A Three Ring...

“The posters were the first sign that life was about to change, at least for a few days. They showed 19th-century Vermonters scenes of almost unimaginable exoticism — groups of galloping hippos, a ‘Hindoo snake charmer,’ a ‘curious monster-eared African proboscidian marvel.’ In short, the posters were saying the circus was coming to town.”

The circus did come to town. In fact, there were many times that the circus came to Woodstock. One of them was Forepaugh’s circus which was held in Woodstock on August 23, 1879. It was the largest and most elaborately staged circus in Woodstock during the 19th century. It must have been quite the spectacular event of moving the “menagerie”, performers, tents, etc. from the railroad depot in the east section of the village to the fairground (located on the Billings Farm & Museum property).

We have not yet found any photographs or reports mentioning this circus other than a few advertisements in The Vermont Standard. We were able to document some fragments of posters for this circus (and possibly others) in a basement on Central Street. This was thanks to Kristian Preylowski, one of the owners of the Yankee Bookshop, who let us know that they were there. Local student, Parker Kuhnert, photographed the fragments of the posters and archived them in our digital data base as part of a community project of the C3 sophmore program at the Woodstock Union High School,.

Detail of a newspaper advertisement in The Vermont Standard.

Adam Forepaugh owned and operated a circus from 1865 through 1890 under various names including Forepaugh's Circus, The Great Forepaugh Show, The Adam Forepaugh Circus, and Forepaugh & The Wild West. Forepaugh, who was a major rival of P.T. Barnum, supposedly spent millions of dollars developing his circus. “It was also reported that he spent more than $4,000 a day (or roughly $100,000 today) to sustain his show. Among his expenses was his license to operate a circus in Vermont, which set him back $1,000. Forepaugh and other circus operators made up for these high costs by drawing huge paying crowds. A circus ticket was relatively affordable entertainment for most Vermonters. During the 1880s, a circus might charge 50 cents for an adult to see the show, 25 cents for children (roughly $12 and $6, respectively, today). The cost meant that laborers could afford the show, where they might have shared company with some of Vermont's elite, who also attended. Vermonters turned out in droves. In 1880, an estimated 18,000 packed a massive tent in Rutland to watch the Forepaugh circus. Barnum's circus drew 15,000 spectators for a show in Burlington one day in 1885. Crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 were common.”  

Fragment of circus poster. Photo by Parker Kuhnert.

“A corpulent amplitude of amusements. Mountain piled on mountain of attractions deployed to please. Alpine and cloud touching in its ambition. Opposition to fraud and monopoly. It is monstrous and flagrant egotism for any rival to dispute its right to the first place.”

The Vermont Standard

Post Office and Woodstock Railroad Depot in Taftsville.

A very large Adam Forepaugh circus poster on building below the depot.

Fragment of circus poster. Photo by Parker Kuhnert.

All we have left are fragments of circus posters that remind us of the glory days of the circus coming to town. Fragment of circus poster. Photo by Parker Kuhnert.

Thank you to Kristian Preylowski for leading us down the rabbit hole. Mark Bushnell’s article on the history of circuses in Vermont was also very helpful.