Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived
by Ralph Helfer
from Harper Paperbacks
- ISBN13: 9780060929510
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Modoc is the joint biography of a man and an elephant born in a small German circus town on the same day in 1896. Bram was the son of an elephant trainer, Modoc the daughter of his prize performer. The boy and animal grew up devoted to each other. When the Wunderzircus was sold to an American, with no provision to take along the human staff, Bram stowed away on the ship to prevent being separated from his beloved Modoc. A shipwreck off the Indian coast and a sojourn with a maharajah were only the beginning of the pair's incredible adventures. They battled bandits, armed revolutionaries, cruel animal trainers, and greedy circus owners in their quest to stay together. They triumphed against the odds and thrilled American circus audiences with Modoc's dazzling solo performances, only to be torn apart with brutal suddenness, seemingly never to meet again. Hollywood animal trainer Ralph Helfer rescued Modoc from ill-treatment and learned her astonishing story when Bram rediscovered her at Helfer's company. His emotional retelling of this true-life adventure epic will make pulses race and bring tears to readers' eyes. --Wendy Smith
Spanning several decades and three continents, Modoc is one of the most amazing true animal stories ever told. Raised together in a small German circus town, a boy and an elephant formed a bond that would last their entire lives, and would be tested time and again; through a near-fatal shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, an apprenticeship with the legendary Mahout elephant trainers in the Indian teak forests, and their eventual rise to circus stardom in 1940s New York City. Modoc is a captivating true story of loyalty, friendship, and high adventure, to be treasured by animal lovers everywhere.
A girl and Five Brave Horses
by Sonora Carver
from Martino Fine Books
2009 Reprint edition of 1961. Sonora Carver was an American entertainer, most notable as one of the first female horse divers. Carver answered an ad placed by "Doc" William Frank Carver in 1923 for a diving girl and soon earned a place in circus history. Her job was to mount a running horse as it reached the top of a forty-foot (sometimes sixty-foot) tower and sail down along the animal's back as it plunged into a deep pool of water directly below. Sonora was a sensation and soon became the lead diving girl for Doc Carver's act as they traveled the country. In 1931, Sonora was blinded, a retinal detachment, due to hitting the water off-balance with her eyes open.while diving her horse, Red Lips, on New Jersey's Steel Pier, the act's permanent home since 1929. After her accident Sonora continued to dive horses until 1942.
Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit
by Robert Bogdan
from University Of Chicago Press
Robert Bogdan's fascinating social history brings to life the world of the freak show and explores the culture that nurtured and, later, abandoned it. In uncovering this neglected chapter of show business, he describes in detail the flimflam artistry behind the shows, the promoters and the audiences, and the gradual evolution of public opinion from awe to embarrassment. Freaks were not born, Bogdan reveals; they were manufactured by the amusement world, usually with the active participation of the freaks themselves. Many of the "human curiosities" found fame and fortune, becoming the celebrities of their time, until the ascent of professional medicine transformed them from marvels into pathological specimans.
The Tattooed Lady: A History
by Amelia Klem Osterud
from Speck Press
- ISBN13: 9781933108261
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Living in a time when it was scandalous even to show a bit of ankle, a small number of courageous women covered their bodies in tattoos and traveled the country, performing nearly nude on carnival stages. These gutsy women spun amazing stories for captive audiences about abductions and forced tattooing at the hands of savages, but little has been shared of their real lives. Though they spawned a cultural movement—almost a quarter of Americans now have tattoos—these women have largely faded into history.
The first book of its kind, The Tattooed Lady uncovers the true stories behind these women, bringing them out of the sideshow realm and into their working class realities. Combining thorough research with more than a hundred historical photos, this social history explores tattoo origins, women's history, and circus lore. A fascinating read, The Tattooed Lady pays tribute to a group of unique and amazing women whose legacy lives on.
Amelia Klem Osterud is a tattooed academic librarian from Wisconsin. She has a master's degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and writes and lectures on the subject. This is her first book. Visit her author blog at tattooedladyhistory.vox.com
Balloon Sculpting: A Fun and Easy Guide to Making Balloon Animals, Toys, and Games
by Dr. Dropo
from Piccadilly Books, Ltd.
Rubber rabbits, bubbly bees, balloon dogs, camels, and frogs. These are just a few of the colorful, rubbery animals that can be created out of simple balloons. Used by clowns and magicians to delight and entertain audiences, the art of balloon sculpting is now available to all. In this delightful book, Dr. Dropo, shares his secrets for making dozens of popular balloon figures. Includes the following: giraffe, mouse, swan, ladybug, squirrel, hummingbird, bumblebee, brontosaurus, tyrannosaurus, alligator, cobra, parrot, penguin, seal balancing a ball on his nose, Captain Marvel, extraterrestrial, troll, Bubbles the clown, airplane, flyers, spinners, whistlers, pirate sword, a balloon gun that shoots bubbly bullets, and many others. Over 50 figures in all. Easy-to-make, fun-to-create, and kids love 'em!
The Circus Book: 1870-1950 (25)
by Dominique Jando
from Taschen
TASCHEN 25 - Special edition!
The greatest show on earth
"This is a gee-whiz spectacle of a book, a three-ring extravaganza as bright as a pinball machine." —The New York Times Book Review
During its heyday, the American circus was the largest show-biz industry the world had ever seen.
