Step right up, Step right up! The show is about to begin as we explore the world of the circus and those who made and make a magical place to visit. The tradition of the circus has a long incredible history as we learned from last week, but that history lesson is not over today as I will make it point of how history and even film has influenced the circus.
For years now we have explored the world of the circus and the life of those performers, but one area that often gets overlooked is the tragedies of those who have been seriously injured or died whether as a performer or a spectator, we will now get into those stories but if you interested in knowing more about specific people and performers and want to go down the rabbit hole, please read below. Some of these tragedies there may not be a great deal of information in and that is probably by design as why who circuses want people to remember those terrible events, ruining the good name of the circus.
There are so many performers that have been forgotten or their stories go untold because of little or no real information other than a picture and some history, but they existed. Some of the so called freaks were not freaks at all, but unusual in their appearance all human beings of course, but it’s sad that we as society exploited that to make money and bring fame.
The Freak Show Compilations
Barnum and Bailey Circus Providence Hair Hangers (2014)
In May 2014, eight acrobats were performing the hair-hanging stunt in Providence, Rhode Island as apart of Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus act.
For those unsure what hair-hanging is, here is a short description :
“Hair hanging” is an incredibly painful, highly specialized aerial performance in the circus world, confined to certain families who pass their secrets about the tradition down through generations of performers.
About 3,900 people watched as the acrobats formed a human chandelier, all hanging by their hair from a round ring [source: AP]. The steel fastener that held the ring in place snapped, causing all acrobats to plummet 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 meters) below and injure the grounded performer. Two of the acrobats had spinal cord injuries, five had fractures, one sustained a lacerated liver, and the grounded performer was also injured [source: Ellement].
Luckily, none of the injured performers died from the fall, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the circus $7,000 for failing to properly install the rigging used during the act. By November 2014, two of the acrobats had returned to work [source: Ellement].
The Aftermath
Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus returned to Rhode Island this week for a four-day run beginning on Thursday. The return comes nearly one year after a tragic hair-hanging fall left several performers injured.
The accident at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center happened when a carabiner clip suspending the performers snapped.
https://www.wpri.com/news/ringling-bros-circus-returns-to-providence-year-after-tragic-accident/
This is one of tragedies that luckily did not end in death but still many were severely injured and some unable to walk.
Stay tuned for more severe tragedies to come, some many of you and myself were never aware of.
Joe Meyers Adventures 
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