When the Circus Came to Monrovia, November 1925

 

Monrovia, California Daily News,
16 November 1925

Traveling circuses were an important form of entertainment in American cities in the 1920s.

Before the four rings were filled with people and hundreds of animals for two performances daily, young Monrovia, California horseman Merle H. Little (1906-1975) took his camera and went to look at the arrival of the Al G. Barnes Circus in his hometown in November 1925.

Here's what Merle saw:

A water wagon, with elephants, a zebra, and a buffalo. 

A pair of zebras.

Eight Shetland Ponies pulling a circus wagon.