From the mid-1800s to mid-1900s, traveling American circuses performed for audiences of up to 14,000 per show and crisscrossed the country on 20,000 miles of railroad in one season alone. The spectacle of death-defying daredevils and strapping super-heroes gripped the American imagination, outshining theater, comedy, and minstrel shows of the day, and ultimately
paving the way for film and television.The circus offered young Americans the dream of adventure and reinvention.
This book brings to life the grit and glamour of the circus phenomenon.
Images include photographic gems by early circus photographers Frederick Whitman Glasier and Edward Kelty, many of the earliest color photographs ever taken of the circus from the 1940s and 1950s, iconic circus photographs by Mathew Brady or Cornell Capa, and
little-known circus images by Stanley Kubrick and Charles and Ray Eames. For the first time, contemporary readers can experience the legend of the American circus in all its glory.
Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo: Sideshow Freaks, Jabbers and Blade Box Queens
by A. W. Stencell
from Ecw Press
- ISBN13: 9781550228809
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
From Lentini the three-legged man and Siamese twins to equipment caravans and big top architects, this captivating collection lifts the striped curtain to reveal the larger-than-life world of circuses, carnivals, and freak shows in post-World War II America. Copious never-before-seen photographs, in-depth historical research, and insightful interviews with former sideshow employees illustrate the development of the circus sideshow, the roles of key groups—the freaks, working acts, managers, talkers—and the importance of the grift.
The Advance Man: A Journey into the World of the Circus
by Jamie MacVicar
from Bear Manor Media
Publisher39;s Description
"The golden age of the circus had passed but under Irvin Feld, the ruthless, unpredictable, super salesman, another golden age of promotion had just begun. "
And so begins the extraordinary tale of The Advance Man. It's a history, a love story, and a tale of self-discovery. And as much, it's a captivating inside look at the largest traveling entertainment conglomerate on the globe, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
"From dwarfs and lion tamers to Siamese twins, a cast of fascinating characters. But the really exotic are behind the scenes, the promoters. A coming of age tale and a story of circus struggles in a new age of mass entertainment. Enormously readable, as compulsive as popcorn at a Saturday matinee. " — Ted Bishop, Author, award-winning Riding with Rilke
"A first-class book that is strikingly original. What Harvard and Wharton don't teach. This is the treatise on marketing and promotion. An illuminating and riveting tale! " — David Hogan, Producer, Broadway Heroes
From page one the reader is pulled into the heart and mind of the advance man. I was there and can attest to MacVicar's travails of ponderous pachyderms and hardball tycoons. A marvelous inside treat, superbly done. — Peter Halbin , former publicist for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
From the Publisher
"From here on in you'll be living on the road, your life's belongings in a suitcase. Do you think you'd enjoy that?"
And so begins a fascinating journey into the world of the circus as Jamie MacVicar skillfully blends the secrets of marketing and promotion as taught by the masters, a captivating personal tale, and an inside look at an American icon, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Richly textured and meticulously researched, The Advance Man is an incomparable bridge from the circus past to the present. It is a spellbinding narrative inhabited by strange and seductive characters: Chang and Eng, the Siamese twins who couldn't be engaged in unlike conversations simultaneously; Irvin Feld, the Napoleonic genius who wrested control of the circus from Ringling's heir; the smallest man in the world who continuously stymied the show s most virile man; the naive, young woman who risked too much aspiring to become a model; the Cleveland tycoon and a host of others from extraordinary everyday people to well-known celebrities.
From San Diego to Cleveland to moss-draped, beguiling Savannah, the story illuminates the fabric of American cities—their cultures and mores—and reveals a tapestry at the heart of who we are. We almost forget that this is a true story when MacVicar leisurely pulls us in and then masterfully sets the hook. "Until now you ve been with me and the circus, " a fellow promoter warns. "Wait until it's just you, and you re all alone for weeks before the show arrives. "
As events gather speed, catapulting the reader and the advance man down a heart-pounding track, it becomes easy to forget that "sometimes the most complex illusions have the simplest explanations."
Artfully, MacVicar invites us into a world of splashing color while the story within the story comes to light. Whether the reader is a history or circus enthusiast, a student of business, or just the lover of a remarkable yarn, the ride will be memorable, as unforgettable as a childhood night at the circus.
American Sideshow
by Marc Hartzman
from Tarcher
NEW BOOK ! May have remainder marks. Our books are shrink-wrapped, and carefully packaged to assure your book will arrive in good condition. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination
by Rachel Adams
from University Of Chicago Press
- ISBN13: 9780226005393
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Sideshow U.S.A. begins by revisiting the terror and fascination the original freak shows provided for their audiences, as well as exploring the motivations of those who sought fame and profit in the business of human exhibition. With this history in mind, Adams turns from live entertainment to more mediated forms of cultural expression: the films of Tod Browning, the photography of Diane Arbus, the criticism of Leslie Fiedler, and the fiction Carson McCullers, Toni Morrison, and Katherine Dunn. Taken up in these works of art and literature, the freak serves as a metaphor for fundamental questions about self and other, identity and difference, and provides a window onto a once vital form of popular culture.
Adams's study concludes with a revealing look at the revival of the freak show as live performance in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Celebrated by some, the freak show's recent return is less welcome to those who have traditionally been its victims. At the beginning of a new century, Adams sees it as a form of living history, a testament to the vibrancy and inventiveness of American popular culture, as well as its capacity for cruelty and injustice.
"Because of its subject matter, this interesting and complex study is provocative, as well as thought-provoking."—Virginia Quarterly Review
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