Amusements in the Twentieth Century....

The story of the small town carnival is deeply engrained in American culture.  Once a staple it survives after a fashion at County Fairs and similar retro gatherings that still carry on in an on-line, digital, CGI age.  But were they as we imagine?  Were they a sort of gypsy enterprise with a whiff of the disreputable and even of the dangerous?   Come with me for a brief peek through the keyhole of history.  In true show biz fashion it will give you a view of center stage but only glimpses of what is going on Stage Left and Behind the Curtain.....

I ran across the story of the Twentieth Century Amusement Company entirely by accident.  I was looking into the particulars of a "Madam Rose" and her combination hat shop and cosmetics business.  In the process I figured out that she was married to a certain David Jones who ran a carnival.  Also an early movie theater.  

Above you see the two principals in the organization along with a couple of their main assets, a Ferris Wheel and a Merry Go Round. 

On the left is R.F. Cosgriff.  He was an Irish immigrant who moved by stages to Wisconsin by the late 1850's.  Although he is usually referred to as "Colonel Cosgriff" this seems to be the sort of honorific often accorded to showmen in this era.  But he was a Civil War veteran and while only a Private he did serve with distinction and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Interestingly this was for actions after surrender of the main Confederate army at Appomattox.  Here's a bit more on the man.

On the right is "Major" Dave Jones.  Certainly an honorific in this case he was born in 1865.  That would make him 45 years old in this picture.  I don't know as much about him.  The common first and last name sure don't help.  He and his wife Rose appear in the 1900 census living in Chippewa Falls.  They are both "boarders" in a large household.  Mr. Jones is an electrician.  The 1910 census shows them living with her parents and lists his occupation as "Carnival Co.".

In trying to relate the story of the Twentieth Century Amusement Company it is necessary to rely on mentions in the newspapers.  The home town Chippewa Falls paper is uniformly complimentary.  Papers from other communities are a bit more honest.

The enterprise seems to have been started in either 1908 or '09.  The earlier date reflects Cosgriff and Jones starting the Gem Theater in town, the latter is when references to the carnival touring begin.  At various times they performed in Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Mondovi, Augusta, Bloomer, Boyd, New Richmond, Wausau and at least once further afield in Missouri.  They had a base of sorts at Elroy Wisconsin where their rides were stored over winter.

One of their more interesting venues came in the Spring of 1910 when they contracted with the Chippewa Valley Railway, Light and Power Company to provide two weeks of entertainment to patrons at "Electric Park" at Lake Hallie.  In addition to the Ferris Wheel and Merry Go Round they were said to have "...a number of high class, clean and wholesome shows."

High class, clean and wholesome....well perhaps.  They had a reptile show.  They had a contortionist named Margaret Ritter who was billed as "the boneless girl".  They had a nice popcorn wagon supposedly just like the one a certain John Hoffer kept at the corner of Bridge Street and Spring in Chippewa Falls.  It is worth noting that the horse that pulled it ended up being stolen from a livery stable.

But the most dramatic feature of their shows were the aeronauts.  

Hot air balloons were not exactly new in the early 20th century but still a draw, and at their engagements Cosgriff and Jones would send them up daily.  Remarkably the procedure was to run the balloon up on a tether several thousand feet up....and have the balloonist parachute out!

If this sounds risky well it sure was. 

In July of 1910 a pole used to support the balloon on the ground broke free at an exhibition in Mondovi.  It struck 12 year old Palmer Olson on the head killing him instantly.

In October the same balloon burst into flames at a show in Arcadia, severely burning the aeronaut, a certain James Slowey.  An unsympathetic Eau Claire paper says that it "...seems an ill fated contrivance."

And the bad luck continued as another of their balloons went up in flames in Chippewa Falls in September while being prepared for the fair.

And then to make matters even worse Colonel Cosgriff died of pneumonia in November.

The troupe carried on for a while longer.  There is notice in 1911 that Cosgriff's son had arrived to take matters in hand and various mentions of the Twentieth Century Amusement Company do turn up in that year.  By 1912 the company seems to have been owned by a man named Crooks, with Jones as Secretary.  They appear to have toured farther away, out into "the Rockies".  They also appear to have gotten into making movies but that tale will have to be told another day.

In 1913 David Jones moved to Toledo Ohio to become manager of the Great North Western Carnival Company.  Rose Jones moves to Minneapolis the same year with no mention of her husband.   

During its brief heyday the Twentieth Century Amusement Company seems to have been a going concern.  It is said to have had 18 employees and business was steady in 1909 and 1910.  But did it fit our image of the small town carnival?

Pretty much.  There were stories of the county sheriff hauling away two girls under confusing circumstances.  A bunch of poodles got sold. Aerialists came and went.  A certain "Professor" Pearl Stuckey seems to have started the 1910 season but literally bailed out before things got tragic.  Flaming balloons, stolen pop corn wagon horse, death defying parachute drops.  If anything our mental images of traveling carnivals may be a bit too tame.