38: The Darkest Show on Earth: The Circus
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What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better, even when it's impossible to make time for them. Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow.

Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

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Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to the Library of Dark History.

Thank you so much. Now, this is a safe space for all the curious cats out there who think, hey, is history really as boring as it seemed in school? Oh, nay, nay. Now, this is where we can learn together about all the dark, mysterious, dramatic stories our teachers never told us about or taught us or whatever. So...

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, step right up, step right up. Inside the super flammable tent is a shocking spectacle beyond your wildest dreams. A carnival of comedy, oddity, and curiosity.

A sensory feast so magnificent the brain will not believe the eyes and ears. Hurry, hurry, hurry! Exploitation is everywhere in this dazzling display of drama and death-defying feats. You are now entering the dark history of the circus. Welcome to the Darkest Show on Earth.

Look at Joan. Shout out to Joan really quick. She came ready as the ringleader for today's show. Now, we're talking about the circus, if you don't know. Circus is a funny word because it's used a lot to describe something that is crazy or like chaotic. Like, I'm pumped. I didn't go to Karen's party. I heard it was a circus. But

For a long time, the circus was known as an extravagant spectacle that was run like a well-oiled machine. It's defined as a traveling company of acrobats, clowns, and other entertainers, which gives performances in a ring surrounded by the audience, typically like in a large tent, in a series of different places.

But hidden in that definition is the word company. I've learned a very important thing here in the Dark History Library, maybe you have too, and that's companies do not so great stuff. They do dark stuff. I'm sure you're aware. And the circus, my friend, is no different. So let's start at the beginning and introduce you to the person considered the father of the modern circus.

Let me open up my dark history book, two page circus. All eyes on me and those that are ever in just like the circus. Okay, I just had to. Thank you. Oh my God. I opened right to it. Wow. Yep. Great. The circus as we know it today was invented by a guy named Philip Astley.

Philip was born on January 8th, 1742 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is a charming town in England, so I hear. Cheerio. May I have some more, please?

That's all I got. Was that good? Let me know. So apparently there was like one fight in particular Philip had with his dad and like this was the last straw. We don't know much, but after the fight, Philip ended up packing up his bags and he left home at the age of 17. And he signed up for something called the 15th Light Dragoons.

which sounds kind of like culty. I don't know what that is. Are we gonna be riding dragons? I don't know. The Dragoons were a cavalry battalion, which means they were soldiers riding around on horseback.

And Philip loved this because again, like he grew up around horses and he just like loved them. And by this time he was considered a gifted equestrian. Combine that with his loud booming voice and the fact that he was six feet tall, he was perfect to train the horses. And while he did this, he caught the attention of a celebrated rider and fencing master who taught Philip a new way to use the broadsword in battle. But Philip saw another use for this skill.

entertainment. Oh, he was like a born entertainer, this one. Now, at this time, trick horse riding shows were extremely popular, and riding masters from the military could make a decent living as trick riding performers when they weren't, you know, stabbing people in battle. So our guy Phillip was ready to cash in, but he had to do some market research first, which

Smart man, you know? So he went around to successful London theaters to find out what put butts in the seats. What's going to bring the people in? And he discovered that audiences were attracted to visual acts. We are visual creatures, okay? So there were things like jugglers, rope dancers, acrobats, which were called posturers at the time. But these acts weren't the focus of this show. They

They kind of filled the time between theatrical performances. All these performers used to work at Catholic fairs, but that went out the window with the rise of Protestant religion and industrialization. And it's so random to think like at Catholic fairs, there's like a juggler juggling for Jesus. Juggling for Jesus. That should be a shirt. Juggling for Jesus. The timing of this couldn't be any better for the kind of show Philip had in mind.

So, Philip had a horse riding school where he would teach riding skills in the morning, and by the afternoon, he was performing trick riding displays. But after he visited those London theaters, he was like, I'm going to switch things up a little bit. He kept the trick riding elements, but he also built a crude stage and hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, and jugglers.

And in between all those acts, he had a clown just bopping around, bopping and booping, and goofing off. And because the trick writing happened in a circle, this is where we see the beginning of the iconic circus ring. So voila, the circus as we know it is born.

And as expected, it was a smash hit. And Philip was ready to expand. So in 1773, Philip built Astley's Amphitheater where his brand spanking new show was going to be performed. And things were going pretty well for Philip for about 10 years straight. But where there is money and success, there's going to be competition. And...

Drama, per use. On November 4th, 1782, a man named Charles Hughes popped up on the scene and opened the Royal Circus, Equestrian and Philharmonic Academy. Yeah, that's not really rolling off my tongue too easily. So later, it would simply be called Hughes's Royal Circus. Thank God, because my ass can't say that other word.

And guess what? Philip was like, who the fuck is this guy? And now he hates him. And why does Philip hate Charles? Well, Charles used to work for Philip as an equestrian. Oh, yes.

