J. Purdy Brown

The so called "tented circus" officially began with proprietor J. Purdy Brown in the early 1800's. A cousin of Hachaliah Bailey, Brown is credited both with being the first to tour under a big top and with being among the first to combine the circus and menagerie. Though the exact date of the first feat is unknown (likely some time in the mid-1820's when Brown was touring along the Mississippi River or just before when he became the first to tour Virginia), the combination show that gave us what is commonly considered the modern circus format started when his cousin, Benjamin Brown, a menagerie owner in his own right leased J. Purdy his show which was then added to J. Purdy's own and toured under "Brown's Circus and Menagerie." This practice of leasing animals, equipment and personnel to other shows also became commonplace, especially during the circus's golden age in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with many proprietors even leasing their own names to smaller up and coming shows in order to help legitimize a new show with a familiar name.

Prior to Brown's combined show, circuses (then still the Astley style equestrian show with a few additions) and mengageries were, according to The Circus in America, "known to be mistrustful and jealous and even stole each other's livestock on more than one occasion." In his wake, the practice would come not only to be commonplace, but would be the standard for most successful shows in the U.S. and abroad, the size of a circus's menagerie and of it's big top both being gauges for the quality of the show itself. 

Sadly, Brown's contributions have been largely forgotten or mis-attributed to other, better known figures like Aaron Turner and Nathan Howe. In addition to his other firsts, he was also the first to advertise the circus ahead of it's arrival and, due to the tented nature of his show, to travel with a retinue of circus wagons though larger menageries were already doing this) which, in time, would become more and more elaborate and eventually morph into the well known circus parade signaling a show's arrival in town. 

Next week, we'll explore the life and times of "America's clown" Dan Rice!