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More About This Textbook
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.
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
"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
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Table of Contents
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
31 Sarasota - last stop 271
32 An elucidating interlude 288
33 The circus, to date (1948) 293
Epilogue The show - the public - unto the end 311
App. A Superstitions 313
Notes 315
Index 353