As Irvin Mohler, national president of Circus Fans Association of America, remembers the circuses he saw as a child in Lancaster, Pa., his infatuation with the big top's breathtaking art, romance and lore becomes positively contagious.
"Back in those days, the circus was an event," says Mohler, 64. "You got up early in the morning and watched the circus train come in, watched them unload wagons from the train, set up a big top and tents. You went to the show in the afternoon," Mohler said by phone from his Potomac home.
There are thousands of circus buffs like Mohler, whose fascination has led them to become scholars, collectors and avid groupies who travel thousands of miles to see a show and make lasting friendships with show folk. (Chances are, when the Carson & Barnes five-ring circus rolled into Clifton Park in Baltimore yesterday, the show people were greeted by local buffs aplenty who before this year have had to travel farther west to see this 53-year-old traveling tent show, based in Hugo, Okla.) More than a few buffs, including a couple of Carson & Barnes administrators, have actually left old lives behind to run away with the circus.
Like any grand obsession, the circus has spawned numerous organizations, including the Circus Fans Association, the Circus Historical Society, Circus Model Builders and Windjammers Unlimited, a group for those who enjoy circus music. Each organization has its own publication, of course.
CFA, Mohler's bailiwick, has two local "tents," or groups of members, in Maryland. The Emmett Kelly Tent is based in Hagerstown and the Rudy and Erna Rudynoff Tent, named for a famous equestrian team that settled in Glenarm, is based in Baltimore.
There is also Circus Report, a weekly publication of homey gossip, reviews, news, tributes, circus routes, and ads such as this: "Female Flyers Wanted for All Girl Double Wide Trapeze Act," and "For Sale: Baby Leopards."
In addition to enjoying the circus, buffs have also helped quash prohibitive licensing procedures and lobby against legislation that would hinder a circus' way of doing things. In this tradition, Mohler and other circus fans are actively opposing animal rights activists who consider the use of any animals in the circus to be exploitation.
For the insatiable fan, there is Circus Express Tours, a travel agency that arranges European treks around circus routes. Circus buffs also make the pilgrimage to Sarasota, Fla., where the circus galleries of the Ringling Museum of Art are located, the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis., and the Circus Hall of Fame in Peru, Ind.
