Interesting History: The Gentry Brothers Circus
I’m sure some of my friends and clients will laugh when they read this blog and find that my roots come from the circus. Always the entertainer and storyteller! I grew up with my grandparents’ stories of elephants, camels, zebras, ponies, monkeys and dogs.
The circus was started by four Gentry brothers from Bloomington, Indiana in 1885 and was probably the greatest dog and pony show ever developed. My grandmother, Nana, was a Gentry.
My grandmother’s favorite story was a poodle that was placed in a burning building and rescued by a clanging wagon of monkeys!
My grandfather’s favorite story was when they were building the Fiji house at Indiana University, the limestone columns were too heavy, so they enlisted Nana’s elephants to drag them from the train tracks to the fraternity house. Can you imagine!?!?
Positive Reputation Leads to a Name Change
The circus had developed such a reputation by 1902 that the name was changed to Gentry Brothers Famous Shows. An elaborate route book was published that year that listed a total of 72 railroad cars, 22 elephants, 12 camels, 150 ponies, 90 dogs, 60 monkeys and a zebra.
By 1910, the Gentry Brothers circus was considered the largest traveling show in the United States. They had an 18-piece band and a steam calliope. They also added trapeze acts, a side show and a cookhouse.
The Gentry’s advertised “educated Persian sheep and performing razorback hogs.” The Monkey Fire Department was widely recalled and big pyramids of numerous ponies, military pony drills, dancing ponies, high diving ponies, rope jumping ponies and dancing ponies. The Schneider dog family, wire walking dogs, trained pigs and goats.
Attendance
Many problems confronted the circus, but the critical one was that the owners never know how many people were going to attend – sound familiar? They also encountered an epidemic (the flu of 1918 – sound familiar?) Weather and other natural circumstances also caused headaches – a tornado in Nebraska, a 12-inch snowstorm in June in Colorado.
One interesting local tidbit was that their wagons came from the Beggs Wagon Company, who made the “highest class circus wagons on the market.” Their building was near the Rieger Distillery right here in Kansas City.
The Gentry Brothers closed in October 24, 1929 – the next day was Black Friday on Wall Street and my father was born in June of 1929, too young to enjoy all the animals and circus fun.
The last of the circus brothers died in 1951, but what a wonderful ride they and my Nana had!
I was watching this youtube video and saw this incredibly well preserved Gentry Bros Circus poster in the town of Steubenville, OH. After reading this article and realizing that poster must be somewhere around 95 years old I just thought that was incredible and worth sharing.
I know that the Gentry’s had family in Steubenville, I remember my father talking about that. I would love to see that poster – the one I am holding in the picture was sold at Walmart! I wonder how they got the rights to the artwork?
I’m from Gibson County Indiana and my great grandpa was a gentry I was always told that we were kin to the gentrys that owned to circus but I don’t know how.
My grandmother, Kathryn was the only daughter of the Gentry Family. She lived most of her life in Bloomington, Indiana. She talked about growing up riding the circus dogs and spending the off season with the animals. Her father’s brothers were also involved in the circus. In a lucky break, they sold the circus right before the stock market crash in 1929. My father was born a few months later.
l am from Bloomington, Indiana and a member of the Johnson family, a large black family. when I was a young child my great aunt told me stories about the Gentry Brothers Circus and the Gentry family. When she was a young woman, she worked for the family. Her name was Nettie.