White Tops Review

Star Edition
*****

*****
The best circus book since "I Love You Honey, but The Season's Over"

--David P. Orr
CFA and OABA Circus Representative

"Compelling..! I could not put it down!"

--Fred D. Phening. Jr.
Editor of Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society.

White Tops Review

Spangles, Elephants, Violets & Me: The Circus Inside Out, Victoria B. Cristiani Rossi, iUniverse, Inc., 2007, 242 pages. Jan/Feb 2008 White Tops

It goes without saying that incredibly talented writer, Dr. Mort Gamble, accomplished in the field of higher education advancement, has an exceptional academic résumé. Aside from his job as assistant to the president at picturesque Bethany College (a small college of national distinction) in West Virginia, Dr. Gamble is a highly-respected member of the White Tops advisory committee.

By Dr. Mort Gamble

Where is the circus we once knew, with its huge tents, long trains, and thrilling, world-famous acts? Circus Fans will be happy to find that the glorious and colorful, if not always great, days of the big top live on in Victoria B. Cristiani Rossi's intelligent new memoir, Spangles, Elephants, Violets & Me: The Circus Inside Out. An important contribution to the literature of the circus, her story is a vividly told personal journey along the historic routes of several beloved shows. She promises an exciting circus train ride; expertly and memorably, she delivers that and much more.

Born into the Cristiani riding act family, from the canvas "womb" of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus of the 1940's, Victoria is an eyewitness to a world now "nowhere to be found." But she captures that world and its era with powerful and lyrical imagery—worthy of the enterprise that became an unforgettable "part of (the) lives" of all who ever bought a ticket.

For young Vickie, the Cole Bros. Circus backyard was a magical, but ordered, playground. One delightful scene features a confrontation with Cole's owner Zack Terrell, who surprises her as she casually picnics atop the "Old Lady in the Shoe" float. Her memories of the Cole show, where her family performed after their seasons with The Greatest Show on Earth, reflect her "near-mystical reverence" of circus life and its indelible impressions on a child. The big top rises "majestically, like a grand old friend." Clowns are "fastidious," adorned in "hallucinogenic" wardrobe. One of the Cristiani handsome horses is "circus-poster perfect." Elephants, prehistoric stars of the menagerie, "(demand) acknowledgment of their importance."

A product of the circus, Victoria admires its resplendent but all-too-human society, its pageantry and professionalism, and mourns the passing of pre-suburban America in which big shows flourished. She is also aware of the big top's "naughty" side; the circus is a flawed thing of beauty, a place of "oneness and madness." The menagerie and doniker tents reek. Performers can be heroic and petty. Workingmen wear "faces carved out of poverty, guilt, and booze."

European circus royalty before coming to America, the Cristiani family achieved acclaim in the U.S. for their daring and precise riding act, occupied an entire car on the circus train, and eventually became circus entrepreneurs, founding a popular truck show that ultimately reflected the best of times and worst of times for the family as Victoria grew to adulthood. She recounts her family's tempestuous internal conflicts, triumphs and struggles, and adventures as circus owners, who remained "(loyal) to the canvas sky" amid shifting public taste in popular entertainment. There are fascinating glimpses of celebrities, from the big top's own Emmett Kelly to disgraced 1950's quiz-show contestant Charles Van Doren. The circus cast of characters includes such familiar figures as Floyd King, Ben Davenport, and Rex and Barbara Williams. Victoria describes her experience as a performer in the Cristiani Bros. elephant act, a life-changing accident in the ring, her romance with future husband Benny Rossi, and her efforts to come to terms with her own family—a journey no less remarkable than their show's unprecedented tour of Alaska years before.

Filled with rich detail, and with a gracious tribute to the Circus Fans Association of America, Victoria's book is a significant circus memoir. It is also a story of the American dream, the confluence of wealth and fame, the strength and frailty of family, social and economic ambition, misplaced trust, conflict, loss and redemption. The book is correspondingly an account of her own search for the "violets" in her life, a secret place of spiritual and emotional enrichment where even her beloved circus does not intrude. Her gift for writing is most evident as she builds dramatic contrast between days spent happily on the circus lot as a child, and haunting nights spent away from it.

Employing her authentic voice and role in circus history, as well as the wise, healing perspective of years, she honors an institution often caught publicly and unfortunately between its defenders and detractors, a situation that can preempt enjoyment of its true reason for being, or appreciation of the circus's numerous contributions to American culture. Victoria skillfully avoids that dilemma. With respect and frankness, she allows the circus to be what it was, and is—an amazing, complex community, an inventive state of mind, and a place of enduring entertainment and fascination. Lifting the sidewall for an insider's view of the big top, she also reveals something of its soul.