Released in 1946, Children of Paradise is a classic French film that takes place in the seedy underground of the old theatre and street performance circles of Paris. It is a saga (running nearly 3 hours) that involves timeless elements of love and betrayal, all told through beautiful cinematography, with a healthy abundance of vintage circus [...]
Vintage circus posters receive great acclaim today and many museums around the country have organized exhibitions to honor this slice of Americana advertising. Circuses, however, were not the only entertainment platform to get involved in early print advertising. Published in 1922, below is an advertisement for Coy Herndon, a performer in the vaudeville and minstrel circuit [...]
We’ve all heard of the Ringlings and the Wallendas, but not everyone’s name is remembered in the circus tradition. Despite the fact that you are undoubtedly familiar with his career, here’s a name you may not have heard: Larry Griswold. Today I’d like to pay homage to the eccentric and noteworthy body of work from [...]
The musical saw, also known as the singing saw, emerged from the Appalachian Mountain region during the early 1800s, forever changing American folk music. This unique instrument quickly became a mainstay for traveling minstrels and medicine shows, eventually earning entrée into the vaudeville scene. Today, the saw tradition is largely carried on through street performers [...]
The world of variety entertainment is certainly not what it once was, but there’s a select few carrying on this tradition. Theater-16 is one small company dedicated to preserving these arts, and includes a wide variety of acts ranging from Dr. Goodjohn’s Magical Medicine Show to tarot readings. Today, Theater-16 President, Ernie Guderjahn (aka Erikk [...]
The American Dime Museum was established on November 1, 1999 in Baltimore, Maryland. Co-owners Richard Horne and James Taylor sought to recreate the glory of the 19th century dime museum with their peculiar collection of two-headed animals, pickled punks and Fiji mermaids. Aside from the traditional dime museum artifacts, this museum also boasted a fossilized [...]
This week, I would like to direct our focus to the history of the medicine show. The medicine show bears a number of similarities to the traditional sideshow, and indeed the acceptable acts for these two entertainment genres often overlap. Folkstreams.net has a fantastic overview of the medicine show, and I would like to present [...]