Circus Building
Encyclopedia
The Circus Building is an exhibit building at Shelburne Museum
in Shelburne, Vermont
. It houses a collection of circus posters, Gustav A. Dentzel Carousel animals, and elaborately carved miniature circuses, including those by Roy Arnold and Edgar Kirk.
was invented in Europe it reached its fullest development in the United States
between 1870 and 1930. during this time, elaborate carousels became fixtures of the new city parks built for a public with increasing amounts of leisure time and disposable income. Hundreds of park carousels were built by highly skilled woodcarvers and painters while an even greater number of smaller, portable carousels were made for use at country fairs and carnivals.
Shelburne Museum
owns examples of both types of carousels: a small, portable machine operates outside the Circus Building, while the animals, chariots and painted panels from a part carousel manufactured by the Gustav Dentzel Company of Philadelphia are exhibited inside the Circus Building. Figures by a number of other manufacturers, both European and American, also are exhibited in the Circus building.
The German-born Dentzel opened America’s first carousel business in 1867. Detnzel’s shop produced the most realistic and graceful of all carousel animals; his carvers paid enormous attention to anatomical detail and his painters rendered every nuance of the animals’ coloration. Shelburne Museum
’s Dentzels are from a forty-animal carousel completed about 1902. The three-row machine carried twenty-nine horses and four chariot
s; menagerie figures include three giraffe
s, three goat
s, three deer
, a lion
and a tiger
. The figures were finish-carved by Daniel Muller, the most skilled of Dentzel’s craftspeople. All the animals are in their original factory paint; this is almost unheard of for carousel figures because most carousels were repainted frequently as part of routine maintenance. Several of the figures have recently been conserved; layers of discolored, non-original linseed oil were removed to reveal the richly colored and complex paint patterns applied by Dentzel’s masterful painters. All forty animals will eventually receive the same professional treatment.
The small, portable carousel outside the circus building was made about 1920 by the Allan Herschell Company of North Tonawanda, New York
. In 1883 herschell began producing carousels designed to endure hard wear and frequent travel. The horses were smaller and more compact than those made for permanent park carousels by such companies as Dentzel and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company
heads and legs were tucked close to the bodies to minimize breakage and the machines could be easily taken apart, moved, and reassembled.
was an annual event awaited with great anticipation. Weeks before the circus was due to arrive, colorful posters appeared on barns and fences, announcing the dates and new performers. When the circus arrived, excitement grew as wagons, elephant
s, and clown
s paraded through town.
Traveling circuses are represented at the Shelburne Museum
by the vintage advertising posters that line the inside wall of the Circus Building. The Museum’s collection of over five hundred circus posters is among the finest and most comprehensive in the country. It includes many extremely rare, early posters as well as examples from all the major circuses of the Golden Age of the American traveling circus (ca. 1870-1940), including Barnum and Bailey, Ringling Brothers
, Adam Forepaugh
, John B. Doris, and the Sells Brothers. The posters are typically brightly colored and attention-grabbing. Most feature dramatic new acts or exotic animals; many make outrageous (and sometimes utterly false) claims – the largest, the smallest, the most dangerous, the rarest, the one and only, etc.
. Build on a one-inch to one-foot scale, the parade required thirty years to complete. Four other skilled woodcarvers worked with Arnold on the parade, which features accurate reproductions of wagons used by circuses of the Golden Age. The miniature parade is complemented by exhibits of pony-sized wagons and several life-sized figures originally carved by Samuel Robb for Barnum and Bailey tableau wagons in the 1890s. Robb is best known for his trade figures, several of which are exhibited in Stagecoach Inn
.
The Kirk Bros. Miniature Circus is a complete three-ringed folk art circus created by Edgar Kirk of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
, over a period of nearly fifty years. Kirk, who worked as a brakeman on the Pennsylvania railroad, began the circus in 1910 when his children were small and continued to work on it long after they were grown. Working at night after twelve-hour days with the railroad, Kirk cut the figures for his circus from scrap lumber on a treadle-operated jigsaw
and completed the carving with an ordinary penknife
. Only the nails and paint were specially purchased. The Kirk circus, complete with animals acts, clowns, trapeze artists, bands, side shows and bleachers full of spectators and vendors, is a monument to Kirk’s creativity, ingenuity and lifelong passion for the circus.
Also on exhibit are scale models of a canal boat circus. From 1882 to 1887 residents of ports along the Erie and Oswego canals of central New York
State were visited each summer by Sig Sautelle’s big shows, one of the only circuses ever to travel by boat. Sautelle, born George Satterlee (1848–1928), was a colorful showman and one of the most successful promoters of his time. The wooden models of Sautelle’s two circus canal boats, built by Milo Smith of Herkimer, New York, provide a vivid picture of this unique regional circus.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
in Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. It houses a collection of circus posters, Gustav A. Dentzel Carousel animals, and elaborately carved miniature circuses, including those by Roy Arnold and Edgar Kirk.
History
In the 1950s the Museum conceived of the design for the Circus Building, completed in 1965, to meet the requirements of exhibiting the five-hundred-foot-long Roy Arnold miniature circus. Traversing the grand hallway of the large horseshoe-shaped, spruce and cedar structure gives the impression of walking through the entire concourse of a circus parade. Outside, the large boulders that form the building’s foundation accentuate the structure’s dramatic shape and serve as the backdrop for the Daylily Garden, planted in 2008.Carousel Figures
Although the carouselCarousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
was invented in Europe it reached its fullest development in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1870 and 1930. during this time, elaborate carousels became fixtures of the new city parks built for a public with increasing amounts of leisure time and disposable income. Hundreds of park carousels were built by highly skilled woodcarvers and painters while an even greater number of smaller, portable carousels were made for use at country fairs and carnivals.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
owns examples of both types of carousels: a small, portable machine operates outside the Circus Building, while the animals, chariots and painted panels from a part carousel manufactured by the Gustav Dentzel Company of Philadelphia are exhibited inside the Circus Building. Figures by a number of other manufacturers, both European and American, also are exhibited in the Circus building.