Charles then quit and opened his own writing school right by Philip's spot. And the show he put on was almost identical. So now here comes Charles with his own damn circus and his own damn amphitheater, which he again opened right near Philip. Yeah, he had, Charles was out for Philip.

And believe me when I tell you that Charles Amphitheater blew Phillips out of the water. Phillips Amphitheater was made of wood, while Charles Building was made of stone.

Inside, it was lavishly decorated with white pillars, crimson curtains, ornate chandeliers, and private boxes for the rich people. And Charles' building was the first modern amphitheater to have the word circus in it. Because even though Philip invented the circus as we know it, he never used the word circus to describe his shows.

And while trick writing was the focal point at Philip's performances, Charles wanted to unify the stage and the circus ring, kind of make it like one cohesive show. So he did just that.

And it was a huge success and became the industry standard for decades. Philip no longer had a monopoly on the circus market. And to add insult to injury, Philip's amphitheater burned down. Coincidence or something else? He ended up rebuilding it. And then guess what? It burned down again. Ain't that a little...

So right from the get-go, circuses were a goddamn circus. They're full of cutthroat competition, theft, raging fires. These elements will come back in our story in one way or another. And now at this time, the circus was just in merry old England, an established nation with refined tastes.

So imagine what happens when the circuses make their way to the United States when the country is just 16 years old, just a little teenager. So let me say, buckle up kitty cats. United States does things a little extreme. Yeah. But first we have to take a little pause for an ad break.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

This is an ad by BetterHelp.

What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better, even when it's impossible to make time for them. Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow.

Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory.

Welcome back. Did you get some cotton candy, popcorn, peanuts? Anyways, before we cross the pond to the United States, you need to meet a man named John Bill Ricketts. Now, John Bill was born in Bilston, England in October 1769. The exact date is unknown because not a ton is really known about his early life outside of the circus. Doesn't really matter, right? What we do know is this. John Bill Ricketts was born in the United States.

John Bill was young, ambitious, good-looking, and talented. So he quickly made his mark as an equestrian in the United Kingdom. He studied under Charles Hughes and then went on to be the star equestrian in a traveling trope. John Bill was freaking good at horse riding and all the ticket sales were the proof.

But John Bill wanted more, you know? So he looked around. He wants more. And he saw Philip Astley settling up his own amphitheater. He saw Charles Hughes copying Philip and calling it a circus. And both of them were printing cash. So John Bill was like, hey, I'm the first writer of real experience. I'm also super good looking. I should have my own thing too.

So by 1791, John Bill and his circus company hit the road where he toured mostly in Scotland and Ireland. And sometime during the next two years, John Bill had an idea that changed the course of entertainment history. Now there was a lot of competition in the circus market in England, but you know what? There wasn't any competition in America. Eh? Idea!

Now, America was just emerging from the Revolutionary War and trying to like figure itself out. She's going through an identity crisis. America. From the ground up, America is going through her churches, banks, laws, everything to support a society was being created every day. And because they were busy with all of that, amusements didn't really exist yet.

entertainment didn't really exist yet. And even if they did, the idea of public entertainment was considered inappropriate or immoral. Kind of like the whole period thing, like what isn't inappropriate or immoral at this time, right? How dare you have fun because that's immoral. Now, the United States wanted to live by the highest standards of moral behavior, which is honestly laughable because, you know,

Have you been watching this show? Joan, LOL. Great. So back to the story. In 1792, John Bill Ricketts and several of his circus performers landed on United States shores. And this merry band of entertainers made their way to Philadelphia for a couple of reasons.

Philadelphia was the largest city by population in the country at the time, so lots of potential paying customers. It was also the temporary capital of the United States while Washington, D.C. was being built. So it makes sense, you know, why they would want to set up there, right? Because the United States politicians were super hot at that point, everyone was talking about them and, you know, this new sexy country who's just 16 years old, Lolita.

I'm reading Lolita and it's like, nevermind. I'm getting out. Don't let me get off track. Anyways. So imagine John Bill wants their stamp of approval to make his circus go viral. And boy-

Does he get his wish? Now, back in Europe, many circuses performed in established theaters in major cities. But like I mentioned, public entertainment was a high priority for America, you know, because it's just the beginning. Don't even know what the fuck's going on. Because of this, when John Bill and his circus trope showed up, there was nowhere for them to perform. But, you

You know, this didn't stop him. John Bill went right to work on his own wooden arena. And by the end of 1792, it was complete. John Bill called it Ricketts Art, Pantheon, and Amphitheater. What the hell is a pantheon? And that's where the trope began training.

And on April 4th of 1793, the training ending and 800 eager attendees packed into Ricketts Pantheon to watch the first large-scale American circus. 800 is a good number to start off with. Yeah, he did pretty good. So he came armed with his multicultural trope consisting of a clown, just a clown, an acrobat, a rope walker, and boy equestrian.

They captivated the audience with their athleticism and their presentational skills and just performance. Plus, John Bill went back to his roots and wowed the audience with his trick writing skills. Again, there's no entertainment at this point. So this was like, people are just fucking losing their shit. Brains are exploding everywhere because they're like, what is happening? You know, it must have been wild.

And guess who was sitting in the audience during his opening month? America's first influencer. None other than Mr. President George Washington. And he loved it so much that he returned for a second show not long after. He was like, yay, horses.

Word of mouth spread and people flocked to John Bill Circus. But then, on December 17th, 1799, a circus carpenter left a burning candle in the storage room of the Pantheon. Remember, this building was made of wood. Not a good combination. So, the Pantheon burnt to the ground and damaged a few other nearby buildings in the process.

Bummer. Now this wild inferno destroyed John Bill financially and he took whatever possessions he still had and left the United States in the 1800s. He was like, he just gave up very quickly. After a brief stop in an island in the Caribbean Sea, John Bill set out to return home to England, but he never made it. Along the way, he has, talk about bad luck, because along the way he's trying to go home, his ship sank and everyone was lost at sea.

Yeah. John Bill Ricketts was declared dead a few years later in 1802. Poor guy. He just, you know. Yeah. Whoops. Even though John Bill was gone, his legacy, it survived because the circus became America's most popular form of entertainment in the early to mid-1800s. Then a big shift happened at the time. Equestrians like John Bill brought artistry to the circus. Artistry.

I like that. But this was replaced now with like money hungry entrepreneurs looking to turn it into just a big business. One of the major things that allowed this to happen were advances in transportation. So the United States began developing west with more wagon trails and canals. And history books like to call this the westward expansion. It sounds cute and ambitious, but when you think about all the like brutal murder that happened because of it, we've talked about it, you know.

It's not that cute. So to help with this expansion, railroads began blazing across the continent and circuses hopped aboard for the ride. Now, this method of travel would end up killing a lot of people involved in the circus, but we'll get there. Railways were a great way to move all their stuff quickly, and they had a lot, a lot of stuff.

So American showmen bought their own trains. They slapped their name and logo on the side. And boom shakalaka, they've got a show and they've got transportation. Great. American showmen were cashing in. But one showman in particular had a huge impact on both the look and feel of circuses in the United States. And that man was Joshua Purdy Brown. Cute name, Purdy. I like that. I

Most people believe that he was born in 1802. We're not entirely sure. But what we do know is that he was born in Summers, New York. And in this region of Summers, there was a cattle dealer who bought an African elephant and traveled around the country just charging people to look at said elephant. And it was a successful attraction that inspired many to start doing the same thing. I mean, you've got to think about this. Back in the day,

This is like people, this is new. They've never seen this before. They've never seen an African elephant. Again, heads are exploding. They're like, what is this? Oh my God. You know, it was just exciting. What a wild time to be alive.

We'll come back to this story, but let's go back to Mr. Purdy. The year is 1825 and Jay Purdy is traveling the country as a showman. Now, this was in the middle of something called the Second Great Awakening, which was an era of religious revival and social reform. Now, because of this, city leaders in Wilmington, Delaware, banned public amusements.

Here comes the morality police again. Not good for circuses or a jay party. And he had to think fast if he wanted to, like, still perform his show for the people of Willington. So he built a pavilion circus using a canvas tent. And he set this tent up just outside.

outside the city limits. You know, where that little law can't really get him doesn't apply to the situation. Loophole. What'd I say? We love a loophole. So on November 22nd, 1825, Jay Purdy became the first circus owner to use a tent, iconic, which was the first version of the traditional circus big top.

It's kind of funny that the circus tent became a thing because some guy was like, yeah, fuck your laws and set up a tent. Giving it to them. Giving it to them. We like that.

Now, Jay Party's use of a canvas tent changed the game for American circuses. For one, they changed the character of the performances. It was a whole new space that caught people's attention. So there was like a branding element to it as well. They were also easier to move, which was good news like for the people on the frontier of American society who were starved for entertainment.

You can only watch a cow chew grass for so long, you know? So they flocked to the circus. And because tents were easier to put up, take down, and transport, the cost of the circus went down. With circuses bringing in more money and becoming cheaper to do, by 1835, pretty much every American circus was performing under a canvas tent. And if that invention wasn't enough, Jay Purdy had another trick up his sleeve.

Remember that African elephant I mentioned a bit ago? Brains exploding? Yeah. Well, in 1828, Jay Purdy became the first circus owner to roll a menagerie into its circus tents. A menagerie is a fancy way to say zoo on wheels. Adding this element boosted revenue even higher because even though lots of people loved the circus and the performers and stuff, they didn't like the circus.

Some still viewed it as crude or immoral, specifically Protestant clergymen because the show featured, you know, like acrobats in some skin tight clothing outlining their lower regions. So by adding animals to the show, Mr. Purdy could be like, what are you talking about? Like, this is an educational show.

Hello? I mean, it brought a new level of respectability to the show and people really bought into it. Plus, again, this is a time when like you couldn't just see an elephant. So, I mean, people want to see an elephant. What is that? Let's see it.

