“The Greatest Show on Earth” was a slogan developed much earlier than first thought and referred to an extra money making idea of Tandadino. Whilst it is now common for companies to exhibit their production techniques at that time it was a rarity and often caused great intrigue. Modern day science has now disproved many of the Victorian theories on the usefulness of elephant dung but this in no way hindered Tandadino’s sales at the time. Many a nobleman believed in the revitalising properties of a dung facial for cleansing the pores and clearing the sinuses and paid good money to see the production process.

Archibald was growing up quickly and by 18 months was already a promising juggler. His dummy, rattle and feeding bottle could regularly be seen rising and falling above his cot. Whilst the feeding bottle often resulted in a ghastly mess his parents were tolerant as the show lacked a decent juggler and the Colonel could see the benefits that were to come in future years. Fortunately they stopped his attempts to juggle with a flaming teddy bear on the grounds that one member of the team randomly igniting things was already more than they could cope with.

Arbuthnot and Harriet’s marriage continued to flourish, the couple regularly taking strolls in the early evening. It was quite some considerable time before Harriet realised the ulterior motive lying behind these romantic evenings. Gaslights were being introduced to many of the larger city streets and Arbuthnot felt this magical substance showed great promise for future cannon power. It is probably a great saving to us all that the captain’s attempts to bottle gas were never successful. Although the sale of his plans to French entrepreneur, Fredrik Cal-or, did eventually lead to improvements for campers the world over.

The Flying Ferenzo Brothers high wire act was drawn to the attention of Colonel Tandy and became the headline sideshow for a number of years. Many questioned how two so similar in looks but different in age could possibly be brothers. History does not recall whether this was factually true or merely hype but does note them as being the most skilled funambulists of the era. It was a little known fact that the brothers preferred to perform their act blindfolded as both had a terrible fear of heights. However, it is the elder of the brothers who has the biggest claim to fame being the first performer in the world to cross the legendry Niagara Falls and he did it riding a penny-farthing. History once again does not note this fact due to only a handful of people being aware of it. Following a disagreement, in the late 1850s, police had pursued the elder brother. To his surprise he discovered a wire stretching across the falls to be used for a publicity stunt the next day. By quick thinking and peddling at record speed he made it the entire length of the falls and across the border to complete his escape at a more leisurely pace. Whilst a performer of much greater fame now takes credit for the first crossing the true record remains with the Ferenzo family.

With the introduction of the Penny stamp came another opportunity for promotional material to be sold at the circus. Colonel Tandy, Captain Arbuthnot and one of Tandadino’s elephants were all profiled and printed upon souvenir stamps. Again these items are a rarity today, experienced stamp collectors may have the odd one in their collection but it is so far unheard of for any one person to have all three. Whilst the two men had many thousands of their stamps printed only a limited run of 100 elephants were ever produced. If an elephant stamp still exists today there is no way to predict what it would sell for, but it would be safe to assume early retirement for its owner.

During the Victorian era the interest in strange and bizarre animals provided a market that Colonel Tandy felt his circus could cash in on. Remember at this stage most animals from countries other than Britain were considered a rarity. As regular visitors to his shows had grown used to the lions and elephants he felt something new was needed. Never willing to trust the judgement of anyone other than his closest friends he decided to personally organise an expedition into the jungles and rainforests of the world to seek out and discover rare breeds.

Part Four…A Wild Adventure

In part four we discover how whilst on expedition the colonel single handily rescued some famous explorers from certain death.

Actual events drift further from reality as we continue.