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Recalling a Circus Here 73
Years Ago. Today being circus day in Ottawa it is interesting to dig back into the earlier days of the city's history and see how folks were entertaining themselves at that time. Well, a little over 73 years ago - the date was June 26, 1871- the big attraction was a circus, just like today. The Ottawa Journal of that date carried advertising to the effect that "Van Amburgh & Co's Mammoth Menageries, combined with Frost's American Circus and the Great French Circus" was in town. They advertised scores upon scores of wild animals from all over the globe and one of the features of their grand procession was the fact that there were 110 dapple gray horses participating. The price was 75 cents, with children under 10 admitted for 50 cents. Then again in 1873 - in April - the "great Trans-Atlantic exposition, Museum, Circus and Aviary" came into Ottawa with 500 living wild animals, inlcuding the Sumatran rhinoceros, crocodiles from the river Nile, sea lions from Alaska and scores of others. They advertised 100 performers in a double-ring performance, a street parade that was two miles long, canvas tents covering 5 acres of ground and many other features. The price of admission was 50 cents, with children under nine years of age being admitted for 25 cents. P.S.- Circus parades have gone out of style in recent years.
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