| Sells Brothers Circus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Origin | |
| Founder(s) | Ephraim, William, Lewis and Peter Sells [1] |
| Information | |
| Fate | Merged with Floto Dog & Pony Show into the Sells Floto Circus |
Sells Brothers Circus was a circus founded by Ephraim, William, Lewis and Peter Sells in Columbus, Ohio, United States.
The circus, more formally known as the Sells Brothers' Quadruple Alliance, Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus, ran from 1862 to 1863 and again from 1871 to 1895. The circus was based out of Columbus, Ohio in an area that was known as Sellsville in Clinton Township along the Olentangy River near King Avenue. [1] Sellsville was of considerable size, and many animals and staff lived in the area during the off seasons. [2] It merged with the circus operated by Adam Forepaugh to form the Forepaugh-Sells Brothers' Circus in 1900. [3] It later merged with the Floto Dog & Pony Show to become the Sells Floto Circus.
The 1901 silent film Day at the Circus by Edison Manufacturing Company features a parade and horse race from the circus.
Topsy was a female Asian elephant who was electrocuted at Coney Island, New York, in January 1903. Born in Southeast Asia around 1875, Topsy was secretly brought into the United States soon thereafter and added to the herd of performing elephants at the Forepaugh Circus, who fraudulently advertised her as the first elephant born in America. During her 25 years at Forepaugh, Topsy gained a reputation as a "bad" elephant and, after killing a spectator in 1902, was sold to Coney Island's Sea Lion Park. When Sea Lion was leased out at the end of the 1902 season and replaced by Luna Park, Topsy was involved in several well-publicized incidents, attributed to the actions of either her drunken handler or the park's new publicity-hungry owners, Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy.
Karl L. King was a United States march music bandmaster and composer. He is best known as the composer of "Barnum and Bailey's Favorite".
Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows was a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a German immigrant, August Frederick Rüngeling, who changed his name to Ringling once he settled in America. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alf T., Charles, John and Henry. The Ringling family lived in McGregor, Iowa, for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The family then lived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1875. In 1907 Ringling Bros. acquired the Barnum & Bailey Circus, merging them in 1919 to become Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, promoted as The Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey closed on May 21, 2017, following weakening attendance and high operating costs.
Victorian Village is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, north and near west of downtown. It is an established neighborhood built when a streetcar line first ran along Neil Avenue around 1900 with a fair number of established trees for an urban setting. To preserve, protect and enhance the unique architectural and historical features, the Victorian Village Historic District was established in 1973. Columbus Monthly named this neighborhood the top place to live for Arts and Entertainment, with fun right around the corner in the Short North as its neighborhood hangout.
The Chattahoochee and Gulf Railroad was a short line railroad operating from 2003 to 2006 between Columbus, Georgia and Dothan, Alabama, on former Central of Georgia and Norfolk Southern tracks. Initially the railroad was a subsidiary of Gulf and Ohio Railways. In 2006, the railroad was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and combined with the adjacent H and S Railroad out of Dothan to form the Chattahoochee Bay Railroad.
The Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus was a circus that traveled across America in the early part of the 20th century. At its peak, it was the second-largest circus in America next to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was based in Peru, Indiana.
John Nicholas Ringling was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros World's Greatest Shows to create a virtual monopoly of traveling circuses and helped shape the modern circus. In addition to owning and managing many of the largest circuses in the United States, he was also a rancher, a real estate developer and art collector. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1987.
Adam John Forepaugh was an American horse trader and circus owner. From 1865 through 1890 his circus operated under various names including Forepaugh's Circus, Forepaugh's Gigantic Circus and Menagerie, The Forepaugh Show, 4-PAW Show, The Adam Forepaugh Circus, and Forepaugh & The Wild West.
Clinton Township is one of the seventeen townships of Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 4,499 people in the township.
Pasqual Piñón (1889–1929), known as The Two-Headed Mexican, was a performer with the Sells-Floto Circus in the early 1900s. A railroad worker from Texas, Piñón was discovered by a sideshow promoter whose attention had been caught by a large benign cyst or tumor at the top of Piñón's head. The promoter drafted Piñón into his freak show and had a fake face made of wax to place onto the growth, allowing the claim that Piñón had two heads. Some reports state that it was made of silver and surgically placed under the skin. After several years of touring, the circus manager paid to have the growth removed, and Piñón returned to Texas.
Benjamin Franklin Keith was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.
Green Lawn Abbey, built in 1927, is a historic mausoleum located at 700 Greenlawn Avenue in South Franklinton in Franklin Township, near Columbus, Ohio. On June 27, 2007, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Sells Floto Circus was a combination of the Floto Dog & Pony Show and the Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States during the early 1900s.
John L. Sullivan,, was a tuskless male Asian elephant that performed in the Adam Forepaugh circus and, later, in the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.
The American Circus Corporation consisted of the Sells-Floto Circus, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, the John Robinson Circus, the Sparks Circus, and the Al G. Barnes Circus. It was owned by Jerry Mugivan, Bert Bowers and Ed Ballard. They sold the company in 1929 to John Nicholas Ringling for $1.7 million. With that acquisition, Ringling owned virtually every traveling circus in America.
Al G. Barnes Circus was an American circus run by Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse.
John H. Robinson created the John Robinson Circus, whose winter quarters were in Terrace Park, Ohio.
The Circus House, also known as the Sells House, is a building in the Victorian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The three-story, 7,414 sq ft (688.8 m2) house was designed by Yost & Packard in an eclectic style, using elements from numerous architectural styles. It was built for the family of Peter Sells, one of the owners of the Sells Brothers Circus. The house is located at the northwest corner of Goodale Park, one of the first city parks in Columbus.
Sells may refer to:
Perry George Lowery, commonly known as P. G. Lowery, was an American composer, conductor, cornet player, and a circus sideshow manager of African American entertainment and musical ensembles.
The combined Adam Forepaugh-Sells Brothers' Circus will be in Hartford next week Tuesday. ...
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