Circus employees: performers AND crew

Tweet

I'm interested in hearing from individuals that have circus roots. My husband's family owned a small circus in the first half of the twentieth century called Rippel Brothers Show (not to be confused with the current Hungarian acrobatic performers!). If any of your family was connected with the Rippel Brothers (and the other names that are slightly different), please contact me. The circus lived and toured in two main areas over the years: Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin? AND Virginia and surrounding area. Circus families (and other traveling perfomers) are extremely difficult to find in the census because they moved around so often. If you find any entertainers of any sort listed in the U.S. censuses, please send me that information. I'm hoping to compile all that are found into a reference source. Please look at the "occupation" column in the census to find these folks; the most commonly listed position I've found is "Showman" or "circus performer", but there are others listed under words such as vaudeville, musician, dancer, actor, etc.