Medical Transport

After looking around for some interesting pictures on this website I decided I would find a picture based around medicine. So I typed in medicine on the keyword finder and the first picture that popped up was this one. In this picture a cargo hold of a hospital barge has been converted into a functioning ward. This shows that there was a numerous amount of injured soldier, so many that there was not enough room for them all. Converting a cargo hold into a functioning ward shows how there was more injured soldiers than people expected there to be. Every inch of floor space that could be used was used during these times. 

Interesting facts

I learned all of the ports that the ship docked at, what day they arrived and what day they departed from this website. I also learned that by sending the 16 ships on their trip around the world Roosevelt was sending the message that the US had arrived as a global naval power. This website has helped me learn all about the Great White Fleet.

Learning in a day

Today I discovered that while in egypt word was received of an earthquake in Sicily. America trying to show off its friendship with Italy decided to offer aid to the sufferers. The ships Connecticut, Illinois, Culgoa and Yankton left for Messina and the crew of the Illinois recovered the bodies of the American consul and his wife who were caught in ruins.  I also learned that 100,000 people showed up for the arrival of the fleet in New Zealand which is 10% of their whole population! In Melbourne, Australia there was a dinner planned for 3,000 soldiers but only 7 of them showed up! They enjoyed Melbourne so much that they wanted to stay out and enjoy the party as long as they could! I learned a lot from these two websites and got most of my information from this website. 

What I've discovered

So far today I have discovered about all the different places where the Great White Fleet landed. They pretty much traveled the world! I would have loved to go on a trip like this for 14 months. It would have been such an amazing experience! One thing I found particularly interesting was that there was a small "hospital ship" following the 16 large battleships. I thought it was interesting that instead of having their own mini hospital in each ship they instead had one large hospital ship. Very cool fact in my opinion. One other thing I found out that was cool was that the fleet on their way to the Suez Canal, celebrated Christmas onboard! They decorated the ship with palm trees and streamers and played holiday games. This trip around the world sounds like a ton of fun to me!

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!