... simply a workplace. Although deaths under the big top often prompted major reforms, or at least calls to undertake them, near-death encounters were more generally accepted as worthwhile risks that made the shows exciting. ⁹ Circus work became synonymous with death-defying work, and circuses...

...Circus World: Roustabouts, Animals, and the Work of Putting on the Big Show examines the circus as a workplace during its Golden Age, from the 1870s until the 1960s. It is not focused on one particular circus. Instead, it considers the entire circus world, the wider collection...

... than thirty years with nine different circuses and traveled throughout the United States and Europe. William Fraser experienced similar mobility among circus outfits throughout the United States. During a career that lasted more than twenty years, Fraser spent most of his time traveling. He...

... Avenue Los Angeles Cincinnati AFM Local 814 Buxton Iowa Joseph Weber Ringling Brothers Circus Lloyd Smith Once the AFL began forming Federated Unions for African American workers in 1900, the musicians’ union initiated a similar process, approving the creation of independent all-Black locals...