Circus Queen and Tinker Bell: The Memoir of Tiny Kline
by Tiny Kline edited by Janet M. Davis
University of Illinois Press, 2007 eISBN: 978-0-252-09555-9 | Cloth: 978-0-252-03312-4 | Paper: 978-0-252-07510-0 Library of Congress Classification GV1811.K56A3 2008 Dewey Decimal Classification 791.3092
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This engaging memoir follows the life and career of circus performer Tiny Kline (1891-1964) from the burlesque house to the circus tent, and on to Disneyland and the silver screen. While working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Kline became well known for her signature "slide for life" stunt, an "iron jaw" act in which she slid to the ground while dangling from trapeze rigging by her teeth. Kline renewed her spectacular acrobatics at the age of seventy when she played Tinker Bell in the "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks show at Disneyland. In that same year, she also began writing her life story.
Extensively annotated by Janet M. Davis, this memoir documents twentieth-century changes in popular amusements, while providing fresh insight into circus personalities such as John Ringling, acrobat Lillian Leitzel, and big cat trainer Mabel Stark, as well as mainstream entertainers like Florenz Ziegfeld, John Philip Sousa, and others. Kline also provides intimate details about the daily machinations at the circus, including fascinating accounts of its sexual politics, racial dynamics, risky nature, and labor relations.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Janet M. Davis is an associate professor of American studies and history at the University of Texas, Austin, and the author of The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top.
REVIEWS
"It was great fun reading Tiny Kline's fascinating and quirky story of the circus. There is nothing quite like her insider account. I found myself getting wrapped up in her personal descriptions and in the vagaries that confronted her both in and out of the entertainment profession. Her insights are crucial in understanding several important transitions in circus history."--Don B. Wilmeth, editor of The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, 2nd edition
"Kline's fascinating story provides remarkably vivid descriptions of the day-to-day life of performers on the circus circuit and glimpses of well-known entertainment figures. Davis deftly places Tiny Kline's story amongst important questions about the role of popular amusements in class formation and Americanization of immigrant populations; about the meaning of bodily display and the exceptional body; and about early twentieth-century gender roles and transgressions."--Joy S. Kasson, author of Buffalo Bill's Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History
"With this indispensible volume, Davis again demonstrates how the study of circus in particular and popular culture in general can enrich understanding of the world. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments
IntroductionJanet M. Davis
Author's Note
Prologue
Part I
1. The Bend in the Road
2. As Mrs. Private Citizen, Viewing the Parade
3. A Flight on Gossamer Wings
4. In Pursuit of a Mirage to Yesterday
5. A Tour behind the Platforms of Those Strange People
6. Destiny Smiles, but Not on Shmoontsie
7. A New Leaf, a New Life
8. Where Caste Is Observed, According to Rank and Rating
9. Equestrian Director Par Excellence
10. The Awe-Inspiring Mr. John
11. Calibrating for a Career
12. Bareback: The Aristocrat of Circus Acts
13. A Backdoor Glimpse of Supermen and Superwomen
14. Elephants Are Like People
15. Engineering the White City
16. Finding the Lot--A Daily Headache
17. On the Sunny Side
18. Life under the Big Top: Private, Social, Competitive
19. Finale of the Season
20. Circus Experience Pays Off
21. An Annual Season's Opening
22. Leitzel, Queen of the Air--Of the Ground as Well
23. Progress, Trends, and Customs Typical of Circus Folks
24. On a Magic Carpet to a Land Fantastic
25. Back to the Material World
26. An Act Is Born
27. Circus History Is Made: Merging "The Greatest Show on Earth"
and "The World's Greatest Show," Thereafter to Be Known as
"Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows"
28. Pride versus Virtue
29. Misery--Like Death--Knows No Class Distinction
30. Fate Follows Her Course--Strange, Mysterious, Terrifying
Part II
31. Sarasota--Last Stop
32. An Elucidating Interlude
Part III
33. The Circus, to Date
Epilogue: The Show--The Public--Unto the End
Appendix A: Superstitions
Notes
Index
Circus Queen and Tinker Bell: The Memoir of Tiny Kline
by Tiny Kline edited by Janet M. Davis
University of Illinois Press, 2007 eISBN: 978-0-252-09555-9 Cloth: 978-0-252-03312-4 Paper: 978-0-252-07510-0
This engaging memoir follows the life and career of circus performer Tiny Kline (1891-1964) from the burlesque house to the circus tent, and on to Disneyland and the silver screen. While working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Kline became well known for her signature "slide for life" stunt, an "iron jaw" act in which she slid to the ground while dangling from trapeze rigging by her teeth. Kline renewed her spectacular acrobatics at the age of seventy when she played Tinker Bell in the "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks show at Disneyland. In that same year, she also began writing her life story.
