The Circus Is In Town This Weekend!

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I’ve posted some things about the circus before, but I wanted to let you know that the P.T. Barnum and Bailey Circus is supposedly giving its LAST performance HERE in Richmond, VA, this week-end at the Richmond coliseum. I have seen the circus there about 8 years ago. At that time there was a HUGE parade of some of the animals, the elephants in particular, getting off the train and being led down the streets of Richmond to the coliseum. The big cats were also in the parade but in cages. Kids are not very interested in the Circus anymore, now that they have video games and other entertainment, it seems. And there are a lot of protestors that are not happy about the way some of the animals in SOME circuses have been treated, so the end of an era is inevitable. I did find a few interesting facts about the circus though, so I decided to share them with you. The word “circus” actually comes from the Latin word that means “round” and modern day circuses were patterned after the Roman coliseum, which is, of course, ROUND. Have you ever seen the Coliseum in Rome? I have not, but would like to see it or what’s left of it. I have seen many photos of it. P.T. Barnum actually coined some words and phrases, such as “jumbo” and “the Greatest Show on Earth.” He also later became the mayor of Bridgeport Connecticut. A famous line attributed to P.T. Barnum is “There’s a sucker born every minute.” However, there is no evidence that he ever said that. Have you ever been to a BIG circus?