Utah has long enjoyed 'Greatest Show on Earth'

Maybe it's the clowns. Or a block-long parade of elephants. Or the now defunct "big top." Or the shear audacity of an entertainment that dares to call itself "The Greatest Show on Earth."

Utahns have long had a love affair with the circus.

As early as July 16, 1887, the Deseret News was writing about the day the circus came to town and describing for readers the exotic animals that were part of the show.

"There are five elephants, one of them an immense, savage brute that is said to have killed several persons, and has to be kept chained. The menagerie as a whole is a find collection," wrote an anonymous reporter who praised the pre-show parade for Robinson's circus.

In Sept. 22, 1985, a news story promoted the return of the circus as, "Time for young kids to laugh and older ones to laugh right along, too. Time to enjoy some of the greatest acts ever presented."

Throughout the years, the newspaper has reported on various circuses, starting with Forepaugh's, Robinson's and Sells & Gray's and continuing with Ringling Brothers, now Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, and the Polack Brothers' Shrine Circus, now known simply as the Shrine Circus.

Photo researcher Ron Fox scoured the Deseret News photo archives looking for images of these visits and found photos of elephant parades, dancing monkeys, astonishing high-wire acts and clowns, clowns and more clowns — including a round of clown auditions held in conjunction with the circus in 1973. The photos can be seen at the newspaper's Web site, deseretnews.com.

Circus visits have often inspired newspaper reporters to abandon objectivity for hyperbole.

On May 6, 1899, the newspaper touted the return of Ringling Brothers' circus after an absence of two years, "and the announcement will no doubt be received with general satisfaction. … Although (this circus) came to this city two years ago a stranger, it made a distinct hit and the popular opinion at that time was that it came nearer being the ideal big circus than anything that had ever been seen here."

On June 1, the newspaper estimated that 20,000 to 24,000 had attended the two performances of the circus that year, with ticket prices starting at 25 cents for small children and going up to $1 for reserved seats.

"There have been circuses and circus audiences before in Salt Lake, but never anything to equal those seen yesterday afternoon and evening. … The big feature of the performance was undoubtedly Mr. O'Brien, whose pyramid of 61 ponies and horses, all moving obediently to his command, was simply marvelous."