Imagine the dedication of this project!
Man Creates Tiny, 5,000-Piece Model Circus
By LAURA WALSH, Associated Press Writer
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A circus fan ever since his first Christy Bros. show in 1926, William R. Brinley has designed a miniature circus that features more than 5,000 carved figures and circus equipment. It spans 1,100 square feet, a world in which 3/4-inch equals 1 foot.
The teeny display at The Barnum Museum tells a feel-good story of old circus days, when clowns and trapeze girls had the power to draw crowds to the street, and even close school early for a makeshift holiday.
In the early 20th century, people cheered as the fancy parade wagons slowly made their way downtown. Children clutched posters torn from barns that boasted of trained jungle animals, as they tried to sneak peeks at the "Bearded Girl" and the "Sword Swallower."
"When I was a kid you looked forward to circus day, like you would Christmas or your birthday," said Brinley, 86, of Meriden. "It was a big deal."
Brinley's model, complete with five rings and two stages, is a replica of a 1903 Barnum and Bailey tent circus. The display is made of just wood and cloth and took 36 years to put together. There's the 6-inch-tall ringmaster, tents (made from scraps of bed sheets) and plenty of cop clowns and hefty elephants.
But it's the slightest of details that makes this circus a testament to Brinley's own life. When he was a boy, Brinley snagged free tickets to all the circuses that rolled into his hometown of Wallingford by volunteering to do "just about anything they needed."
And it was there that Brinley, equipped with his Brownie camera, tape measurer and pad and pencil, preserved all the tricks of the trade.
For those who look closely enough, Brinley made sure to include an elongated bed for the "Tall Lad" in his Sideshow car. His ticket wagon has a false floor so the clerk can hide money from lurking robbers, and the wagon carrying his ballet girls has a separate room for an older couple who act as chaperons.
The back of the dining car is packed with circus workers hunched around a table, trading cards and playing poker. A hidden door separates the gambling room from the rest of the dining car and is barred by a single piece of wood.
"It was all a secret," Brinley. "They needed to keep the sheriff from barging in."
He used a jigsaw to cut everything, even the traditional folding "Starback" seats for the audience. Small electric motors add some movement to the display — horses gallop and acrobats twirl from the sky.
Brinley's favorite part of the circus has always been the animals, and he pays tribute to the famous circus trainer and old friend Terrell Jacobs by painting his name on the lion and tiger cages.
Brinley met Jacobs, who worked for a variety of circuses, after a Ringling Bros. show in 1938 in Hartford. The two remained friends, corresponding often through letters, until Jacobs' death.
All of Brinley's parade wagons are modeled after Robbins Brother circus wagons, including one that pictures steamboats passing through the Panama Canal. Brinley chose carefully his color shades to match the exact design and style of the originals.
Authenticity is what makes circus modelers tick, said Marlin Weaver, vice president for Circus Model Builders Inc. The group, founded in 1936, has nearly 1,500 members across the country who search through photographs, old posters and newspaper clippings to make sure their models are the real deal.
"Everybody's crazy about something. We just happen to be crazy about circuses," said Weaver, of Palm Harbor, Fla. "It's just a little bit of history that you will never see again."
By LAURA WALSH, Associated Press Writer
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A circus fan ever since his first Christy Bros. show in 1926, William R. Brinley has designed a miniature circus that features more than 5,000 carved figures and circus equipment. It spans 1,100 square feet, a world in which 3/4-inch equals 1 foot.
The teeny display at The Barnum Museum tells a feel-good story of old circus days, when clowns and trapeze girls had the power to draw crowds to the street, and even close school early for a makeshift holiday.
In the early 20th century, people cheered as the fancy parade wagons slowly made their way downtown. Children clutched posters torn from barns that boasted of trained jungle animals, as they tried to sneak peeks at the "Bearded Girl" and the "Sword Swallower."
"When I was a kid you looked forward to circus day, like you would Christmas or your birthday," said Brinley, 86, of Meriden. "It was a big deal."
Brinley's model, complete with five rings and two stages, is a replica of a 1903 Barnum and Bailey tent circus. The display is made of just wood and cloth and took 36 years to put together. There's the 6-inch-tall ringmaster, tents (made from scraps of bed sheets) and plenty of cop clowns and hefty elephants.
But it's the slightest of details that makes this circus a testament to Brinley's own life. When he was a boy, Brinley snagged free tickets to all the circuses that rolled into his hometown of Wallingford by volunteering to do "just about anything they needed."
And it was there that Brinley, equipped with his Brownie camera, tape measurer and pad and pencil, preserved all the tricks of the trade.
For those who look closely enough, Brinley made sure to include an elongated bed for the "Tall Lad" in his Sideshow car. His ticket wagon has a false floor so the clerk can hide money from lurking robbers, and the wagon carrying his ballet girls has a separate room for an older couple who act as chaperons.
The back of the dining car is packed with circus workers hunched around a table, trading cards and playing poker. A hidden door separates the gambling room from the rest of the dining car and is barred by a single piece of wood.
"It was all a secret," Brinley. "They needed to keep the sheriff from barging in."
He used a jigsaw to cut everything, even the traditional folding "Starback" seats for the audience. Small electric motors add some movement to the display — horses gallop and acrobats twirl from the sky.
Brinley's favorite part of the circus has always been the animals, and he pays tribute to the famous circus trainer and old friend Terrell Jacobs by painting his name on the lion and tiger cages.
Brinley met Jacobs, who worked for a variety of circuses, after a Ringling Bros. show in 1938 in Hartford. The two remained friends, corresponding often through letters, until Jacobs' death.
All of Brinley's parade wagons are modeled after Robbins Brother circus wagons, including one that pictures steamboats passing through the Panama Canal. Brinley chose carefully his color shades to match the exact design and style of the originals.
Authenticity is what makes circus modelers tick, said Marlin Weaver, vice president for Circus Model Builders Inc. The group, founded in 1936, has nearly 1,500 members across the country who search through photographs, old posters and newspaper clippings to make sure their models are the real deal.
"Everybody's crazy about something. We just happen to be crazy about circuses," said Weaver, of Palm Harbor, Fla. "It's just a little bit of history that you will never see again."
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