Circuses have changed a great deal as the economics of large-scale traveling spectacles and an increasing sensitivity to the plight of circus animals pushed me thinking of circuses. For reasons I dimly remember, but which probably involved what I thought would be a treat for children I went to 2 circuses. One was an extravaganza by Ringling Brothers. The other a goodwill traveling circus from the Soviet Union involving both U. S. and Soviet acts. At some point I will try to go to a couple of modern circuses to update the portfolio, but for now these pictures take us back several decades.