Jason Klingler at Circus World, Baraboo, WI, August 1977

We spent a day at Circus World at Baraboo, Wisconsin which is directly on the Baraboo River.  Circus World has been around since 1959, and was still going moderately strong.  Animal rights activists have managed to eliminate many fun animals from today's circus, but back in 1977 they were just getting started and pachyderm were still providing entertainment for children and adults alike:

The crowd was additionally awed and delighted by a woman hanging by her hair, high up in the Big-Top and spinning around like a Whirling Dervish while spinning hoops.  She didn't even use a safety net.  Ah, the good old days when the circus was really fun:

Well, perhaps not fun for everyone.  Jason Klingler did not have his happy face on when we put him in the cage to take this picture:

Jason's look is one of controlled panic - but right on the verge of totally losing it.  
Now what should have calmed Jay down?  One might think a fun walk through the petting zoo would do the trick.  No scary gorillas roaming around there, right?  Well it was obvious that Jay had never read how close Esmeralda was to her goat in the Hunchback of Notre Dame:

In contrast to "Esmeralda and the Goat, Djali", 1865, by Antonio G. Rossetti, we have "Jason and the Goat", a picture by Walter Klingler:

I think this turned out to be a traumatic day for Jason who to this day has a terrible fear of the circus....and goats.



Dan Klingler, who was only four months old, just kind of slept through the entire day.