What I've read

I read Noelle, Anna and Brantley's blogs tonight! I really enjoyed learning about Coney Island and the entertainment business there because I too did the entertainment business. I also liked reading about the Gibson girl because I thought it was interesting that that was one of the first drawings that really set the standards for woman's beauty back then. And lastly I enjoyed reading about Frank Lloyd Wright because my house was modeled after one of his designs. I really liked this project and enjoyed reading and discovering what other people wrote. Great idea Mrs. Lawson!

The Circus in the late 1800's and early 1900's

The arrival of the circus is the one thing I’ve always looked forward to no matter what my age. This same excitement that I feel towards the circus has been present in the hearts of children, adults and elders living back in the years of late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Nothing in the show business could match the excitement of a circus rolling into a town. Shops closed their doors, schools cancelled classes and factories shut down all in the excitement of the circus. Families would travel in horse-drawn wagons long distances on dirt roads to reach a town where it was being held. The circus was a time in which families of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s could escape from reality, take a day off from their stress filled lives, leave behind any sort of worry they might have, spend time with loved ones and simply be entertained by the circus.

During this time period there were two major circuses, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s. These two circuses were very different from each other but equally popular in the U.S. Ringling Brothers was known for it’s 61 horse show, performers, clowns and gymnasts while Barnum & Bailey’s was known for it’s wide range of exotic animals all trained to perfect obedience which was once called an “unexcelled congress of wild beasts”.  These two show businesses were in wild competition, trying to outdo the other whether that was through performances, the amount of advertisements sent out or the actual size of the show. Although these two circuses tried there hardest to be different from the other and achieved that in many ways, they still functioned the exact same way.

The circus was once described as a city within a show. The amount of labor and work it takes to set up, perform and take down a circus is incredible. The average amount of employees working for the circus was around 1,000, which consisted of average 800 men and 200 women. The nickname “the army” was given to the employees because there were so many of them. Then there were the animals.  In 1893 Barnum and Bailey’s had a total of 407 horses and ponies, 2 mules, 1 giant and 1 hairless horse, 12 elephants, 4 camels and 8 dromedaries. These numbers varied from year to year depending on the income the circus made each year. They might sell some animals in order to pay the employees or buy a few exotic rarities if they had extra money. Having more and a wider variety of animals increased the popularity of the circus. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s had the largest group and most variety of animals in the world.

Another similarity that these two circuses had between each other was the labor preformed to make the show happen. The “roustabouts” were manual laborers who every working day in Barnum and Bailey’s circus erected a total of 68,000 yards of canvas using 173,397 ft. of rope to hold it all together. In Ringling Brothers there was the cook tent in which 75 cooks cooked 3,200 meals a day for the employees using 4,000 lbs. of meat. For breakfast alone 3,600 eggs and 800lbs of mutton were used. Each circus had their own way of making their city run but in the end the similarities between them were always much greater.

The social structure in these two circuses was built upon an occupational hierarchy. Performers would sleep, eat and spend time with other performers; same with laborers, musicians and every other occupation within the circus that you could think of. It was very similar to a caste system. Workers and performers spent a great deal of their time carrying out their jobs with people in their occupation, therefore they created friendships within that occupation which only further enforced the division of labor in the circus. People of the same occupation ate together, owners, managers and performers sat on the left side of the tent while the laborers sat on the right. Sleeping arrangements indicated occupational hierarchy, the closer you were to the end of the train the higher your position it the caste system. Laborers usually slept in tightly packed bunks while owners usually had their own private bathroom and living quarters. Also laborers slept close to the occupation that they performed such as the horsemen, which slept in a narrow space above or beside the horses. Worker wages also reinforced their position in the hierarchy; the more you were paid the higher your position. The least paid workers were the laborers, which slept in the tightly packed train cars. Between the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s wages were pretty much the same, just like the majority of things between these two circuses.

The circus, known for its big top tent, exotic animals and long train cars was used as an escape from every day life for the workers of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Today I get super excited to see all the beautiful animals that the circus brings, the amazing performers with their incredibly muscular bodies and the gigantic tent that the shows are held within. I know that the people living back in the day had the same exact feeling that I have today. The circus will always be a symbol for excitement, entertainment and escape for people living in America. 