One year later, an animal trainer and certified insane person named Isaac Van Amburg had a wild idea. He climbed into a cage with a lion, a tiger, and a bear. No, I'm just kidding. No bear. But a lion, a tiger, and a leopard during a performance in New York.

He's also credited with being the first person to stick their head into a lion's mouth. And he survived to tell the story. You've probably seen the image, like that classic image of a man holding the mouth of the lion open with their head sticking in. Yeah. Shout out to this guy right here.

This whole thing is unfortunate because he became one of the most cruelest and most abusive animal trainers of all time. But that didn't matter because back in the day, audience, they loved that shit. Yeah, you know, that's just how it was. So circuses now have tents, wild animals, and companies traveling their country by train. The

The popularity is blowing up and the money is just rolling in. But one man saw what was going on and was like, you guys think these shows are good? Hold my beer. Hold my beer. Everyone's just trying to one-up each other at this point. And his innovations set the stage for circuses to really take off in the 1840s. They get bigger, they get louder, and they get a bit more unique.

This is when the animal abuse, human exploitation, and death toll really start to pile up. When the word showman comes up, this legend's name always comes to mind. And that, you're going to know this name, P.T. Barnum. And he was ready to build an empire of madness. But first, let's pause for an ad break.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

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Your cash back really adds up. Phineas Taylor Barnum was born July 5th, 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut. But we know him today as P.T. because Phineas, girl. Woo! Like, this is my man, Phineas. Well, I mean, not to shame, but you know, Phineas.

That's funny. Bethel at this time was very conservative. I mean, all of America was very conservative. But Bethel at this time was mainly dominated by the congregational church, which is going to equal a super fun time, right?

So P.T.'s dad jumped from job to job. Sometimes he was a farmer. Sometimes he was a tailor. Sometimes he was a grocer. Man of many traits. His old man also jumped from woman to woman. And he would end up having 10 children with two wives, which honestly isn't that bad. That's five each. That's not bad. Yeah.

And because dad was, you know, busy, he was a busy man, P.T. spent a lot of his time with his grandpa. Now, P.T.'s grandpa was many things as well, including a legislator and something called a lottery schemer. Grandpa resorted to entertaining himself by playing complex practical jokes on people. And it was his grandfather's over-the-top personality and love for deceiving people that P.T. really clung to.

Now these elements would become P.T.'s trademark in the circus world. Because of his dad's involvement with a bunch of businesses and grandpa's interest in the lottery, P.T.'s sole motivation in life was to make money. This guy was a born salesman, selling snacks and something called cherry rum to soldiers when he was just 12 years old. And cherry rum sounds delicious, doesn't it?

And before he got into the circus industry, P.T. owned a general store. And this store is where his entertainment career would start. And let me tell you, the way he did it, it was messed up to say the least. When P.T. was 25 years old, a customer came into the store. Now she's telling P.T. that she's looking to sell a curiosity. And P.T. was like,

What the hell does that mean? You know, let's have a look. But this curiosity, it was a human. A woman by the name of Joyce Heth, who was blind and almost totally paralyzed African-American woman was up for sale. Supposedly she was 161 years old and the former nurse to George Washington. Of course,

That was not true. That was bullshit. But the customer was saying that Joyce was drawing crowds of people willing to pay to hear her speak and sing. And PT was like, hmm, did you say pay? I love that. And he decided, I'll buy her just like that. He went on to market her performances and build her as the greatest curiosity in the world. That's his word.

Not mine. P.T. posted ads all over New York to get people to come see Joyce. The show was a big hit for a while, and even when ticket sales started to drop, P.T. was quick to find ways to win the audience back. He started claiming Joyce wanted to use the show money to buy her great-grandchildren out of slavery. You know, just really tugging at the audience heartstrings, and it worked.

And when audience interest started dropping again, P.T. sent an anonymous letter to the Boston Press claiming that Joyce wasn't a real person at all. She was actually a robot made of whalebone, springs, and rubber. Now you might be saying, Bailey, Bailey, Bailey. This definitely doesn't feel right and it also doesn't feel legal. You can't just own a human at this time in Pennsylvania and New York because like slavery was already illegal there.

But there was a loophole because America loves a loophole. There was a loophole in the law that allowed P.T. to lease Joyce for a year for $1,000. He even had to borrow $500 to complete the transaction. Now, Joyce died of natural causes in 1836, but P.T. decided like that's not the end of her performing career. She's not done.

He hired a surgeon to perform an autopsy in front of an audience of 1,500 paying customers. That's fucked up, right? During the autopsy, the surgeon revealed that Joyce was actually no older than 80 when she died. So she couldn't have been George Washington's nurse, and you'd think this would expose him as a fraud, but P.T. was a fucking snake.

He immediately announced to the audience that the corpse was a fake and Joyce was still alive and performing somewhere else. But how did P.T. get away with this? Well, it's because he believed that if you said anything loud enough, the public would just kind of buy it. And I mean, like, that's not necessarily wrong.

