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With the sad death of a fabled strongman who performed at Coney Island, an aspect of amusement side shows comes to light again. Joe Rollino, 104, a certified member of Coney Island’s side show history where Charles Atlas once ruled, died recently when he couldn’t stop a Ford minivan as he stepped off a Bay Ridge curb in mid-block. While we still accept the muscle man image as part of our social makeup, other, less attractive aspects of circus side shows have faded from memory. Out of the Coney Island freak shows that attracted as many as 20,000 daily visitors in 1915, only the revived Freak Show at Dick Zigun’s Coney Island USA still pushes on. Side shows began in 17th century Europe with “Siamese twins” and “Elephant men” in traveling shows and circuses and attracted audiences of “normal” people who thrilled at seeing “rarities” or deformed, obese, diseased, anemic, genetic mutations, even mutilated people (and disfigured animals) on exhibition. Not only were strongmen, tattooed men and sword swallowers in this class but also natives of foreign climes—such as pygmies, head hunters, Zulu warriors and “Esquimeux.” In the 1930s visitors could see a 5-legged calf and a 6-legged sheep on Surf Avenue. America caught the fever in the 19th century when P.T. Barnum introduced Tom Thumb among other “oddities” to New York, while Coney Island capitalized on the craze in the early 20th century. Outside the metropolises, traveling circuses brought the attractions to the rural areas. Of course, some acts were exposed as hoaxes. The so-called “dime museums” of the Victorian Age featured freak shows as their main attraction of the side show, which also included acrobats. The first Coney Island freak show opened in 1880. Dreamland’s Lilliputia, a “Midget City,” opened in 1904 with 300 midgets. In 1905, Dreamland manager Sam Gumpertz imported 212 Bantocs from the Philippines and 18 Algerian horsemen. When the amusement park burned in 1911, Gumpertz continued the Dreamland Circus Side Show starring the Human Cannonball. “Professor” Sam Wagner started his World Circus freak show at Coney Island in 1922. To legitimize the show, articles about the diseases behind the oddities appeared in the popular press. Steeplechase Circus Big Show entered the competition in 1925 with a 10 platform freak show. Other boardwalk shows appeared at the Strand Museum in 1928 and Humbert’s Museum later. Rosen’s Wonderland Circus Side Show in 1930, featured the Two-Mouthed Boy from Texas (but he was secretly from Brooklyn.) Harry Houdini (Erich Weiss) began his public life as a strong man in traveling circuses but then focused on magic. Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano) became a Coney Island muscle man in the 1920s. Spike Howard, featured in the Dreamland Circus in 1930, pulled a truck with his teeth. Warren Travis joined the World Circus Side Show. Lou Ferrigno, later “The Hulk,” worked out on Avenue U alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. Joe Rollino not only demonstrated superhuman strength, but had also been a boxer under the name Kid Dundee and was an active member of the Polar Bear Club. However, some “strongmen” weakened phone books by baking them before tearing them in half. While strongmen and acrobats attracted many, the more unusual “displays” became the big moneymakers for circus managers. So dwarves joined Jolly Irene (689 lbs.) and Lady Olga (Jane Barnell), the bearded lady with a 13 inch long beard; Jean Carroll, with 700 tattoo designs on her body; and Percilla, The Monkey Girl, who married Benjano, the Alligator Boy. In 1941 Ramona was billed as Europe’s “miracle sex girl.” Some exhibitors were contortionists; Julee-Julian was a hermaphrodite; the Gibbs Sisters were conjoined; Edna Price became a “neon tube swallower”; Zippo and Pippo “pinheads,” had sub-normal intelligence; and Capt. Fred Walters, the Blue Man, ate silver nitrate. In 1938 Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who previously restricted side shows to Coney Island’s Bowery, brought Wagner, Rosen and Fred Sidell into court in an attempt to rid the amusement park of side shows, but the next year Wagner returned with “Uncle Charlie Pascansas,” a 130 year old who had married 17 times. By the 1950s, interest in exploiting “freaks” faded until Zigun opened his Sideshows by the Seashore in 1983, prompting resurgence at traveling circuses across the country. The entertainment industry saw a profitable angle from side shows. In 1932 Tod Browning’s film Freaks told the story of a traveling freak show. The film, Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo tells of a maimed World War I veteran who requests to be put in a freak show to demonstrate the inhumanity of war. A well-received 1997 Broadway musical, Side Show, re-tells the story of conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton, who capitalized on their malformation to leave the circus act and become entertainers in the 1930s. In the novel, Phantom of Manhattan, a sequel to Phantom of the Opera, by Frederick Forsythe, the phantom flees to America in 1906 and hides in a Coney Island side show. It will soon be an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Love Never Dies. So the life of the unusual may not be enviable but audiences still crave to be enthralled by the strange and abnormal—which may explain today’s fascination with “reality” shows. Mankind’s yen for low-brow entertainment often is considered modern-era folly – a love of violent films, trashy celebrities and pants-on-the-ground reality television. We’re amateurs today: We just turn on a rerun of "Die Hard." But Reisdorff expands on the early 20th Century entertainment trend with text and photographs, showing that Connolly was among the nation’s finest wreckers. Connolly was in the theatrical business for 40 years in Des Moines but in a stoic Iowa manner quietly amassed a 36-year career of 73 train wrecks, including three at the state fair in 1896, 1922 and 1932. "But during his last collision at the state fair, there were at least two spectators who received slight injuries from flying debris," Reisdorff said. "One of them was a lady at the fair on her honeymoon." Just what possessed folks to see such entertainment? Film newsreel teams captured the event and it was shown worldwide. Beginnings 1851 – The Indiana General Assembly passed an act "to encourage agriculture," which also included the formation of a State Board of Agriculture. The primary goal of the Board was to create the first Indiana State Fair. 1852 – The first State Fair was held in what is now Military Park in downtown Indianapolis. Indiana became the sixth state to begin holding a state agricultural fair. LocationsThe State Fair has been held in Indianapolis for the majority of its existence, but other Indiana cities hosted the event in the 1800s. 1853 – Lafayette; 1854 – Madison; 1859 – New Albany; 1865 – Fort Wayne; 1867 – Terre Haute The gates opened at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on East 38th Street for the first time on September 19, 1892. Animals/Livestock1960 – The first National Junior Sheep Shearing Contest. Competitions1852 – Top three premiums at the first Fair: J.T. Smith, Rush County, for his plans for a farmhouse; Benjamin Reynolds, White County, for his essay, "Best Method of Reclaiming and improving the Swamplands of Indiana;" Professor Byrem Lawrence, Montgomery County, for his essay, "Hill Lands." Early Fairs awarded premiums or recommendations for best underwear, best false teeth, best artificial limbs, best coffin and best hearse. 1907 – Red was once the color of the first place ribbon and blue was the color for second place. Indiana changed to conform to other states’ system of blue for first and red for second. 1938 – Richard Jordan, Henry County, entered his 16 ft. 1 in. cornstalk in the Tall Corn Contest, which reached the balcony of the Administration building. 1947 – The first Indiana State Fair High School Marching Band Contest. 1975 - The first Indiana State Fair Giant Hot Air Balloon Race was delayed twice due to weather causing only five of the 17 entries to lift off. Seventeen-year-old Denise Weiderkehr of St. Paul, Minnesota won by dropping a bag of Indiana corn within 146 feet of the hare balloon’s mark. 4-H1912 – The first year for 4-H Club work in Indiana. Zora Mayo Smith was appointed State 4-H Club leader. 1915 – Market hogs were offered as the first 4-H class. 1923 – A Corn Club Class was added. Technology1876 – The Sinker and Davis internal combustion engine made its debut and showed people how motorized machines enhanced agriculture and improved lifestyles. 1877 – Just two years after the invention of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell’s invention was installed in two places in Camp Morton’s Exposition Hall for viewing. 1928 – Radio entered the Fairgrounds when WKBF radio broadcasted a half-hour program twice a day during the Fair. 1939 – Television debuted with over 38,000 visitors who paid a dime to see the WLS display. 1946 – The longest radio broadcast took place with 83 artists scheduled to perform at this all-Hoosier radio show that lasted 2 ½ hours.
1955 – The first television broadcast occurred in the Radio Center, now known as the Communications Building, with WTTV-4. 1984 – The Fair received statewide network coverage for the first time. 1991 – Over 212 television and radio stations covered the Fair. EntertainmentNumerous nationally-known entertainers have graced the stages of the Indiana State Fair. Some of these include: Captain Kangaroo, Johnny Cash, the Jackson 5, the Beatles, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, Def Leppard, Rascal Flatts and Kanye West.
