Fred Dahlinger

I'm really fascinated with WI's early circus history. Particularly places like Delavan, a town founded by circus folk. Unfortunately, Dahlinger succeeded in making an interesting subject somewhat boring and tedious. You'd think it would be easy to make a book about the circus exciting, I mean, it's THE CIRCUS! However, Dahlinger succeeds in bleeding out all its magic out onto the sawdust floor. It was published in part with the Circus World Museum, so I'm sure they made sure to only show the circus in a favorable light. The book trudged on with endless statements like, so-and-so's circus traveled to this-or-that town in year X; then moved on to this town in year Y; then listing how many elephants, workmen, etc. -- lather, rinse and repeat. There's practically no analysis whatsoever as to what the circus meant to either townsfolk who looked forward to the circus' annual arrival or the showmen who ran them, other than a means to make a buck; few amusing stories; little insight into what these people were like, just names and dates.

We all know weird sideshows and freak shows were a staple of many of these acts, but if one went only by this book, one would think that a circus featured only summersaults on horseback and a handful of pachyderms. I became really exasperated when the author alluded to a few "unsavory and unscrupulous" grifters and showmen running acts based out of Delavan, but then quickly moved on, apparently assuming the reader would rather hear about the Ringling Bros. I wanted to hear more about the swindlers!

The section on the aforementioned showmen of Baraboo was interesting -- the best part of the book. I had no idea how rich some of these circus men got. Seems it was a VERY lucrative business for some. Many of them (not even counting P.T. Barnum) became multi-millionaires. You can imagine what that wealth meant in the 1880s. I plan to check out Circus World Museum this Spring. I think I'll have a lot more appreciation for the circus relics now that I've read this book. To be fair, the author's research is commendable, especially considering he had to dig up info on circuses that operated in the upper Midwest going all the way back to the 1820s. Fascinating vintage photographs too.

In short, the book is packed with history and great for research, but could use a bit more pizzazz.… (mehr)