Hike and Pete Siebrand Visionaries
Posted By thecircusblog on August 23, 2009
From left to right Hike and Pete Siebrand. Photo was taken by Wade Cavanaugh of the Arizona Republic , Phoenix, AZ. Photo was shot in the early 1950’s. This was a publicity shot for the show.
The Rivalry of the Circus and Carnival.
Siebrand Bros started their show with a merry go round in late 1920’s. As the show grew larger, the Siebrands knew something was missing so they added the circus in the mid 1930’s. The reasoning for this addition was they loved the circus and wanted the best of both show worlds. Good family entertainment was brought forth that would offer the public something different. For several years their show flourished. Circus performers came for a season or two then went to larger circuses. On a few occasions other circus performers would make negative remarks about your being with a carnival as the the two were like……. oil and water…… I’ll explain later. The Siebrand circus played a week at a time in each town and your days were usually free. It was a perfect place to brake in a new act and get payed for it. Many fine circus acts were created on this show and became very successful. There is a vast difference between circuses and carnivals. The circus offers entertainment with performing actors and animals in an array of production numbers. The carnival offers games and mechanical rides. To this day sometimes the two are confused by name. This is where some of the problems start. Several years ago there were a few carnivals made themselves a bad reputation and were not invited back to the town they had played. The reasons are not relevant now after so many years. The rub came between the circus and the carnival when carnivals stared to paint clowns, performing animals and such on their trucks and semi trailers …..this they thought would soften their image. Some would even hire a clown to walk the midway. It got to the point where circuses had to explain who they were and the difference between themselves and carnivals. Thanks to time, bad things don’t last too long. Siebrand Bros along with some other fine carnivals combined there shows with the circus and it proved successful. In these modern times the circus is on it’s own again as well the carnival both having success in their own right……Just don’t paint clowns on your ride semi’s.
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