Al G. Barnes Circus

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Al G. Barnes Circus
Truly Big Show.JPG
Origin
CountryUnited States
Founder(s) Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse
Year founded1895
Information
FatePurchased by the American Circus Corporation in 1929. Stopped touring after 1938.

Al G. Barnes Circus was an American circus run by Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse that operated from 1898 to 1938.

Contents

History

Stonehouse started his show in 1895 with a pony, a phonograph, and a stereopticon. [1] By 1929, the "Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Show" had grown to five rings and it was purchased by the American Circus Corporation. American Circus already owned the Sells-Floto Circus, John Robinson Shows, Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, and Sparks Circus. That same year John Ringling, the owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, bought out the American Circus Corporation. [2] [3]

The five circuses that were part of that acquisition continued to tour under their own names, but were closed one-by-one during the Great Depression. In 1937, the Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Show and Sells Floto were combined into one circus. That circus, Al G. Barnes Sells-Floto toured in 1937 and 1938. [4]

Barnes circus ticket printed in newspaper with runner art depicting parade Barnes circus ticket printed in newspaper with runner art depicting parade.jpg
Barnes circus ticket printed in newspaper with runner art depicting parade

In 1938, the co-owned Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows was experiencing labor problems which ultimately led to the circus being closed after performances in Scranton, Pennsylvania on June 22. [5] After regrouping at the circus winter quarters in Sarasota, Florida the Ringling-Barnum circus trains were dispatched to Redfield, South Dakota where the two circuses met and were combined into a yet larger circus featuring many of the major stars from Ringling-Barnum. The circus toured from July 11 until November 27, 1938, as "Al G. Barnes and Sells-Floto Circus Presenting Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Stupendous New Features. [6] Among the attractions that were featured were big game hunter "Bring 'em Back Alive Frank Buck" and the gorilla Gargantua. When the show finished its season however, rather than returning to its own winter quarters in Baldwin Park, California, the circus trains traveled to the Ringling winter quarters near Sarasota, Florida, never to emerge again. [7] [8]

Animal trafficker and media personality Frank Buck claimed to have “provided Barnes with the bulk of his collection.” [9]

Notable performers

Although the Al G. Barnes Circus featured many traditional acts associated with circuses, it was known for its wild animal acts. Mabel Stark, the tiger trainer was associated with the circus for many years. [10] Stark joined the circus in 1911, first presenting a horse act. In 1916, she began presenting tigers in the center ring of the wild animal show. Although she left the circus in 1922, she returned in 1930. [11] Bert Nelson was another wild animal trainer who appeared on the circus in the late 1930s. [12] For many seasons, the elephants were trained and presented by Frank "Cheerful" Gardner. [13] [14] Eddie Woenecker became the circus' bandmaster in 1913 and stayed with the circus through 1922. He returned to the circus in 1936 and continued to perform in that capacity through the 1938 season. [15] Louis Roth was a noted lion tamer with the circus.

Ethnic exhibits

Per Barnes' memoirs, Al G. Barnes Circus included "circus Indians," said to be Flathead and Sioux. [16] In 1924 an advance article stated that "three tribes of Indians, Washoe, Escondido, and Apache," were traveling with the circus. [17] In the circus's 1926 route book, the cast listing for "big show performers" has three categories: ladies, gentlemen, and Indian tribes. [18]

Nabor Feliz, a Puebloan artist, sold his creations as part of the Barnes sideshow. [19] [20]

George and Willie Muse were two albino African-Americans who were exhibited as the "sheep-headed boys" and called Eko and Iko. [21] [22] They played mandolin and guitar. [16] The lives of the Muse brothers are the subject of the book Truevine by Beth Macy. [21]

Barnes imported a dozen Igorot people from the Philippines because they ate dog; "We could buy stray dogs from the pounds of various cities and give them a humane death...their exhibition created a greater sensation than I had imagined." [16]

Sideshow "freaks"

Animals


Barnes Zoo

Barnes Zoo, 1925 Barnes Zoo Evening Vanguard Venice, California Thursday, April 30, 1925.jpg
Barnes Zoo, 1925

The Al G. Barnes Circus was known as a "Wild Animal Show," and in December 1923 the Barnes Circus Zoo opened at the corner of Washington Boulevard and McLaughlin Avenue in Culver City.

The Zoo cost $79,000 to build and at the time was kept open even when the show was touring.