He is on record saying, quote, the American people like to be humbugged, end quote. Humbug is an old-timey word meaning to deceive. Humbug. P.T. is saying Americans like being lied to.

And boy, was he right. P.T. Barnum's first real move into showmanship came when he paid for the right to rent an aging black woman and parade her around cities claiming she wasn't, she was something she wasn't. And then to boost sales, he literally removed her humanity from the equation

claiming she was a robot. But when a doctor said P.T. was full of shit, well, he just doubled down on being full of shit and people just ate it up. P.T.'s next move came in 1841. P.T. learned a New York museum that housed a collection of relics and curiosities was for sale. So he snatched that shit up, rebranded it, and reopened it as Barnum's American Museum.

He called this the ladder by which he rose to stardom and riches. P.T. was relentless when promoting his museum. I mean, he slapped the city's first spotlight and some huge banners on top of his building. He then advertised free rooftop concerts.

Now, P.T. may be a slime ball, but his next move is pretty creative. We'll give him that. For the concerts, he hired the worst musicians he could find. And you're probably wondering, well, what's the goal with that? Well, people would show up for the concert, hate the music, and then go into his museum to escape the awful noise.

Ah, smart. Inside, people saw spectacles of giants and something called the Fiji Mermaid, which was later revealed to be a monkey torso connected to a fishtail. In the three years before P.T. bought the museum, it made $34,000. In the three years after P.T. took over, it made more than $1,000.

$100,000. The man was certainly on to something. Then in 1842, P.T. discovered the act that would catapult him to international fame.

When he was in Bridgeport, Connecticut, P.T. met Charles Stratton. Now, Charles was four years old at the time, and he weighed 15 pounds and was about two feet tall. And what did P.T. do? He started marketing Charles as, quote, I'm not saying this, quote, General Tom Thumb, a dwarf of 11 years of age, said,

Just arrived from England, end quote. That same year, P.T. opened Barnum's Grand Traveling American Museum to exhibit his, quote, freak show, Oddities. Yeah. And guess who was the star? Charles! Yes.

P.T. and Charles played to packed houses all over the United States and then crossed the pond for a European tour where they met Queen Victoria of England, the King of France, and other royal types. Still, this just like wasn't enough for P.T. He needed his kingdom to expand.

By 1850, P.T. had acquired a traveling menagerie that had a couple of elephants. But when I say acquired, it was just full on theft and animal cruelty. P.T. imagined having a whole ass herd of elephants. So he sent people down to what we now know as Sri Lanka, where they put 160, quote, native assistants on the payroll to search the jungle.

When an elephant was taking a little catnap against a tree, they tickled the elephant's back leg. Thinking it was a bug, the elephant lifted its leg, and when it did, they slipped a noose around its ankle. It's this exact moment when majestic wild animals became prisoners. In his own autobiography, P.T. said this search party, quote, killed large number of huge beasts.

End quote. But 11 unlucky elephants were jammed onto a boat for a 12,000 mile voyage to New York City. Or just New York, sorry. One died on the way and was unceremoniously dumped into the ocean. Oh, fuck. Yeah. When the elephants arrived in the United States, P.T. paraded them down Broadway and made them a main act of a new traveling show. Barnum's Great Asiatic Caravan Museum and Menagerie.

Did I say that right? Menagerie, whatever, you get it. Over the next couple of decades, a bunch of other stuff happened in P.T.'s life, including a dip into politics. And girl, that's a story for another day. This is about circuses, okay? So anyways, this is where circuses reenter the story. Again, at this time, they're still hugely popular and P.T. wanted to combine his freak show

and his little zoo situation with a circus. But he wasn't in the circus game yet, you know? And to get there, he made a series of slick business deals. After a series of fires, again, lots of fires,

that ended up destroying P.T.'s museum in the 1860s. He kind of retired from the show business and he hadn't been a part of the traveling show for a while now. But two men with a successful show realized that P.T., he had some name recognition. So they all sat down and the men were like, P.T., you got to get back into the showman game. We got such a great idea. And they ended up creating a deal in 1870 and P.T.

created like an enormous spectacle that would later be called the greatest show on earth, bold claim.

Bold claim, right? And P.T. was super jazzed about combining his passion for curiosities, animal captivity, and human exploitation with his interest in circus shows. So at the tender age of 64, P.T. Barnum is officially in the circus business. So by 1880, P.T. was doing pretty well for himself, but so was his main competitor, Mr. James Bailey. That's my name. I know.

Isn't that fun when like someone has your name? I never meet Bailey's. Are you a Bailey? Let me know down below. Now, Bailey had a few circuses to his name and they were super, you know, this is a side note, but I have to say it. When I was younger, my goal in life was to marry someone with the last name Bailey. So my name would be Bailey Bailey. Dream big, they say. And that was my goal.

