Circus Queen and Tinker Bell: The Memoir of Tiny Kline

by Tiny Kline, Janet M. Davis

Overview

This engaging memoir follows the life and career of circus performer Tiny Kline (1891-1964) from the burlesque house to the circus tent, and on to Disneyland and the silver screen. While working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Kline became well known for her signature "slide for life" stunt, an "iron jaw" act in which she slid to the ground while dangling from trapeze rigging by her teeth. Kline renewed her spectacular acrobatics at the age of seventy when she played Tinker Bell in the "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks show at Disneyland. In that same year, she also began writing her life story.

Extensively annotated by Janet M. Davis, this memoir documents twentieth-century changes in popular amusements, while providing fresh insight into circus personalities such as John Ringling, acrobat Lillian Leitzel, and big cat trainer Mabel Stark, as well as mainstream entertainers like Florenz Ziegfeld, John Philip Sousa, and others. Kline also provides intimate details about the daily machinations at the circus, including fascinating accounts of its sexual politics, racial dynamics, risky nature, and labor relations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252033124
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	06/18/2008
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Janet M. Davis is an associate professor of American studies and history at the University of Texas, Austin, and the author of The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  /  ix
Introduction — Janet M. Davis  /  1
Author's Note  /  33
Prologue  /  35

PART ONE
1. The Bend in the Road  /  41
2. As Mrs. Private Citizen, Viewing the Parade  /  57
3. A Flight on Gossamer Wings  /  62
4. In Pursuit of a Mirage to Yesterday  /  75
5. A Tour behind the Platforms of Those Strange People  /  86
6. Destiny Smiles, but Not on Shmoontsie  /  99
7. A New Leaf, a New Life  /  105
8. Where Caste Is Observed, According to Rank and Rating  /  117
9. Equestrian Director Par Excellence  /  143
10. The Awe-Inspiring Mr. John  /  147
11. Calibrating for a Career  /  150
12. Bareback: The Aristocrat of Circus Acts  /  155
13. A Backdoor Glimpse of Supermen and Superwomen  /  161
14. Elephants Are Like People  /  172
15. Engineering the White City  /  177
16. Finding the Lot — A Daily Headache  /  187
17. On the Sunny Side  /  189
18. Life under the Big Top: Private, Social, Competitive  /  193
19. Finale of the Season  /  196
20. Circus Experience Pays Off  /  198
21. An Annual Season's Opening  /  203
22. Leitzel, Queen of the Air — Of the Ground as Well  /  208
23. Progress, Trends, and Customs Typical of Circus Folks  /  214
24. On a Magic Carpet to a Land Fantastic  /  221
25. Back to the Material World  /  229
26. An Act Is Born  /  234
27. Circus History Is Made: Merging "The Greatest Show on Earth" and "The World's Greatest Show," Thereafter to Be Known as "Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows"  /  237
28. Pride versus Virtue  /  246
29. Misery — Like Death — Knows No Class Distinction  /  255
30. Fate Follows Her Course — Strange, Mysterious, Terrifying  /  258

PART TWO
31. Sarasota — Last Stop  /  271
32. An Elucidating Interlude  /  288

PART THREE
33. The Circus, to Date (1948)  /  293
Epilogue: The Show — The Public — Unto the End  /  311

Appendix A: Superstitions  /  313
Notes  /  315
Index  /  353

 

Editorial Reviews

"It was great fun reading Tiny Kline's fascinating and quirky story of the circus. There is nothing quite like her insider account. I found myself getting wrapped up in her personal descriptions and in the vagaries that confronted her both in and out of the entertainment profession. Her insights are crucial in understanding several important transitions in circus history."—Don B. Wilmeth, editor of The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, 2nd edition



"Kline's fascinating story provides remarkably vivid descriptions of the day-to-day life of performers on the circus circuit and glimpses of well-known entertainment figures. Davis deftly places Tiny Kline's story amongst important questions about the role of popular amusements in class formation and Americanization of immigrant populations; about the meaning of bodily display and the exceptional body; and about early twentieth-century gender roles and transgressions."—Joy S. Kasson, author of Buffalo Bill's Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History

"With this indispensible volume, Davis again demonstrates how the study of circus in particular and popular culture in general can enrich understanding of the world. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice

From the Publisher