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Introduction
The larger circuses would announce their arrival in town with a circus parade. The parade was a natural advertisement for the circus and would attract huge crowds.
In 1843 Edwin Hughes, an acrobat and manager of Batty’s Circus in London, set up his own circus, ‘Hughes’ Mammoth Equestrian Establishment’. To advertise the arrival of his circus in town, he mounted an impressive parade which featured decorated and gilded coaches pulled by elephants and camels. Because the parade was so spectacular, Hughes printed equally impressive posters to advertise the time of the arrival of the parade in the towns he was visiting. Hughes, suitably dressed in exotic costume, rode in the lead carriage, advertised as ‘The Burmese Imperial State Carriage drawn by Elephants’.
Hughes retired in 1847 on the profits of his circus and sold his chariots to America where they helped create the American tradition of circus parade wagons.
Other British circuses began to feature parades. Lord George Sanger’s parades were lavish events. His wife would travel in the lead carriage sometimes dressed as Britannia with a gold shield and trident and a lion at her feet. This is a photograph of one of his carved and gilded circus wagons.
However, nothing could rival the American circus parade. In 1880 Forepaugh’s parade took five hours to travel through the streets of New York.
When Barnum’s came to London’s Olympia in 1889 they travelled with 450 performers, 300 horses, 21 elephants, 32 cages and 35 parade and baggage wagons. Unfortunately the London authorities would not allow them on the streets. Seven years later when Barnum and Bailey did an extensive British tour, parades were held almost everywhere with a three mile procession, five band wagons, hundreds of mounted elephants and a steam engine.
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Barnum & Bailey's Circus Parade |
