This is a FREE STREET FAIR AND BAND TOURNAMENT which took place from September 20th to September 23rd, 1897 in Owosso, Michigan, a small city 25 miles due west of Flint. The view looks northeast from the intersection of Main and North Washington. The premier attraction is FILLIAN who is performing a rolling globe (sometimes referred to as a walking globe) balancing act. He can be seen in the upper right hand corner of the photo, slowly making his way along a narrow platform toward an inclined spiral by which he will cautiously descend to earth. Previously he had climbed the spiral, walked the length of the three story high platform located in the middle of Main St. He then carefully turned around and you can see him headed back west toward the spiral ramp.
I've seen young women perform this type of act in various circuses, but they never have managed to go as high in the air
as steel nerved FILLIAN.
In the old days, according to A. C. Gands, the globes were constructed of wood and covered with canvas for added strength. Nowadays they are molded from fiberglass or PVC plastic.
"Suicide Sandi", who used to be carried around the center ring of Mills Bros. Circus with her head in an elephant's mouth, writes that:
"This....(web page) brings back so many memories! In the 60's, I made my living as a circus performer, with mainly aerial, elephant, and showgirl duties, but also performed (VERY badly) in a globe act. I was the last girl in the act, and--in addition to NEVER being able to hop up on the globe without the Performance Director/Ringmaster (Bless His Heart!) holding the globe steady for me--only once during the entire season was I able to roll my globe up onto the first platform; I was always terrified it would shoot out from under me, and that I'd fall onto the platform and cause myself a great injury! I remember I did always feel, however, that if all I had to do was just stay on the ramp and keep rolling the globe up the incline, I'd do just fine. The globes we used were--to the best of my memory--aluminum; I remember they were very light in weight."
According to British author Charlie Holland,
this act was quite popular a century ago. The performers were known as "Spiral Ascensionists". One of his recent publications contains an 1897 illustration of ALPHONSINE spiralling her way to a precarious height just as FILLIAN did that same year.
The above photo was a bit hard to reproduce because it is a newspaper picture found in an old issue of the OWOSSO ARGUS-PRESS. The original was shot by George Welte and was loaned to the paper by his grandson, G. B. Welte.
The following two pictures are from the collection of Steven C. Schmidt. Obviously, they were made a different year because FILLIAN'S platform has been erected on North Washington instead of Main St. Once again, the camera is positioned so that it looks to the northeast from near the Washington and Main intersection.
It is quite obvious that U.S. currency stretched much further around the turn of the century. The banner at the bottom of the picture advertises Ice Cream Sodas for only 5 cents!
Here is a closeup view of FILLIAN gingerly climbing ever higher while balancing on the huge rolling globe. There IS a safety net beneath the level platform but NONE is visible below the spiral where he does his climbing.
In the old days, before there were motorized vehicles, if you wanted to move a house, or other large structure, you did the job with a team of horses. CLICK HERE to see how such an enormous task was accomplished.
Or, if you'd rather do so, turn back to my HOME PAGE.