At that time, the zoo had a lion, a leopard, jaguars, pumas, wolves, coyotes, 20 Bengal tigers (including eight “new” ones said to be “cubs” unused to human interaction—their trainer described them as “cute little rascals”), a hippopotamus, Tusko the elephant who and was claimed to be “ten tons” or 20,000 lb (9,100 kg), another elephant named Ruth, [25] a herd of Bactrian camels, a herd of at least eight zebras, [26] llamas, alpacas, peccaries, elks, polar bears, seals, a boxing kangaroo named Fitz, [26] a chimpanzee named Joe Martin, actuallyJoe Martin (orangutan), a “monkey” named Jiggs who appears in an accompanying photo to be a juvenile orangutan and is elsewhere called a “jungle man”, [26] and “horses of every breed” including 12 Arabians and one called Billy. [26] [27] The live bird collection included American eagles, “black swans from Africa,” ostriches, storks, white peacocks, sauris cranes, pheasants, guinea hens, cockatoos and pigeons. [27]

Winter quarters

Venice

Barnes once told the Venice Vanguard newspaper that Abbot Kinney first brought him to Venice in 1910. [28] The Barnes Circus wintered in Venice every year but one between 1911 and 1919. [29] Having observed that the Sells Floto Circus wintering in Venice increased visitor traffic, Pacific Electric Railway Company built Barnes a building for the animals, located between the Venice Lagoon and Abbot Kinney's pier. [30] According to Barnes, PE built "the necessary barns and animal pens" and furnished water, light and "extra equipment." [16] The circus was able to earn additional revenue and keep the animals in practice with weekend and holiday shows for tourists visiting the amusements. [31] In 1911, their site was described as "just east of Trolleyway and south of Windward Avenue." [32]

As Barnes told it in 1927:

He supplied the paper and when we were putting up billboard paper in the various towns advertising the circus attractions, we also used to put up potters advertising the advantages of living in California...With the same idea in view named all our cars that traveled through the country after towns in California, such as Venice, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and so forth, all with a view of keeping the names of California towns before the public. It was effective advertising. I also instructed all employees of the circus, about 1,000 of them, to tell people about the wonders of California. I believe we were responsible for bringing thousands here.

Barnes City

Barnes City, California
Barnes City California 1924 Photos 99741 large LAPL Security Pacific National Bank Collection.jpg
"Barnes City" c. 1924; note the rail cars on the right using a spur of the Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey Line

Barnes wintered at Venice until November 1920 when the circus trains returned for the winter to a new location on Washington Boulevard between Venice and Culver City, California, the former Sbacha Ranch. [33] He stated, ""I bought the site on Washington boulevard when there were only a few houses between Venice and downtown Los Angeles." [28] Barnes named the area where the winter quarters and zoo were located Barnes City, California. [34]

The Los Angeles Times profiled and photographed the Barnes City menagerie several times between 1925 and 1927, reporting that it was a 120-acre (490,000 m2) site that contained over 4,000 animals, with a staff of more than 1180, 750 of who were performers in some 200 acts. [27] (In a later report from late 1927 Barnes claims 83 acres, “the largest unplatted section” of Los Angeles.) [35]

The writer of the 1926 report described “all-steel box cars, pullmans, and flat cars ready for the day the circus goes out"; the circus used the neighboring Redondo Beach via Playa Del Rey tracks to move in and out of the area. [27]

Attempted municipal incorporation

The effort to incorporate Barnes City as an independent municipality within Los Angeles County, California has been described as "extremely confusing." [36] As one history puts it, "Barnes City was never a community. It was instead a legal device to protect a circus and zoo from attempts to regulate its activities. It lasted as an incorporated entity for less than a year." [37]

Barnes voted for incorporation in February 1926 but faced community resistance. [38] [39] [40] Another account states, "At the time of the vote, there were 692 voters in Barnes City, 254 of the voters were employed by the circus. It is said that Al Barnes changed his entire circus schedule on election day so that the monkeys could vote without leaving their cages. Dissatisfied homeowners demanded a new election, but the Board of Directors, hand picked by Al Barnes, refused. The citizens took their case to the California Superior Court. They then circulated a petition seeking annexation to Los Angeles." [41] Moreover, residents of Walnut Grove, the so-called “shoestring strip” along Washington Blvd., had voted to be annexed to Culver City in hopes of obtaining bus service to and from their neighborhood; [38] this community's union with Culver City cut in half the proposed area of Barnes City. [38] In September 1926, the population voted for annexation to the city of Los Angeles. [39] At the time of the Los Angeles annexation vote in September 1926, the "circus city" was said to be 4.5 sq mi (12 km2) in area and have a population of approximately 2500 people, [39] although that may have been a bold overestimate. Per a neighborhood historian, "Unlike Mar Vista and Venice, which joined Los Angeles for water and other services, the homeowners of Barnes City sought freedom from living in a city built around a circus, run by the circus owner, whose brother was the mayor." [41]

