Read
Scripts &
Listen to Audio
2004 Broadcasts
2005 Broadcasts
2006 Broadcasts
Gentry
Brothers Circus
MP3
Audio
Not your typical dog-and-pony show….The Gentry Brothers
Circus, on this Moment of Indiana History.
Before multi-platinum recording artists and Oscar-winning films celebrated
Bloomington, the city already occupied an important position in entertainment
history. Although these days the term “dog-and-pony show”
is usually used ironically, in the late 1800s the Gentry brothers of Bloomington
brought glory to their hometown with just such an act. Having trained
a few animals and corralled his three brothers, 17-year-old Henry B. Gentry
bought a train car and got a show on the road in 1885. "Gentry's
Equine and Canine Paradox" soon came to feature 40 ponies and 80
dogs in each of two traveling units. Having bought out several of its
competitors by 1900, the outfit that was then known as Gentry Brothers
Famous Shows lived up to its name with four separate units boasting camels,
sacred cows, monkeys, and elephants that entertained crowds as far away
as Mexico City. Another outstanding aspect of the Gentry Brothers Circus
was its music. Two steam calliopes traveled with the show, and several
important American bandleaders got their start with the Gentry band. Worthington,
Indiana native Fred Jewell ran away from home to play euphonium for the
Gentry show, going on to publish over a hundred marches and lead the Ringling
Brothers and Barnum and Bailey band, among others.
While various units of the Gentry Brothers Circus would winter in Houston,
Texas or Macon, Georgia, the primary winter quarters remained in Bloomington
on the family farm. H. B.Gentry sold his rights to the show in 1916 for
100,000 dollars. In 1923 the family platted the farm west of Rogers Street
into 150 house lots, extending the McDoel Gardens Neighborhood. Though
Gentry bought back the circus in 1931, even a troupe of trained pigs and
a high-diving monkey were unable to keep it afloat past 1934. These days,
one of Gentry’s prized steam calliopes resides in the Ford Museum
in Dearborn, Michigan. A limestone horse head hitching rack outside the
Monroe County Historical Society Museum—an artifact from the Gentry
farmstead—harks back to Bloomington’s dog-and-pony days.
This Moment of Indiana History is a production of the Indiana Public Broadcasting
Stations in association with the Indiana Historical Society. More information
is available on-line at “moment of Indiana history.org.”
Writer: Yaël Ksander
This Moment of Indiana History is a production of the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations in association with the Indiana Historical Society. More information is available at “Moment of Indiana history dot org."
For more information: