Sells & Downs Shows

The Sells & Downs Shows / Great Cole Brothers United Shoes was a traveling circus which wintered at Smith's Park, just outside Birmingham, in 1905 and 1906.

Sells & Downs Circus

The Sells & Downs Shows was a 22-car touring production owned by Martin J. Downs of Toronto, Ontario and John "Blue Jay" Durham, which ended its 1905 run in Sylacauga on October 22, and wintered in Birmingham, during which time it was ostensibly sold at auction, came back under Downs' control, and merged into his Great Cole Brothers' United Shows.

The production had survived a major train wreck in Choctaw, Oklahoma in September 1902. Downs' former partner, Willie Sells, a bareback rider who had been adopted by the Sells circus family of Columbus, Ohio, sold his share of the business to Downs and Durham in the spring of 1905. At the end of the tour, Downs canceled all outstanding contracts and offered the entire show for sale at auction at Smith's Park on January 16-17, 1906.

The assets advertised included tents, cookhouses, railroad cars, wagons, cages, a steam calliope and a costume wardrobe along with an animal menagerie consisting of 40 draft horses, 40 ring horses, 2 somersault horses, 2 finish horses, 2 four-horse acts, 2 thoroughbred manage horses, 2 mules for hurdle acts, 2 four-horse chariot teams, and 16 hippodrome horses along with 2 performing female elephants, 6 camels, 2 male African lions, 3 lionesses, 2 lion cubs, 1 jaguar, 3 hyenas, 3 bears, 1 nygaul, 1 llama, 1 axis deer, 4 American deer, 20 monkeys, 12 Australian macaws, 1 elk, and 5 snakes.

The winning bid of $35,000 was entered by Charles H. Thompson, a friend of Downs', who sold the business back to him without any encumbrances from Sells' former interest.

Great Cole Brothers' United Shows

For a while, the circus continued operating under its old name. Thompson hired circus mechanic Shanty Smith of Kansas City to supervise repairs and maintenance. In February it was reported that Punch Wheeler of Denver, Colorado was working on preliminary marketing for the 1906 Sells-Downs Shows. In March the Birmingham Board of Aldermen approved a permit for Sells & Downs to give performances in April to benefit the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks' charity fund.

Meanwhile, Downs and his had also purchased the W. W. Cole Circus and moved it from its winter quarters in St Louis, Missouri to Birmingham to merge with his existing show. By March 11 the company was known as the "Great Cole Brothers' United Shows" with Downs as manager. The Birmingham Age-Herald reported that "a small army of painters and carpenters" were repairing and decorating as many as 50 wagons while camels grazed alongside horses, and the elephants, "Queen" and "Babe" were trained by Robert Keys.

The season began with a full dress rehearsal covering two rings and a stage under their newly-purchased tents on the evening of April 11, and a parade through downtown Birmingham on April 12. The event was slightly marred when the 8 black horses pulling the calliope wagon broke free on 21st Street, but driver Conrad Whiting managed to force them to a stop next to the Jefferson County Courthouse, and no injuries were reported.

The Birmingham News reported that Downs had put options on two parcels on which to construct a more permanent winter quarters.

After the 1906 touring season ended in South Carolina in November, the circus returned to Birmingham for the winter.

Willie Sells died in 1908, and Martin Downs died in 1909. The Cole Brothers circus prospered under his son, James Downs, until the Great Depression. James Downs sold the business to Jesse Adkins and Zack Terrell in 1934 and they enjoyed renewed success, partly boosted by the influx of talented performers from Europe.

References

• "Showmen Die in Collision" (September 26, 1902) The Hermon News (Hermon, New York), p. 4
• "Will Winter in Birmingham" (December 1905) The Billboard
• "The Great Sells And Downs Show For Sale" advertisement (January 18, 1906) The Billboard, Vol. 18, No. 2 p. 19
• "Thompson's Circus" (January 22, 1906) The Birmingham Age-Herald, p. 5
• "The Sells-Downs Sale" (January 27, 1906) The Billboard, Vol. 18, No. 4, p. 16
• "Circus Gossip" (January 27, 1906) The Billboard, Vol. 18, No. 4, p. 17
• "Gossipy Notes" (February 10, 1906) The Billboard, Vol. 18, No. 6, p. 11
• "Preparing Circus For Road Season" (March 11, 1906) The Birmingham Age-Herald, p. 2
• "Shows Open Season In Birmingham." (April 12, 1906) The Birmingham News, p. 11
• "Big Shows Give Fine Performance." (April 14, 1906) The Birmingham News, p. 12