Step Right Up! Inside the Thrilling World of 1930s and 1940s Circuses

During the 1930s and 1940s, the circus was one of the most thrilling forms of entertainment in America and Europe. When the tents went up, entire towns turned out to see the spectacle. For many families, the arrival of the circus was the biggest event of the year.

The Great Depression made the 1930s a hard decade, but the circus gave people an escape. Bright lights, bold colors, and lively music created a world far removed from daily struggles. Performances featured daring acts, each designed to shock and amaze. Acrobats swung through the air without safety nets. Tightrope walkers balanced high above the crowd with nothing but a pole for support. Audiences gasped at every stunt, knowing the risks were real.

Animal acts were a major part of the show. Elephants marched in grand parades, wearing elaborate costumes. Lions and tigers leapt through flaming hoops at the command of trainers who stood only a few feet away. Horses performed choreographed routines, moving in perfect circles to the sound of a live band. These acts required intense training and strict schedules, and they drew some of the loudest applause.

#1 Two elephants balance on their hind legs in a circus ring, 1930.

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#2 Dixie riding on the wall of death at Southend, 1938.

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#3 A woman circus performer, dressed in a leopard skin gladiator costume, places her head in a lion’s mouth.

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#4 An elephant from Earl’s Court Circus with a man in its mouth.

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#5 A fakir performing the bed of nails trick, 1955.

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#6 Circus horses walking on their hind legs during a circus act, 1930.

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#7 Artist Dame Laura Knight sketching chorus girls behind the scenes at a circus at Olympia.

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#8 A polar bear looks on at a model wearing a fur coat at a fashion festival at Chipperfield’s Circus.

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#9 Spanish high wire cycling act The Mestelrich Trio, performing high above Battersea Pleasure Gardens, London.

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#10 Strong man, George Challard of Woowich, shows he can bend an iron bar with his teeth, 1935.

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#11 German circus performer Alsons Tonelli performs a headstand on a rope 120 feet from the ground at Battersea Festival Gardens, London.

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#12 The Ghezzis, a comedy acrobatic team, perform at the Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia, London, 1959.

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#13 A young fire-eater gives his father a light from his tongue.

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#14 Acrobatic dancer Beryl Lapidge helps out in her father’s cafe.

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#15 Clown Charlie Cairoli from the Blackpool Tower circus and his donkey wishes Andre Baldet good luck for his 48 hour drive to Paris and back in a Trojan Lambretta bubble car.

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#16 A scene from ‘The Circus Adventure’ at the Arts Theatre; Douglas Dempster as the wicked ringmaster holds up the talking cat played by Ursula Jones watched by Pinky the clown played by Matyelok Gibbs.

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#17 Elephants from the Blackpool Whitsun Circus being unloaded at Tilbury docks, 1928.

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#18 Animal trainers from Bertram Mills Circus rehearse with the elephants at the circus’s winter quarters in Ascot in preparation for their next performance at Olympia in London, 1949.

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#19 Comet, an elephant from Chessington Zoo spends the weekend as a waiter at the Trocadero Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, London, 1938.

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#20 The International Circus Clown Club acts as a sort of Union for clowns, where a clown can register his painted face to protect his individual make-up design, 1955.

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