Some Useful and Fun Circus Terms (L-Z)
October 14th, 2010
- Lecturer: Talker inside a show.
- Liberty Horses: An act of from one to twenty four horses working in a ring with no reins being used by the trainer.
- Lunge Rope: The rope held by a person outside the ring which is threaded through a pulley above the ring and attached to the safety device of the performer who is working in or above the ring.
- Menage: The performance of ‘high school’ type riding in a circus arena by one or more persons and their horses. Thirty or more riders in one display was not uncommon on the larger circuses of fifty years ago.
- Night Riders: Bill posters on ‘opposition crews’ who went out at night and tore down or covered up the advertising paper of another show playing their show’s route.
- One Day Stand: Most circus dates were of day’s duration.
- Priviledge: The consideration paid for the right to place a concession on a carnival midway. Early day circus owners sold privileges for almost everything on the lot except the performance itself.
- Pitchman: A person who sells merchandise with lectures and demonstrations.
- Ringer: A substitute person or animal passed off on the unwary as the person or animal they expect to see. All the big name circus stars had understudies ready to go on in their place.
- Shill: One who pretends to play a game, or to buy a ticket to an attraction, in order to entice others to join or follow him.
- Sunday School Show: A clean show. No crooked games, no dirty ‘gal shows’, no other illicit activity tolerated by the show owner.
- Take: The cash taken in from a performance, a concession, a series of performances or a string of concessions.
- Trouper: A person who has spent at least one full season on some type of traveling amusement organization. By then, they are usually hooked.
- Wild Cat: Book and play into new territory on very short notice due to problems on the old route.
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