The German-born Dentzel opened America’s first carousel business in 1867. Detnzel’s shop produced the most realistic and graceful of all carousel animals; his carvers paid enormous attention to anatomical detail and his painters rendered every nuance of the animals’ coloration. Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s Dentzels are from a forty-animal carousel completed about 1902. The three-row machine carried twenty-nine horses and four chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
s; menagerie figures include three giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s, three goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s, three deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
and a tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
. The figures were finish-carved by Daniel Muller, the most skilled of Dentzel’s craftspeople. All the animals are in their original factory paint; this is almost unheard of for carousel figures because most carousels were repainted frequently as part of routine maintenance. Several of the figures have recently been conserved; layers of discolored, non-original linseed oil were removed to reveal the richly colored and complex paint patterns applied by Dentzel’s masterful painters. All forty animals will eventually receive the same professional treatment.
The small, portable carousel outside the circus building was made about 1920 by the Allan Herschell Company of North Tonawanda, New York
North Tonawanda, New York
North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 31,568 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its south border...
. In 1883 herschell began producing carousels designed to endure hard wear and frequent travel. The horses were smaller and more compact than those made for permanent park carousels by such companies as Dentzel and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Philadelphia Toboggan Company
The Philadelphia Toboggan Company is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world.Mack Rides of Germany dates back to 1781, but it did not start building coasters until 1921 Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry B...
heads and legs were tucked close to the bodies to minimize breakage and the machines could be easily taken apart, moved, and reassembled.
Circus Posters
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the circusCircus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
was an annual event awaited with great anticipation. Weeks before the circus was due to arrive, colorful posters appeared on barns and fences, announcing the dates and new performers. When the circus arrived, excitement grew as wagons, elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, and clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
s paraded through town.
Traveling circuses are represented at the Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
by the vintage advertising posters that line the inside wall of the Circus Building. The Museum’s collection of over five hundred circus posters is among the finest and most comprehensive in the country. It includes many extremely rare, early posters as well as examples from all the major circuses of the Golden Age of the American traveling circus (ca. 1870-1940), including Barnum and Bailey, Ringling Brothers
Ringling brothers
The Ringling brothers were seven siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of America's largest circuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in McGregor, Iowa and raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, they were the children of Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling...
, Adam Forepaugh
Adam Forepaugh
Adam John Forepaugh was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and circus owner. He owned and operated a circus from 1865 through 1890 under various names including Forepaugh's Circus, The Great Forepaugh Show, The Adam Forepaugh Circus, and Forepaugh & The Wild West.-Biography:Forepaugh was born...
, John B. Doris, and the Sells Brothers. The posters are typically brightly colored and attention-grabbing. Most feature dramatic new acts or exotic animals; many make outrageous (and sometimes utterly false) claims – the largest, the smallest, the most dangerous, the rarest, the one and only, etc.
Circus Carvings
The Museum owns three elaborate carved miniature circuses. The Circus Parade, which runs over five hundred feet through the circus building, was begun in 1925 by Roy Arnold of Hardwick, VermontHardwick, Vermont
Hardwick is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,174 at the 2000 census.It contains the incorporated village of Hardwick and the unincorporated villages of East Hardwick and Mackville...
. Build on a one-inch to one-foot scale, the parade required thirty years to complete. Four other skilled woodcarvers worked with Arnold on the parade, which features accurate reproductions of wagons used by circuses of the Golden Age. The miniature parade is complemented by exhibits of pony-sized wagons and several life-sized figures originally carved by Samuel Robb for Barnum and Bailey tableau wagons in the 1890s. Robb is best known for his trade figures, several of which are exhibited in Stagecoach Inn
Stagecoach Inn (Vermont)
The Stagecoach Inn is an exhibit building located at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.-History:Hezekiah Barnes built Stagecoach Inn in Charlotte, Vermont in 1783...
.
The Kirk Bros. Miniature Circus is a complete three-ringed folk art circus created by Edgar Kirk of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, over a period of nearly fifty years. Kirk, who worked as a brakeman on the Pennsylvania railroad, began the circus in 1910 when his children were small and continued to work on it long after they were grown. Working at night after twelve-hour days with the railroad, Kirk cut the figures for his circus from scrap lumber on a treadle-operated jigsaw
Jigsaw
Jigsaw may refer to:* Jigsaw , a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves* Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces- Film and television :* Jigsaw , a 1949 film noir...
and completed the carving with an ordinary penknife
Penknife
A penknife, or pen knife, is a small folding pocket knife, originally used for cutting or sharpening a quill to make a pen nib. Originally, penknives did not necessarily have folding blades, but resembled a scalpel or wood knife by having a short, fixed blade at the end of a long handle...
. Only the nails and paint were specially purchased. The Kirk circus, complete with animals acts, clowns, trapeze artists, bands, side shows and bleachers full of spectators and vendors, is a monument to Kirk’s creativity, ingenuity and lifelong passion for the circus.
Also on exhibit are scale models of a canal boat circus. From 1882 to 1887 residents of ports along the Erie and Oswego canals of central New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
State were visited each summer by Sig Sautelle’s big shows, one of the only circuses ever to travel by boat. Sautelle, born George Satterlee (1848–1928), was a colorful showman and one of the most successful promoters of his time. The wooden models of Sautelle’s two circus canal boats, built by Milo Smith of Herkimer, New York, provide a vivid picture of this unique regional circus.