Written By Donna Costa
The death of Jumbo the elephant in an 1885 train accident shocked the world. The story of his tragic demise in St. Thomas, Ontario, is still known today, especially to those who grew up in southwestern Ontario. Few, however, will be familiar with The Great And Only Wm La Main or the Grecian Champion & Marvel, Mons-Natalie. Yet those are the tales of my childhood, for my great-grandfather, William Beilstein, was a performer with Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers’ circuses.
Despite the traveling shows’ popularity as entertainment, a circus career was not considered reputable by many, including Adeline, my great-grandmother, who never allowed circus stories repeated in her presence. The tales were whispered out of earshot of Adeline, each recounting attracting errors and embellishment until, generations later, truth and fiction are indistinguishable.
A six-foot banner emblazoned with the stage name, Wm La Main, is unfurled across my office floor. Stitched on purple velvet, adorned with chartreuse ribbon and gold fringe, the name makes a bold statement. It’s one piece from a circus wardrobe collection, circa 1890, that came into my possession after the death of my second-cousin-once-removed. To his children it was just a box of smelly old clothes: to me, a treasure.
William left home to join the circus in his 20s, around the mid 1880s. A resident of Kitchener, Ontario, in his later years, he grew up on a farm in Bentinck Township (now West Grey), and was listed with his parents and six siblings in the 1881 Census of Canada.
What would entice a grown man to join the circus? Was his interest sparked by newspaper reports of Jumbo’s death or by Forepaugh’s circus that toured Ontario in 1884, 1885 and 1887? Did he want to escape a conventional life and rigid social structure? Was it a young man’s last chance for freedom before settling down to married life? Or did he simply have the charisma of a showman?
My search for my great-grandfather began with the stage name, Wm La Main, which I knew from the banner and a sepia cabinet card—the kind used in entertainment circles as a form of advertising—illustrating his performing acrobatics atop a tall tower of stacked drinking glasses. “Revolving” on the poster refers to the platform underneath his head.
Among the wardrobe items was a blank page of La Main’s personal New York Clipper letterhead referring to his “equilibristic novelty.” The Clipper was a weekly paper for the entertainment industry. Performers used the letterhead to protect their livelihood by establishing a record of ownership of their act, similar to a copyright. Using a permanent address c/o The Clipper also ensured family and managers had a way to reach the transient performers, who travelled to 147 or more towns in a season from May until October.
La Main’s Clipper letterhead also contains a side note to managers: My act consists of different hand and head balances and several new and original tricks, entirely my own, combined to form an act that is not equalled in point of artistic merit in the athletic arena. My apparatus and wardrobe, strictly first-class.
La Main’s wardrobe consisted of wrist and leg bands, a vest or chest decoration, and shorts over a form-fitting leotard. The colours reflected the bold palettes and flash of the circus—hot pink satins with azure flower insets, taffetas of gold teamed with red, all embellished with fringes, sequins, bows, rosettes and tassels. The waistband of his hot pink performance shorts indictes La Main was a trim man with a thirty-inch waist.
Circus costumes usually lasted only one season. William’s wardrobe items were probably saved as keepsakes, since numerous signs of wear—missing sequins, gaps in the fringe, sweat, grime, fraying ribbons, and thinning fibers—suggest the clothing was past use for performance. Lack of proper storage over the years has added stains and a musty odour.
Despite searches by the Circus Historical Society in North Carolina and the Circus World’s Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, whose database contains 350,000 names, there was no trace of La Main. It was posited that Wm La Main was not a circus act but a Vaudeville act. Unfortunately, Vaudeville acts are even harder to trace.