Barnes City addition to the city of Los Angeles Barnes City addition to the city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.jpg
Barnes City addition to the city of Los Angeles

Circa 1927, Barnes City was still considered a tourist landmark along Washington Boulevard, considered equivalent in interest to Culver City, Cecil B. DeMille Studios, and Hal Roach Studios. [42] In February 1927, Barnes announced plans to move the circus' winter quarters to Baldwin Park, saying he wanted to sell and subdivide the land along Washington Blvd. because "it is pretty well built up around here now". [28] On or around August 8, 1927, a Superior Court judge undid all the attempts at incorporation and returned any unannexed land to the pool of unincorporated Los Angeles County land; no objection was filed on behalf of the erstwhile City, and that was the end of that. [43] In October a second judge undid the assignment to the county. Regardless, Barnes City had ceased to exist as an attempted municipality. [44] According to one account, "In April 1927, Barnes City became the 72nd Los Angeles annexation, adding 1160 acres. The location of Al Barnes Circus and Zoo, though, became part of Culver City." [33] The parts annexed to Los Angeles became today's Del Rey, Los Angeles. Barnes City was still recorded as a placename on a Thomas Brothers map likely produced in 1936. [45]

Baldwin Park

Following the annexation of the winter quarters property, Barnes relocated his winter quarters into an unincorporated area in the San Gabriel Valley in 1927. The 300 acres (120 ha) were on Valley Boulevard midway between Baldwin Park and El Monte. From 1927 until 1938 the circus returned to the Baldwin Park quarters, however at two separate locations. [46] At the conclusion of the 1932 season the show unloaded about a half mile east of the original location and that is where it remained until 1938 when most of the equipment was transferred to the Ringling winter quarters in Sarasota, Florida at the end of the season.

Notable events

The Barnes Circus train partially derailed at Motordrome in 1914, injuring four. [47]

On May 15, 1922, a large circus elephant known as Tusko escaped from the Al G. Barnes Circus while it was in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. The elephant demolished fences, knocked over laundry lines and trees, telephone poles, and overturned a Model T. [48]

On July 20, 1930, the circus suffered a train wreck in the small community of Canaan Station, New Brunswick, Canada. Three passengers were killed and 17 others were taken to hospital, where one later died of his injuries. [49]

Sometime between 1924 and 1927, a train car holding 26 horses burned near Chico, California, killing all the animals. [16]

Films

Spangles (1926) Hippopotamus 1926 Spangles Barnes Circus.jpg
Spangles (1926)

Barnes threw a "jungle dinner" in honor of the Warner Brothers serial In the Shadows of the Jungle. [50] The 1922 film used some 1500 Barnes animals as well as many human performers. [51]

Spangles (1926) used a number of Barnes performers and animals. [52]

Several Barnes performers appeared as café entertainers in Their Purple Moment , a 1927 silent comedy starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

King of the Jungle is a 1933 Paramount Pictures film that includes animals, performers and scenes from the Al G. Barnes Circus and winter quarters in 1932. Although the movie is set on the lot of "Corey's Circus," it was actually filmed on location at the first Baldwin Park winter quarters. Several acts from the circus that season are featured, including Mabel Stark's tiger act. The tigers are mid-performance at the time that the big top catches fire during the film's climactic moments. [53]