1964 – The Beatles performed two sold out shows to nearly 30,000 screaming fans on September 3. 1989 – New Kids on the Block set a Grandstand attendance record with 18,509 fans. Famous Visitors1919 – President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to a crowd of 40,000 on a day known as "Big Thursday." 1956 – Elvis Presley did one of his first TV interviews at the Communications Building shortly after recording "Heartbreak Hotel." 1957 – Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) boxed in the Communications Building as an amateur. ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=da6ab48b-2d4f-4a71-8b52-ca2a1547b3e5) It was an extravaganza unlike any Staunton and Augusta County had seen before. Not even balloon ascensions and the hanging of a murderer in 1853 had drawn more people than the first Augusta County Fair, which was conducted Oct. 27-29, 1868. But for many, the highlight of the fair, which took place on 21 newly purchased acres in what is now Gypsy Hill Park, wasn’t the footrace, agricultural shows, archery contest, horserace, baseball contests, blind wheelbarrow race or address by Commodore Matthew Maury. For many, that moment came the first morning. Some 8,000 people were milling about waiting for the events to begin when, near the entrance to the fairgrounds, the crowd became excited. Within seconds all eyes were drawn to the figure of a lone, elegant horseman who entered the fairgrounds from the direction of town. That’s when the hills began to echo with the repeated cheers of 8,000 people as Gen. Robert E. Lee slowly made his way to the judging stand, tipping his hat to the ecstatic throng as he went. The former Confederate army commander and then-president of Washington College had agreed to sit in judgment on several of the fair’s events, including a ladies’ archery contest. In Staunton, as was the case everywhere he went, Lee was lionized by the public — many of whom had fought for him on the bloody battlefields of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Staunton Spectator noted the very heavens were made to ring by the cheers of the crowd. Lee was joined in judging the archery contest by West Virginia Sen. A.T. Caperton; Mary Boykin Chestnut, whose Civil War diaries in later years would become required reading for students of the war; Mrs. John Baldwin, wife of the man who founded the fair; and Commodore Matthew F. Maury, known to history as "Pathfinder of the Seas." Ten young women of the Ladies Archery Club — dressed "tastefully" in Lincoln green — formed up with bows and arrows at the fairgrounds on Oct. 28. High winds, however, prevented perfect shooting. The Staunton Spectator reported Miss Florence Phillips sent two arrows out of three near the center of the target and won the contest. Her prize was a bow and a quiver of arrows. Circus History:
Frank’s son, Frank, Jr., learned trapeze skills and how to swallow a sword. In 1880 Frank, Jr. sailed to America and bought a “grape farm” near Dochester, WI. It was really a forest. Grape farming was not going to work. Frank built a house and a large training barn there. Frank Skerbeck (1847-1921) and Mary Dillie Skerbeck (1849-1931) had 16 children. Of these, 9 lived to adulthood and all were show people, Antonette (1870-1949); Anna (1871-1954); Joe (1871-1954), Antone (1875-1900), Gustav (1876-1957), Clara (1878-1958), Amanda “Mandy” (1882-1967), Pearl (1890-1967), and Frank (1891-1973). The first U.S. Skerbeck circus was in 1884. Frank performed as an acrobat and sword swallower, Antonette as an acrobat and gymnast, and Joe and Gustave performed tumbling and trapeze acts. They performed in northern WI and the U.P., Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Chicago. Some of the family stayed on the farm. 1884-1911 the family sometimes operated its own circus and sometimes performed with others. Sometimes they performed an Uncle Tom’s Cabin Show, or as a Wild West. Sometimes they worked with carnivals. They were respected for their performance skills. Their usual route was WI and MI, which they sometimes traveled by ferry boat. They also traveled in the west, midwest, and south. Some interesting notes of their circus life are: In 1889 in Tomahawk, WI, Joe accidentally shot himself in the hand. The bullet remained in his hand, hurting him, for the rest of his life. Surgery would have required him leaving the circus, so that was not an option. Family acts signed contracts with a specific number of members. If one disappeared or was unable to perform, the family did not get paid because they had failed to fulfill their contract. After being shot, Joe continued with his acts that day. This included “carrying a balancing pole… slack wire…single trapeze, tumbling, and pyramid act,, [and]… clown acts.” Joe