Book Description
Life in a Three-Ring Circus is a colorful and captivating volume highlighting IndianaÍs long association with the circus industry, which began with the Great Wallace Circus in Peru, 1884. It contains 32 full-color posters from the collection of the Indiana Historical Society and oral histories from Hoosiers who participated in life under the big top.


About the Author
Sharon L. Smith, a free-lance writer, conducted interviews with many of the performers and also wrote a brief history of the circus in Indiana. Stephen J. Fletcher, curator of visual collections at the Society, also contributed an overview of the circus posters.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Indiana's circus history begins with the work of two men: William Cameron Coup and Benjamin Wallace. Born in 1837 in Mount Pleasant, Coup "perfected the technique of plastering the countryside with gaudy posters," while Wallace founded the Great Wallace Circus in Peru, Indiana in 1884. Life in a Three-Ring Circus is a colorful and captivating volume highlighting Indiana's long association with the circus industry. It contains 32 full-color posters from the collection of the Indiana Historical Society and oral histories from Hoosiers who participated in life under the big top.

Among the stories in the book are those of John Fugate, ringmaster, International Circus Hall of Fame; Tom Dunwoody, president, International Circus Hall of Fame; Mickey King, retired trapeze artist; Pat Kelly, circus clown and son of the famous Emmett Kelly; Ruby Haag Brown, animal trainer and performer, who was carried about in an elephant's mouth; Gilbert Taylor, curator of the Crispus Attucks Museum and son of a circus sideshow musician; Joyce Ferguson, retired performer and daughter of Clyde Beatty; and the story of Lillian Leitzel and Alfredo Codono, whose circus romance is a tragic tale.

The posters depict circuses both with and without Indiana ties, including: Clyde Beatty, Clyde Beatty￯﾿ﾽCole Brothers, Famous George W. Cole, Cole Brothers, Cristiani Brothers, Hagen Brothers, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Al G. Kelly and Miller Brothers, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, and Russell Brothers.

About the Authors: Sharon L. Smith, a free-lance writer, conducted interviews with many of the performers and also wrote a brief history of the circus in Indiana.