Names

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Died". Time . August 3, 1931. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2008. Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse (Al G. Barnes), 68, circusman, founder and longtime owner of Barnes's Circus; after a lingering illness; in Indio, California. He started his show in 1895 with a pony, a phonograph, a stereopticon. A colorful participant at every performance, he would lead the opening parade seated on the head of a mammoth elephant. Two years ago he sold his interests to Circusman John Ringling for $1,000,000.
  2. ↑ "Bailey and the Ringlings". Feld Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2013. In 1929, reacting to the fact that his competitor, the American Circus Corporation, had signed a contract to perform in New York's Madison Square Garden, Ringling purchased American Circus for $1.7-million. In one fell swoop, Ringling had absorbed five major shows: Sells-Floto, Al G. Barnes, Sparks, Hagenbeck-Wallace, and John Robinson.
  3. ↑ "Man Who Started as a Clown Now Controls the Entire Big Top Industry". The New York Times . September 10, 1929. Retrieved February 12, 2009. John Ringling, head of the Ringling Brothers-Barnum Bailey Combined Circus, has purchased the five circuses, with Winter quarters, of the American Circus Corporation, it was learned yesterday.
  4. ↑ "Al G. Barnes & Sells-Floto Circus routes 1937, 1938". Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Chicago Tribune - Historical Newspapers". September 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Al G. Barnes & Sells-Floto Circus routes 1937, 1938". Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ Duble, Charles E. (July 1957). "Passing of Circuses from the American Scene". Bandwagon. 1 (2): 4. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ Bradbury, Joseph T. (July–August 1963). "The Al G. Barnes Winter Quarters at Baldwin Park, Calif". Bandwagon . 7 (4): 3–6. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ Buck, Frank (2000). Bring 'em back alive : the best of Frank Buck. Steven Lehrer. Lubbock, Tex.: Texas Tech University Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN   0-89672-430-1. OCLC   43207125.
  10. ↑ "Mabel Stark: The Lady with the Tigers". February 7, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Mabel Stark Female Circus Lion and Tiger Trainer".
  12. ↑ "Popular Science". Bonnier Corporation. July 1937.
  13. ↑ "Al G. Barnes' 1922". Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Cheerful Gardner #3".
  15. ↑ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 4, 1956.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Robeson, Dave; Barnes, Al G. (1935). Al G. Barnes, Master Showman. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton. OCLC   490639965.
  17. ↑ "The Long Beach Telegram and The Long Beach Daily News 28 May 1924, page 27". Newspapers.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  18. ↑ "The Official Route Book Al. G. Barnes Circus Season 1926; Page 5". digital.library.illinoisstate.edu. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Season Route Al. G. Barnes Circus 1924 - Page 33". digital.library.illinoisstate.edu. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Finding Aid to the Nabor Feliz Netzahualt Papers MS.639". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  21. 1 2 "Kidnapped, Then Forced Into The Sideshow: The True Story Of The Muse Brothers". NPR.org. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  22. ↑ Macy, Beth (2016). Truevine : two brothers, a kidnapping, and a mother's quest : a true story of the Jim Crow South. New York. ISBN   978-0-316-33754-0. OCLC   953164761.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ↑ "Klinkharts Talented Midgets. Presented by Al G. Barnes". Getty Images. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Black Diamond". Time magazine . October 28, 1929. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009. Curley Pickett has been a farm hand for the last two years in Corsicana, Tex. Before that he was an elephant trainer for the Al. G. Barnes circus where his special charge was Black Diamond, a land elephant. Last week Farm Hand Pickett, learning that the old circus was coming to town, invited his employer, Mrs. Eva Donohue, to see Black Diamond. ... Black Diamond spied them, gave Pickett a malevolent look, wrapped him in his trunk and tossed him over a box car. The nine-ton beast then smashed Mrs. Donohue to the ground, trampled the life out of her. When Pickett had been sent to the hospital, keepers held a council, wired to Circus Owner John Ringling for advice. Mr. Ringling condemned Black Diamond to death. ...
  25. ↑ SPRING is HERE if you don't believe it look at the pictures. (March 28, 1926). Los Angeles Times.
