And now it’s time for another installation of Circus Slang on HeyRube: Joey: (noun) \ˈjō-ē\ Another word for a clown, derived from Joseph Grimaldi, a famous 19th century clown
Karrie Waarala earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast program at the University of Southern Maine. Currently, she teaches writing in her home state of Michigan, where she lives with and is vastly outnumbered by her books, pets, and circus memorabilia. Recently, Waarala has allowed her love of writing and circus/sideshow to merge into [...]
Mark: [mahrk] – noun A townie or rube that is singled out as an easy target; often times, a mark is naive and has a fat wallet. Where did this phrase come from, you may ask? Well, of course, as with most carnie lingo, there’s a fantastic back story. According to goodmagic.com, When a carny [...]
Often times, carnie slang makes it’s way into pop culture, and of course the reverse is also true. “86′ed” is one such piece of lingo that has pervaded several linguistic subcultures; we hear it in reference to mobsters, bartenders and of course, carnies. According to Carny Sideshows: Weird Wonders of the Midway by Tony Gangi, [...]
A doniker (or donniker) refers to a toilet or bathroom in circus and carnival slang. A doniker location (or “doniker loke”) refers to a crummy location for a game or setup. According to goodmagic.com, the term doniker was Derived from ‘dunnekin,’ in common use among lower-class Britons in the 1700s meaning ‘outhouse.’ Probably derived from [...]
If you’re a regular reader of HeyRube, you’re already aware of my penchant for carnie slang. You can imagine my delight when I stumbled across “Carnie Talk” by John Thurston online, a condensed excerpt distilling such vernacular into a short narrative. Today, I’d like to feature this writing. Enjoy! When the carnival was in town [...]
During the heyday of the Ringling Circus (roughly 1919-1938), 13,000 workers and performers accommodated over 13,000 guests and 800 animals on 20 acre lots. The circus rarely stayed in a town for more than a day, and they would cover 15,000 miles and 150 towns per season (Tibbals Learning Center). The logistical complexity of such [...]
When circuses or medicine shows traveled by wagons, they would jump from town to town, balancing an intricate equilibrium of debts and sales along the way. Often times, they would receive goods from a community on loan, and it was not uncommon for the troupe to pack it up and haul out in the middle [...]
Annie Oakley: -noun [an-ee ohk-lee]: a complimentary ticket to a circus Annie Oakley (1860 – 1926) was a famous sharpshooter who rose to fame with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. She is credited as being the first American female superstar and she, in addition to being a remarkable gun slinger, was a bit of an activist. [...]
By this point, I think we can all comfortably call ourselves more than novice medicine show aficionados. I want to wrap up this mini-series with an overview of medicine show jargon. Now, you’ll really sound like you know what you’re talking about the next time 19th century traveling entertainment comes up at a party. Afterpiece- [...]