Circus Queen and Tinker Bell

Janet M. Davis is an associate professor of American studies and history at the University of Texas, Austin, and the author of The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top.

• Acknowledgments  /  ixIntroduction -- Janet M. Davis  /  1Author's Note  /  33Prologue  /  35PART ONE1. The Bend in the Road  /  412. As Mrs. Private Citizen, Viewing the Parade  /  573. A Flight on Gossamer Wings  /  624. In Pursuit of a Mirage to Yesterday  /  755. A Tour behind the Platforms of Those Strange People  /  866. Destiny Smiles, but Not on Shmoontsie  /  997. A New Leaf, a New Life  /  1058. Where Caste Is Observed, According to Rank and Rating  /  1179. Equestrian Director Par Excellence  /  14310. The Awe-Inspiring Mr. John  /  14711. Calibrating for a Career  /  15012. Bareback: The Aristocrat of Circus Acts  /  15513. A Backdoor Glimpse of Supermen and Superwomen  /  16114. Elephants Are Like People  /  17215. Engineering the White City  /  17716. Finding the Lot -- A Daily Headache  /  18717. On the Sunny Side  /  18918. Life under the Big Top: Private, Social, Competitive  /  19319. Finale of the Season  /  19620. Circus Experience Pays Off  /  19821. An Annual Season's Opening  /  20322. Leitzel, Queen of the Air -- Of the Ground as Well  /  20823. Progress, Trends, and Customs Typical of Circus Folks  /  21424. On a Magic Carpet to a Land Fantastic  /  22125. Back to the Material World  /  22926. An Act Is Born  /  23427. 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"  /  23728. Pride versus Virtue  /  24629. Misery -- Like Death -- Knows No Class Distinction  /  25530. Fate Follows Her Course -- Strange, Mysterious, Terrifying  /  258PART TWO31. Sarasota -- Last Stop  /  27132. An Elucidating Interlude  /  288PART THREE33. The Circus, to Date (1948)  /  293Epilogue: The Show -- The Public -- Unto the End  /  311Appendix A: Superstitions  /  313Notes  /  315Index  /  353

"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