  26. 1 2 3 4 "HOME with the CIRCUS FOLK at Barnes City." Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1927.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Read, Kendall. "Winter Home of Circus Holds Thrills Galore: Quarters of Al G. Barnes show Teem with Activity as Crews Prepare for New Season on Road; Animals Furnish Center of Interest; Secrets of Sawdust Ring." Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1926.
  28. 1 2 3 "Barnes Plans Taking Show to New Home". Evening Vanguard. February 16, 1927. p. 1. Retrieved March 30, 2024. & "Barnes Circus Will Have New Winter Home (part 2 of 2)". p. 6.
  29. ↑ Reynolds, Chang (March–April 1984). "Al G. Barnes Circus: 1919–1920 Seasons". Bandwagon: Journal of the Circus Historical Society . 28 (2): 4–20. Retrieved November 28, 2022– via Internet Archive.
  30. ↑ Reynolds, Chang (March–April 1982). "The Al G. Barnes Big 3-Ring Trained Wild Animal Circus: 1911–1912 Seasons". Bandwagon: Journal of the Circus Historical Society . 26 (2): 3–10. Retrieved November 28, 2022– via Internet Archive.
  31. ↑ Reynolds, Chang (September–October 1982). "Al G. Barnes Circus: 1913–1914 Seasons". Bandwagon: Journal of the Circus Historical Society . 26 (5): 4–12. Retrieved November 28, 2022– via Internet Archive.
  32. ↑ "The Los Angeles Times 11 Nov 1911, page 14". Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  33. 1 2 "Barnes City (1920-1927)". waterandpower.org. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  34. ↑ Jame Ricci (February 6, 2000). "Beneath the Excavator, a Bit of History Is Prepared for the Grave". Los Angeles Times .
  35. ↑ "MUSEUM TO STAND ALONE: PROPOSED AL G. BARNES REPOSITORY IN PORTLAND INDEPENDENT OF SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION." Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1927.
  36. ↑ UCLA Bureau of Governmental Research (1938). Studies in Local Government, Issue 14.
  37. ↑ Prosser, Daniel (July 2016). "Theme: BARNES CITY, 1919-1926". Pre-consolidation Communities of Los Angeles, 1862-1932 (PDF). City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning Office of Historic Resources. pp. 202–205.
  38. 1 2 3 "TOWN FEARS SIMIAN COGNOMEN: IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION FIGHTS INCORPORATION OF CIRCUS HOME AS BARNES CITY, DREADING NICKNAME SUCH AS MONKEYVILLE TOWN FIGHTS INCORPORATION." Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1925, pp. 2.
  39. 1 2 3 "BARNES CITY DECIDES FOR ANNEXATION: COUNT SHOWS ALMOST TWO TO ONE IN FAVOR OF UNITING WITH LOS ANGELES." Los Angeles Times, September 15, 1926.
  40. ↑ "BARNES CIRCUS RETURNS HOME: AGGREGATION BACK TO ENJOY SOUTHLAND WINTER GOES TO NEW QUARTERS AT BALDWIN PARK FREE PERFORMANCE TODAY TO COMPLIMENT TOWN." Los Angeles Times, November 22, 1927.
  41. 1 2 Howell, Glen (Fall 2009). "Where Was Barnes City?" (PDF). SOMAR: South Mar Vista Neighborhood Association Newsletter. IV (4).
  42. ↑ Cavalier, Nita. "On Second "Times" Short Trip about Los Angeles: TRIP LEADS MOTORISTS TO BEACHES Fifty-One-Mile Drive Reveals Scenic Spots to Autoist." Los Angeles Times, August 14, 1927, pp. 1.
  43. ↑ “BABY TOWN CHOKED TO DEATH: USURPATION OF MUNICIPAL PREROGATIVES CAUSES SAD END OF BARNES CITY, ONE-TIME HAPPY ENTITY, BUT NOW JUST CORPSE IN COUNTY GRAVE." Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1927, pp. 1.
  44. ↑ "BARNES CITY IN LEGAL FOGBANK: DECISION FAILS TO SETTLE ITS MUNICIPAL STATUS JUDGE SETS ASIDE DECREE THAT ABOLISHED CORPORATION COURT HAS NO JURISDICTION TO RULE ON VITAL ISSUE." Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1927.
  45. ↑ Creason, Glen (November 19, 2014). "CityDig: Barnes City and L.A.'s Long Lost Circus Los Angeles Magazine". Lamag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  46. ↑ "Bandwagon, July 1963". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  47. ↑ "Los Angeles Herald 28 November 1914 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  48. ↑ "Death Takes Tusko, Big Elephant That Lived Stormy Life". Chicago Tribune . June 11, 1933. Retrieved October 16, 2010. Tusko one of the largest and most publicized elephants In captivity survived hundreds of death threats and other perils brought on by his temperament only ...
  49. ↑ "Riding the Rails: 30 - Circus Wreck". New Brunswick Railway Museum.
  50. ↑ "The Billboard 1922-02-11: Vol 34 Iss 6 - Lantern". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  51. ↑ "Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1921-Mar 1922) - Lantern". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  52. ↑ Kingsley, Grace. "The Los Angeles Times 09 May 1926, page 61". Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  53. ↑ "Bandwagon, July 1963". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
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