Wow, you know? Anyways, and they were super successful because he was brilliant at the logistics of managing all the moving parts of this gigantic show, right?

He was so good that the militaries of several countries eventually copied his method. Now, after Bailey and his partner returned to the United States after touring overseas with the circus, P.T. was feeling the heat. So he approached Bailey and he's like, look, listen, if we can't beat each other,

Let's work together, right? Let's strike up a deal." And they did just that. But why would Bailey need P.T.? Well, by this point, he was considered an incredible showman. So they merged companies and created the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Aww, that's so nice, right? P.T. was the face, Bailey was the brain, as we are, and they were actually the first circus to utilize the iconic three-ring design.

The size of those three rings? Well, each were 42 feet in diameter, which was a standard created by Philip Astley way back in the day. And the size made the physics of trick riding on a horse a lot easier. Anyway, the P.T. and Bailey merger created a near monopoly in the circus market.

And what happens when companies are unregulated and hold all of the power? Nothing good ever. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

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Now, because the circus industry was unregulated, circus owners and managers barely paid their workers anything. I mean, they didn't have to. And there was one dirty practice in particular. It was called red lighting. And this is when a worker is owed money and a circus doesn't want to pay them. So what do they do? They throw them off of a moving train in the middle of the night. Dude, America is wild. Yeah.

And every circus season, workers and performers were injured or killed. And that's not funny, but it's, I'm just laughing because the idea, the performance of it all, you know? So Bailey, the circus guy, not me, said it was cheaper to add new men at every stop versus paying fair wages and just keeping them around. Which, I mean, he wasn't wrong.

And if you weren't thrown off of the train, there was a decent chance you'd be involved in a gruesome train wreck. Remember earlier when I mentioned circus owners buying their own trains? Well, P.T. was probably one of them to first do that. His train was also involved in the first known circus train wreck that killed six people in 1877. I'm telling you, the circus is just drama, drama, drama, right? Like, my God.

Over the years, there have been 57 known circus train wrecks with 178 human deaths. The number of people injured is even higher. And the number of animal deaths isn't even recorded because why would they record that? And we don't even know how many people got thrown off the trains.

Sheesh. But even these grim numbers couldn't stop the circus's inevitable explosion. At the peak of the industry, when the circus pulled into town, it was like Christmas or the 4th of July. Banks and schools actually closed so townspeople could watch the elephants, zebras, camels, clowns, lions, tires, trick riders, and acrobats as they paraded from the train stop to the circus grounds.

And let's not forget, again, the oddities that P.T. was so grossly fond of. There was a bearded lady, conjoined twins from Thailand who P.T. called Chang and Eng, and the pair of brothers from Ohio with dwarfism who P.T. dubbed the, quote, wild men of Borneo, end quote. After this parade down Main Street, family stood in awe as the big top was raised up.

Shortly after this, those very families flooded into the venue and watched in awe as Barnum and Bailey put on a show none of them have ever seen before. I mean, it was super successful.

Everyone from adults to kids were just captivated. And it was like this in almost every town that they went to for a very long time. But after a sudden stroke in 1891, P.T. Barnum died at home. R.I.P. He's buried in Bridgeport, Connecticut in a cemetery he designed. And then in 1906, James Bailey died from a bacterial infection. This infection came from plucking out his nose hairs.

Sounds about right. Bailey sounds about right. So the Barnum and Bailey infection, I mean circus, died too. JK. There was too much money on the table for that to actually happen, right? So a competitor of Barnum and Bailey saw an opportunity, of course. Welcome to the stage, the Ringling Brothers.

Great. These were five brothers from Baraboo, Wisconsin, who created their own circus in 1884. What started as a show of just the brothers expanded into a major company traveling by train. So

So when their main rival, James Bailey, died, they were like, fuck yeah, and then they jumped into action. They bought the Barnum & Bailey Circus, and the organization became known as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Now, this operation would go on to become the circus of all circuses.

They dominated the entire industry for decades. I mean, they employed thousands of people and traveled on nearly 200 railroad cars. And as their monopoly on the industry only got bigger, the horrible shit they did only got worse. This is when kidnapping and human trafficking enter our story.

Come on in. At this time, the Ringling brothers featured a sideshow with two performers who were being called Echo and Ico, but those weren't their real names. They were George and Willie. And, well, it's not funny, but I'm sorry. It's not funny because they were the grandsons of formerly enslaved people whose parents were tobacco sharecroppers. I'm laughing because, like, just the names that they chose. You get it. No, maybe you don't. They were from Virginia. Yeah.

And in 1899, when George was six and Willie was nine, they were in a tobacco field when along came a guy named James Shelton. Now, James, he didn't have a great job. He was known as the, quote, freak hunter who would just creep around in like bushes looking for potential sideshow attractions, a.k.a. he's like, hey, you're weird. Come here. Let me talk to you.