never told his parents. In 1892 Joe fell from the highwire at Grand Marais and was hurt for 9 weeks. This was tough on his brothers in the acts they performed with Joe, riding and tumbling. The Skerbecks worked at the 1893 World’s Fair on the Midway. In 1897-1898 Frank Skerbeck, Jr. toured with a merry-go-round. While some Skerbeck family members worked for other carnivals, the family did not become owners/operators of carnivals until about 1914. In 1901 the Skerbeck’s Great One Ring Railroad Show had a tent blowdown. Antone died in the ring performing his “knock-about clown act” of a heart attack at age 23. He was carried out as part of the act. They could not stop because the show was their main source of income. They also lost a trick pony and a member of the circus, Col. Phil. Coup, was shot. In 1902 Mrs. Frank Skerbeck, 8 performers, and 5 band members were delayed by a boat at Green Bay and missed the opening at Manistee. In 1903 a cyclone blew down their circus tent down injuring about 20 people, 2 were seriously injured. Carnival History:Joe Skerbeck switched to carnival in 1912. This carnival still operates today as Skerbeck Brothers Shows, Inc. Mandy Skerbeck and her husband, A. Kaarup, also began a carnival. Her father, Frank, Jr., operated a merry-go-round on her carnival and died in 1921 on the midway. The Kaarup’s Shows were sold in 1947 to Dusty Rhoads. Pearl Skerbeck and her husband, H. Weydt, started a carnival in the early 1920s. After her husband died, Pearl operated the show with Doyle “Doc” O’Kelly until she sold it in 1966. Her show became A & P Enterprise Show, owned by Art and Phillys Kedrowicz. Joe Skerbeck (1871-1954) married a distant relative Miss Ida Skerbeck (her maiden name) in 1902. They had three children: Pauline (1906-), Violet (1912-1973), and Eugene (1918-1969). Joe and Ida operated a carnival in WI and the U.P., 1920s-1930s. Violet, Joe’s daughter, married G. Greaser, and they operated a ride with her folks’ show and later their own show in WI, 1950-1955. In the 1930s, Art Kedrowicz’s parents, Emil and Tecla Kedrowicz, demonstrated their mechanical saw mill with the Skerbeck carnivals. Mechanical and inventive demonstrations were big hits on carnival lots. In 1945, their daughter, Arlene, married Joe’s son, Eugene. Emil and Tecla had 6 children in the business. Pauline and Eugene bought their parents, Joe and Ida’s, show in 1951. By 1956 the show’s route was all in MI. ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b435b980-31bf-42d4-a42f-7d5fcb90165f) The Early Days with “Young Strangler Lewis”
1909 At age 15, James E. Strates immigrated from Greece to Lowell, Mass., and soon relocated to Endicott, N.Y. where he learned to wrestle at the YMCA. 1910-1918 While working at a shoe factory, cotton mill, restaurant and other jobs, he perfected his skill as a 1919 Lewis and Bozinis joined Lee Schaefer’s Athletic Show which was part of the World at Home Shows, a traveling carnival. Both men traveled on the New York circuit during the winter and with the show during the summer. By the end of 1919, Lewis was one of the top contenders for the world middleweight championship and one of the top mat promoters of his time. circa 1920 Young Strangler Lewis received his title shot against Joe Turner — Middleweight Champion of the World. Unfortunately for Lewis, the older, more experienced Turner won after one hour, 32 minutes and 11 seconds. 1922 Lewis and partners Bozinis and W.L. Platt reassembled the show and named it Southern Tier Shows, after a region in upstate New York. 1923 In its first season, the show consisted of a three-abreast merry-go-round by Allan Herschell, a Ferris wheel by Eli Bridge, an athletic show, 15 concessions, three side shows and five hard-rubber-tire trucks. It took 24 hours to move the show 22 miles from Bath, N.Y. to its first stop in Wayland, N.Y. 1924 After a hard first season and an extremely cold winter, James E. Strates bought out his partners. He continued to wrestle into the 1930s while promoting matches and managing his friend Bozinis for a short time.
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James E. 
wrestler and turned professional. Under the name of "Young Strangler Lewis," he grappled on a circuit from Buffalo to Philadelphia and from Boston to Syracuse. During this time he took on a training partner from Boston named Nick Bozinis and accepted the first of several matches with Henry Pruess. After losing to Lewis twice, Pruess proposed that Lewis wrestle an unnamed fighter in Wellsville, N.Y., one week later. Lewis accepted the challenge and Pruess named Bozinis, Lewis’s training partner, as the opponent. Bozinis and Lewis met three times in the early 1900s, each winning once and tying the third match while forming a strong friendship. 