Extensively annotated by Janet M. Davis, this memoir documents twentieth-century changes in popular amusements, while providing fresh insight into circus personalities such as John Ringling, acrobat Lillian Leitzel, and big cat trainer Mabel Stark, as well as mainstream entertainers like Florenz Ziegfeld, John Philip Sousa, and others. Kline also provides intimate details about the daily machinations at the circus, including fascinating accounts of its sexual politics, racial dynamics, risky nature, and labor relations.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Janet M. Davis is an associate professor of American studies and history at the University of Texas, Austin, and the author of The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top.
REVIEWS
"It was great fun reading Tiny Kline's fascinating and quirky story of the circus. There is nothing quite like her insider account. I found myself getting wrapped up in her personal descriptions and in the vagaries that confronted her both in and out of the entertainment profession. Her insights are crucial in understanding several important transitions in circus history."--Don B. Wilmeth, editor of The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, 2nd edition
"Kline's fascinating story provides remarkably vivid descriptions of the day-to-day life of performers on the circus circuit and glimpses of well-known entertainment figures. Davis deftly places Tiny Kline's story amongst important questions about the role of popular amusements in class formation and Americanization of immigrant populations; about the meaning of bodily display and the exceptional body; and about early twentieth-century gender roles and transgressions."--Joy S. Kasson, author of Buffalo Bill's Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History
"With this indispensible volume, Davis again demonstrates how the study of circus in particular and popular culture in general can enrich understanding of the world. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments
IntroductionJanet M. Davis
Author's Note
Prologue
Part I
1. The Bend in the Road
2. As Mrs. Private Citizen, Viewing the Parade
3. A Flight on Gossamer Wings
4. In Pursuit of a Mirage to Yesterday
5. A Tour behind the Platforms of Those Strange People
6. Destiny Smiles, but Not on Shmoontsie
7. A New Leaf, a New Life
8. Where Caste Is Observed, According to Rank and Rating
9. Equestrian Director Par Excellence
10. The Awe-Inspiring Mr. John
11. Calibrating for a Career
12. Bareback: The Aristocrat of Circus Acts
13. A Backdoor Glimpse of Supermen and Superwomen
14. Elephants Are Like People
15. Engineering the White City
16. Finding the Lot--A Daily Headache
17. On the Sunny Side
18. Life under the Big Top: Private, Social, Competitive
19. Finale of the Season
20. Circus Experience Pays Off
21. An Annual Season's Opening
22. Leitzel, Queen of the Air--Of the Ground as Well
23. Progress, Trends, and Customs Typical of Circus Folks
24. On a Magic Carpet to a Land Fantastic
25. Back to the Material World
26. An Act Is Born
27. Circus History Is Made: Merging "The Greatest Show on Earth"
and "The World's Greatest Show," Thereafter to Be Known as
"Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows"
28. Pride versus Virtue
29. Misery--Like Death--Knows No Class Distinction
30. Fate Follows Her Course--Strange, Mysterious, Terrifying
Part II
31. Sarasota--Last Stop
32. An Elucidating Interlude
Part III
33. The Circus, to Date
Epilogue: The Show--The Public--Unto the End
Appendix A: Superstitions
Notes
Index
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC