Circus Hagenbeck-Wallace

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The Circus Hagenbeck-Wallace was an American circus at the beginning of the 20th century. At the height of his career it was America's second largest circus after Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus . The home of the circus was the city of Peru , Indiana .

history

Prehistory and foundation

Carl Hagenbeck (1844–1913) from Hamburg was one of the first trainers to train their animals by means of rewards - instead of the usual punishment up to now. He founded the "Carl Hagenbeck Circus".

Benjamin Wallace bought a circus together with his business partner James Anderson in 1884 and founded "The Great Wallace Show" and toured America with this show. In 1890 Wallace separated from his partner and acquired his shares and founded the circus under the name "BE Wallace Circus".

In 1907 Wallace succeeded in acquiring the "Carl Hagenbeck Circus". He merged this with his own circus under the new name "Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus". Hagenbeck sued Wallace's use of his name, but lost the case.

Unlucky streak

In 1913, the circus lost a large part of its livestock during the flood disaster on the Wabash River . In total, the circus lost 7 elephants , 21 lions and tigers and 8 dressage horses . In the same year Wallace sold his shares in Ed Ballard from French Link .

In 1918 one of the worst accidents in American circus history occurred. After the engine driver of an empty train fell asleep, on June 22, 1918 at around 4:00 a.m. near Hammond , the train drove unchecked towards the end of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus train. A fire broke out due to the leaking kerosene in the lamps of the sleeping cars , which quickly spread through the wooden superstructures of the cars . As a result of the collision, 86 people died and another 127 were injured. Most of the victims were buried in Forrest Park , Cook County . The section of the cemetery is now known as "Showmen's Rest".

→ Main article : Hammond Railway Accident

reconstruction

According to the motto "The Show must go on", many competing circus companies helped with the reconstruction by lending Hagenbeck-Wallace equipment and artists. Thanks to the quick help, the circus was able to go on tour again quickly. In total, only two guest appearances (in Hammond and Monroe ) had to be canceled. After the tragedy, entrepreneurs Jeremiah Mugivan and Bert Bowers began taking over Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and added it to their various other circus companies. A year later, Mugivan, Bowers and Ballard finally teamed up to form the American Circus Company .

Decline

The predecessor companies, including Hagenbeck-Wallace, were sold for $ 2 million to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus , which thus had a virtual monopoly on traveling circuses. However, the Great Depression and the financial situation of the Circus led to the fall of the monopoly. In 1935 the circus split from Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus and traded as "Hagenbeck-Wallace and Forepaugh-Sells Bros. Circus". In 1938 the circus was finally closed.

Artist

In the course of the company's history, many different artists, performers and animal dressers have performed in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Some of the well known are:

• Joe Skelton, the father of Red Skelton , performed as a clown at Hagenbeck-Wallace for a while. His son Red also spent part of his youth in the circus and performed several times himself.
• Emmett Kelly began his career as "Weary Willy" during the Great Depression with Hagenbeck-Wallace, before moving to other circuses.
• Hoot Gibson was a cowboy , rodeo rider, and film actor. He appeared in 1937 with Hagenbeck-Wallace.