The Circus Comes to Town: Montgomery’s Queen’s New Brings the 'Wonderful Kenebels' to Seattle
In October 1876, the largest and most brilliant circus company in the West descended upon Seattle, offering a night of acrobatics, animal acts, and high-flying daredevils for just one dollar.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Wednesday Afternoon & Evening, Oct. 18.
Montgomery Queen's New, Largest, Best and Most Brilliant Circus Company.
Represented by the Following Great Artists: Miss Mollie Brown, Madam D'Atallie, Wm. James Louis Brown, Mile. Laurette, Madam Sebastian, Patta Rosa, Sig. Sebastian, Don Abalardo Lowanda, Mr. Fred Levantine, Mr. Nat Austin, Mathews Family, AND THE WONDERFUL KENEbELS. Joe, Francois and Eugene Together with a Numerous Corpse of Auxiliaries make up this Grand Show.
Doors open at 1 o'clock P.M. Performance commences an hour after.
Admission One Dollar; Children under 9 years of age, 50 Cents. C. C. Pell, Agent.
While modern Seattleites might flock to the Space Needle or a Seahawks game for entertainment, this 1876 advertisement reveals that traveling circuses were the primary source of mass spectacle and communal wonder in the frontier territory. The 'Wonderful Kenebels' likely refers to the famous Kennebec Brothers, aerialists who toured extensively, highlighting how global touring acts brought international flair to a small logging town.
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