And George and Willie caught his attention, probably wondering why. Why? What was this? Well, the brothers, they were African-American, but also albino. So they had blue eyes and blonde hair. Accounts vary on what happened next, but the most common story is that James crept into the tobacco field and lured George and Willie away with candy and lollipops and then kidnapped them. Chitty-chitty-bang-bang, anyone?

That's the shit right here. Now, the timeline of George and Willie's early years isn't well documented, but what we do know is that from 1914 to 1927, circus managers turned George and Willie into, quote, sideshow freaks.

Now the boys were forced to grow their hair into long dreadlocks. Sometimes they were billed as the sheep-headed cannibals from Ecuador. Don't, yep, nope, yep, that happened. There were other times that audiences were told that George and Willie were Darwin's missing link between humans and apes.

Yeah, just all bad. Just all bad. The whole time, James acted as their manager as they toured the United States, and he never let the boys have any of the money they made. And he also made sure they never went to school or learned how to read. Eventually, James Herman got sick of them begging to go home. So what did this bucket of scum do? Well, he told them that their mother was dead.

And guess what? I mean, that was actually a lie. He told them that so they wouldn't want to go home. That's fucked up. When the circus arrived in Roanoke, Virginia in 1927, George and Willie were being billed as Martians who had crash-landed in the Mojave Desert and were here to play some tunes. They were just...

Wild claims, right? Just very creative minds back then. Even though it made zero sense, crowds still showed up. While George and Willie were on stage, they noticed someone in the audience. An African-American woman managed to get towards the front of the crowd and there before the men stood their mother, Harriet. She started screaming that those are her children. Like, those are my children.

George and Willie recognized their mother, rushed and hugged her because, you know, they were told she was dead. So it was not looking good for James, little fucking liar. So this actually caused like a crowd of commotion. And eight Roanoke cops showed up to the scene because it was getting very chaotic. And they were trying to like disperse the crowd.

Harriet, though, she was refusing to move and refusing to leave. These are her children. She stood defiant as she demanded the police officers let her leave with her sons. And they did. Thank God. They did. Harriet, while this story is one of the more revolting examples of human trafficking in the circus, it isn't the only example.

Barnum's goons utilize these vicious tactics a few times. So the events surrounding George and Willie Muse also mark the point when circuses start to hit really hard times. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking.

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Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

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When the globe plunged into World War I, many of the male workers, they had to go off to battle. Even the crew of men who managed the horses all but disappeared because horse calvaries in the military were still a thing at the time. They were very needed.

And then the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 happened where 22 million people died worldwide. Ravaged. It just ravaged the United States. We haven't done a Spanish flu episode, huh? To give you a summary, it's just like COVID, but it's called the Spanish flu. And it's called the Spanish flu because they wanted to blame it on the Spanish people, but it wasn't from the Spanish people. It was actually because the war people were having sex with people and coming –

The end. Anyways, as you can imagine, audiences weren't too excited to jam the like sardines into a poorly ventilated tent. Kind of like today, right? The Great Depression started in 1929 and lasted until late 1930s. So people were using their own money for, you know, food, bread, instead of entertainment or watching elephants, right?

go to the bathroom or something, you know? And just as the country emerged from the Great Depression, World War II began. So the Ringling Brothers Circus really just couldn't catch a break during this time. And honestly,

It's probably for the better, right? You had your time. Goodbye. Then in 1944, one of the most devastating events in circus history happened at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show in Hartford, Connecticut. After the performance of A Lion Tamer, a famous family of trapeze artists named the Great Walendas were about to start their routine. Just then, a performer screamed...

The tent is on fire! Yeah, everyone looked up and sure as shit, the tent was on fire. This cued the band leader to have his musicians start playing Stars and Stripes Forever. Why would they do that?

Uh, well, it was a signal to the other circus employees that shit had gone sideways. It gave them a chance to, like, get the fuck out. But what about the audience? The flames on the tent reached 100 feet in the air as people panicked and rushed for the exits, but...

But unfortunately, they were blocked by animal cages. People were stuck inside these tents and could not get out as the flaming pieces of the tent started falling on them. Some were even slashing holes in the tent just to get out. In less than 10 minutes, the fire burned through support ropes and the 19-ton Big Top came crashing down on everyone still inside.

Horrifying. That day, 682 people were injured and 167 people were killed. Two-thirds of them were children. Some blamed an arsonist for the blaze, but another story is that someone tossed a lit cigarette by the men's bathroom, which caught fire, and then spread on the tent. That makes more sense, but...

Once on the tent, there was no stopping the fire because the canvas was waterproofed with a mixture of wax and gasoline. Now, I don't know if that's a normal thing to mix wax with gasoline, but at that time, that's how you waterproof things.

And even worse, an investigation showed that the circus's fire extinguishers were buried in a storage unit somewhere and the Ringling Brothers fire trucks were more than a quarter mile away. So it was just a combination for disaster. Ultimately, the Ringling Brothers company had to pay $5 million to the families of the victims. On top of this, four circus officials went to prison for manslaughter. But they only ended up staying about a year there because they would be pardoned.

