Stories

Raising the Circus Tent / By Irene Hornbeck

Early on a spring morning in 1927, my brothers, oldest sister and I were rousted out of bed. Our father was taking us to Pittsburg, Kansas, to the three-ring circus of P.T. Barnum's. Daddy expected full compensation for monies he spent.

We piled in our buggy. Daddy wanted to be early to get the nearest hitching post. The clickity-clack, clickity-clack of the horses' hooves on the brick pavement reminded me of music, like drums with an off-beat at times.

I knew we were nearing out destination when we could hear the steam engine puff-puff-puffing as it was slowly winding its way to the railroad yard where the circus wagons and all their regalia would unload.

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We watched as the crewman carefully unloaded the caged lions and tigers. The equestrians led their beautiful horses with all their adornments down a 3-foot wide ramp. There were the elephants and their trainers.

When most of the animals were unloaded, daddy decided it was time to go to the fairgrounds on North Broadway. Daddy said it was important to see them set up the big tent. He had sternly told us to stay near him or we would go home. We kids always took daddy's words as fact.

We arrived just behind the tent men. They held huge wooden mallets with long handles, like on a double-bladed axe, to pound notched stakes into the ground. The mallet head was as big as a gallon can and the stakes were 3-feet long.

Muscular men, wearing no shirts, measured the ground and marked where each stake would be set. Then the men pound, pound, pounded each stake at its appointed spot - there was this rhythmic sound to their work. Two men pounded on each stake - one, two, one, two. They managed to swing those huge mallets in unison and never get in the way of each other.

Men arrived with the tent on the longest flat-bed trucks I had ever seen. There must have been dozens of men who rolled the tent section down the wooden ramps off those trucks onto the ground in a designated spot. They used guide ropes to let the tent section roll slowly to the ground.

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While the tent sections were unrolled, the elephants arrived in full harness with their trainers. I had never seen such huge rope made into loops. The loops were attached to the harnesses on the elephants. The elephants would raise the tent.

Each time the trainers cracked their whips in unison the elephants lumbered a few feet. Then another crack of the whip, then another. Inch by inch they methodically did their labor.

My eyes were glued to the tent as it went up and up with each crack of the whip. The elephants tugging and pulling on their heavy load. One by one a huge rope-loop, attached to the tent section, was handled by two men and placed in the notch on the stake.

(Continued)