The thread on the Cole Bros. Circus and the lack of circus sideshows today got me wondering about the sideshow performers I saw in my youth.

Back in, say, the late '60s and early '70s, when the Clyde Beatty & Cole Bros. lot still had a midway with a sideshow, were the majority of the sideshow performers doing that exclusively or did they double or triple up on other jobs. Obviously someone like the small lady or other real human oddities were probably hired only for the sideshow. But were the people swallowing swords or eating fire drawn from the ranks of those already traveling with the show or were they hired on as sideshow performers?

If they didn't pull double or triple duty, maybe some of the demise of sideshows is simply a matter of economy. The fewer mouth you have to feed the better.

The sideshow I worked around, was sort of its own group of folks. Yes, they all ate at the same cookhouse, used the same donnikers, but they tended to be their own social unit. And if the weather was abominable, everybody pulled canvas.

I believe that the sideshow you saw was run by Ward Hall. Harley and I worked a spot for Ward during his first annual farewell tour. Nipps has also worked with Ward.

There were several factors that lead to the demise of the circus sideshow. Yes, they were an added expense because most performers just worked the sideshow. Some made cherry pie (jargon for extra income) by selling programs or souvenirs during the big show.

The last circus to have a sideshow as part of their operation was Kelly Miller. They gave it up in 95. The sideshow was combined with the menagerie tent and most of the performers doubled up by doing acts in the big show.

The real demise has come from changes in the habits of the audiences. People used to come to the circus for a full day. They would get there early to watch the tent go up and the animals unloaded. They would bring a lunch and have a picnic or buy food from the grab joints (food stands). Then they would fill up the time before the big show by doing the pony ride, playing the games and seeing the sideshow.

Nowadays, most of the audience gets to the show less than a half an hour before showtime. Many get there right at showtime and a chunk of people come late. This makes doing a sideshow impossible.

The trend has been changing with Ringling/Barnum. For a number of years now they have been doing the Circus Adventure an hour before the show and audiences are catching on and coming early for this free interactive experience featuring clown acts and animals up close. And it give the butchers (candy and soda sellers) a chance to get at the audience early and often.

Without increasing their rent, I suspect...

Todd, that can't have been Ward's first farewell tour. They're such an established tradition! Unless each one is the first...oh, I get it.

Todd, in the two Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. program books I have at hand, 1971 and 1973, the Sideshow Manager is listed as George W. White.

The '73 book has a photo page on the sideshow, picturing "Serpentina," a blond-haired woman who looks something like Betty White with a big snake, "Princess Ann" the world's smallest woman, and "The Baron," swallowing swords. I remember there being a sword box and one could go up and look in to see the girl inside.

That book is one with autographs: Dave Hoover, the lion tamer, clowns Jimmy James, Bernard Crespo and John Block, ringmaster Roger Boyd, Lupe Suarez one of the equestrian riders and a couple of others.

"Princess Ann" was Margaret Ann Robinson. "The Baron" was Bill Unks. I've heard that Ann died. I haven't heard anything of the Baron, for years.

Roger Boyd's son, Roger Jr, managed the sideshow on Hoxie Bros Circus for '76 and '77. Both of the above were with him there.