And one of them even went on to serve in Congress for 24 years. James A. Haley. That's wild. America, America, God shall... I gotta learn like some America songs so I could sing it because that's a beautiful America moment right there.

That is beauty right there. So after World War II, the economy was back on the upswing and people were feeling good again. And by this time, the original Ringling brothers were all dead and the circus was being run by one of their nephews. So he was like, you know, we're back, baby. So cars at this time were everywhere and people didn't have to wait around for the circus if they wanted to find some sort of amusement.

And by the 1940s and the 50s, movies and television were a real threat because the country had more options when it came to entertainment, right? Why go out when we could stay home and watch TV? Because this thing is wild. TV, wild. And the bad news for circuses just kept rolling in in the 1960s because of the movie "Born Free."

The phrase animal rights entered the country's vocabulary. Great for us, the people, bad for people abusing animals.

Congress expanded the Animal Welfare Act in 1970, which set standards for the humane treatment of warm-blooded animals by exhibitors. This meant circuses. Then in 1973, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, which made the harm and harassments of listed animals illegal.

And circuses immediately found a loophole to get around it with something called captive breeding programs. Because the Endangered Species Act protected wild animals, but they didn't protect the animals born into captivity. Again, America loves a loophole.

By the 1980s, animal rights groups were popping up everywhere and they had circuses in their crosshairs. But Ringling, they weren't going down without a fight. I mean, they've been obviously fighting for a very long time and they weren't going to lose this one.

So the company that owned Ringling Brothers spent millions of dollars on PR campaigns to convince Americans that the elephants were willing performers. Yeah, those animals were looking for jobs. They applied willingly.

Ringling also spent tons of money on attorneys to push back against regulators and activists. And this honestly worked for a while until activists started getting creative and released undercover videos of elephant torture and abuse at the hands of Ringling trainers.

Now this, along with the grisly death of a young elephant named Kenny in 1998, should have been enough to shut down the use of animals in circuses, but it wasn't because the United States Department of Agriculture, the agency that polices the Animal Welfare Act, was pretty lenient when it came to reports of abuse. I wonder if some of those millions spent by Ringling made it into the pockets of people at the USDA.

I'm sure if we did a little bit more digging, it would probably turn out to be true, but I don't know. But eventually the public turned against Ringling. Now, you may remember like in 2015, public concern ramped up about the abuse of elephants in their shows. So Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus announced that they were going to get rid of their elephant acts in 2015. Like look at how far we came. It took some time.

And thank God because like this also ended the horrific practice of captive breeding, which had been going on the whole time.

All of the Ringling elephants were sent to the Center for Elephant Conservation, which was in Florida or is in Florida, which was also accused of mistreating elephants. Nothing is safe. But fortunately, two things happened. Because of bad attendance numbers, animal rights protests, and growing costs, Ringling Brothers Circus performed their last show on May 21st, 2017. Aha.

146 years after the darkest show on earth began.

And then in 2020, the Center for Elephant Conservation shut down as well. Honestly, it was long overdue because we have Google and stuff now, so we could just watch that shit on the internet, right? No one needs to actually go and see it in person anymore. It's just kind of the way it is now. So P.T. Barnum is on record saying, quote, I must confess that I liked the museum mainly for the opportunities it afforded for rapidly making money, end quote.

That's why everyone does everything is because of money. He said this about the museum he owned in New York, but there is no doubt the mindset carried through to the circuses and was passed on to his partners and the generations that learned from him. And they didn't just learn about money from P.T. I mean, when you think back to how his entire career started, he manufactured a hoax about an elderly African-American woman named, you remember Joyce? And when P.T. thinks the public likes to be

Humbugged, he's basically giving himself permission to lie. So forgive me, Ringling Brothers, when you say you didn't abuse your animals because nobody fucking believes you. Because your entire industry is built on lying to the public and pretending reality is whatever you make it. Well, here's the reality. This was a business model that exploited human beings, encouraged the abuse of workers, tortured sweet animals, rewarded kidnap,

and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent people that we know of. But hey, thanks for the overpriced cotton candy. Wasn't that fun?

Wasn't that fun? We learned about the circus. I would love to hear what you guys think down below. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions to get the whole story because you deserve that. I would love to hear your reactions to the story. So make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along and see what you're saying. Also, join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday at 5 p.m.

after the podcast airs, and also catch Murder, Mystery, and Makeup, which drops on Mondays. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. You make good choices. Please be safe out there, and I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye.

Dark History is an Audioboom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Kim Jacobs, Junia McNeely from 3Arts, Ed Simpson, and Claire Turner from Wheelhouse DNA. Produced by Lexi Kiven. Research provided by Tisha Dunstan, writers Jed Bookout, Joey Scavuzzo, and Kim Yeagid.

Edited by Jim Lucy. A big special thank you to our historical consultant, Dr. Janet Davis. And I'm your host. Hello, hello, hello. Hi, Bailey Sarian. Bye.

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