Robert. I got a bit panicky there for a while.

c.d.

And for tomorrow we will begin our studies of Euclids "Elements"....

[Pcdunn]

Entertainment does seem to be one form of human endeavor that changes very regularly over the years. We've given up gladiatorial combat, leaping over the horns of Minoan bulls, ripping out the beating hearts of honored Aztec victims, and many other sports and games.

The Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey circus recently said they were phasing out the use of elephants in their shows. I guess that was the first sign of the failure of this American tradition.

[Brenda]

.

I'm glad it's ending. It's good to know we've evolved to the point where we don't believe in captive animals as human entertainment.

When I was a little kid, I was at a Ringling Bros show when I noticed one of the bears on the sidelines "getting out of line". His trainer boxed him a few punches to the face. He behaved after that, but any fun I was having was ruined by seeing that and my opinion about the circus forever changed.

[Robert]

You can still have circus without the animals, e.g. the clowns, tightrope walkers and trapeze performers. The latter two really work best in a high tent. But would people pay to see it? It seems to me that circus has gone the same way as variety, music hall, vaudeville etc.

[Jon Guy]

Was very pleased to hear this news !!
It`s things like this that show that the human race is slowly progressing.
Even the Spanish are keeping up pace with the wane in bullfighting.

[Mayerling]

Entertainment does seem to be one form of human endeavor that changes very regularly over the years. We've given up gladiatorial combat, leaping over the horns of Minoan bulls, ripping out the beating hearts of honored Aztec victims, and many other sports and games.

The Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey circus recently said they were phasing out the use of elephants in their shows. I guess that was the first sign of the failure of this American tradition.

Hi Pat D.,

I was thinking about your list of ancient events for public consumption. The gladiatorial combat certainly was, but it survives in boxing, wrestling (especially WWF variety on television, with it's faked degree of intensity), and (in a way - not totally) in the Olympics with the game rivalries for achievements. But the Minoan bull horn jumping and the ripping out of beating hearts of victims by the Aztecs, were parts of religions. While a religious service has a mass audience watching, the priests of Tenochtitlan (Aztecs) or of Crete would probably have resented being compared to circus ringmasters.

In fact the bull horn jumping may also still exist in a crazy form of descent - the running of the bulls every year at Pamplona, with its list of human casualties.

Jeff

[Pcdunn]

Hi Pat D.,

I was thinking about your list of ancient events for public consumption. The gladiatorial combat certainly was, but it survives in boxing, wrestling (especially WWF variety on television, with it's faked degree of intensity), and (in a way - not totally) in the Olympics with the game rivalries for achievements. But the Minoan bull horn jumping and the ripping out of beating hearts of victims by the Aztecs, were parts of religions. While a religious service has a mass audience watching, the priests of Tenochtitlan (Aztecs) or of Crete would probably have resented being compared to circus ringmasters.

In fact the bull horn jumping may also still exist in a crazy form of descent - the running of the bulls every year at Pamplona, with its list of human casualties.

Jeff

Hi, Jeff,

Yes, all good points about sport vs. religion.

I suppose American football could also be considered a form of ritualized combat, if we wanted to think of it that way. (By the way, I'm NOT a fan of any football team, and don't follow team sports in general.)

Archaeologists of the future are likely to be interpreting old Super bowl footage as a religious rite... they might not be that far off...