             The big top tent in which the main performances were held.

One of many Barnum and Bailey's posters saying that they are the best circus in the world.  

      A Ringling Brothers poster also claiming that they are the best show in the world. 

An old picture of a group of circus performing elephants getting a nice drink of water, and the elephant men whose job was to care for these elephants. 

An illustration of the "roustabouts" performing one of the many hard manual labors in order for the circus to be set up.

 

A band of circus players positioned on top of an elephants ready to preform. 

My Topic the Circus

Today in class I grabbed for the book The Circus Age Culture& Society Under The American Big Top and immediately started reading the section called Spectacular Labor. I researched the types of jobs people in the circus did, the hierarchy within the circus and how the circus really functioned from an insiders view. There was so much information about this one section of the circus that I didn't get to read anything else. This topic is very interesting to me and I can't wait to learn even more!

Halloween, the increasingly popular holiday

Americans love to have fun decorations, costumes and candy for the holiday of Halloween, but how much are they willing to spend?

Halloween sales have increased by 9% this year, on average a customer spends $66 to $72 a year. In total 5.8 billion dollars is expected to be spent on Halloween items in US alone, an almost 17.7% increase from previous years. On the other hand sales for Christmas have decreased almost 50%, from what use to be 860 dollar spendings have now dropped to 430 dollars. Halloween sales have increased while many other holiday sales have decreased. Its crazy for me to think about how much money Americans really do spend on holidays each year.

Who did Frankenstein take to his prom?

His ghoul friend!

Why were woman excluded from the National Labor Union?

Woman were excluded from the National Labor Union because men believed that women were used to drive down their wages and that woman should be the ones to stay at home and take care of the household and children instead of working. Woman agreed to staying at home and watching over the household and children as long as conditions made it possible for men to support their families. If conditions made it impossible for men to support their families; women argued that they should have full and equal opportunities in the workplace.

Immigration

I think being a “nation of immigrants” means that our country has a large diversity in cultures and ethnics. The characteristics of the people that leave their homeland to go start a brand new life, in a world that they know close to nothing about, are very brave, enthusiastic and hardworking. These characteristics in my opinion helped the U.S. become the strongest country in the world.

These traits have helped the U.S. become so successful by hard work by driven people working in jobs. The courageousness also helped the U.S. grow because without these people America would not have been explored or cultivated. Hard work is ever present in the culture of America and this is because of the determined immigrants that swarmed into the country.

In my opinion I don’t feel very closely connected to the ancestors and immigrants that I have read about because I have not been put in such a difficult situation that they have. I have not had to work extremely hard jobs, decide whether or not to leave my country and I have not had to struggle to survive in a brand new world. All immigrants in my opinion were strong, determined brave souls. 

Faces of America

The TV episodes of Faces of America were about people learning about their backgrounds, where they came from and what kind of people they are related to. One might find out that they were related to royalty or might have thought they were American Indian but actually have more French in them than American Indian. One may learn what their great great grandparents did for a living, where they lived and what kind of life they lived. These episodes were about learning about the backgrounds of people and how they made it to America. 

From watching these episodes people will appreciate the effort and courage it took for their ancestors to come to America. They might learn how people ventured to America or how they lived before they can to the U.S. People after watching this show will become more interested in discovering their own past, about where they can from and the people that helped create the life they live today.

Carnegie's Philanthropy

I started finding out about Carnegie's Philanthropy here. Carnegie, in the eyes of the public, became a philanthropist in the year of 1901. Carnegie became a philanthropist because he wanted to change the way the public viewed him. He was viewed as a harsh powerful business man, but after the view changed he became a public-spirited man who cared very much about the education of his people. Carnegie gave away money by building Carnegie Libraries all over the U.S, U.K. and other English-speaking countries. He funded around 3,000 libraries scattered all around the world. He did so because he believed strongly in the movement of spelling reform and he cared so much about the education of his people. Carnegie also gave 10 million dollars to establish the Carnegie Trust for the University of Scotland. I learned that Carnegie was a giving man and that he loved him community along with their education. He wanted to help the world by creating libraries and universities so that people could be well educated just like him. Carnegie was a powerful yet giving man.