NORWICH – A widely-read novel, “Water For Elephants” – on the New York Times Best Seller list for 20 weeks – not only references Norwich, but also evokes memories of the circus train that once traveled through the county’s seat.
The story (now also a film) follows Cornell veterinarian student Jacob Jankowski’s indoctrination into circus life aboard the traveling Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It’s a love story that features an unruly elephant, a horseback riding aerialist, freak shows and all the pageantry of the circus juxtaposed with animal brutality, caste violence and Depression-era poverty.
The book’s author, Sara Guen, places Jankowski’s hometown in Norwich. But like the name of the circus company itself, which is fictional, the author’s choice of Norwich was purely happenstance. Guen’s publisher said Norwich was about the right size and situated about the right distance from Cornell.
Town of Norwich Supervisor David C. Law said a former Norwich High School classmate called and suggested that he read “Water For Elephants” because the main character was coincidentally from Norwich and because he knew of Law’s passion – and work – for the circus.
“He knew that I used to water the elephants when the circus came to Norwich,” Law said. “It was thrilling for me to relive the experience while reading the book.”
Law said he was curious about the mention of Norwich in the book, and seemed a bit disappointed upon learning the author had no real life connection to it.
Many circus trains traveled through Central New York via the Ontario and Western and the Erie-Lackawanna lines and many stopped to put on matinees and evening shows in Norwich. In addition to Ringling Brothers’ Traveling Circus, Norwich was a destination stop for Cole Bros Circus, Bertram Mills Circus and others.
Visitors can see replicas of circus trains dating from the 1930s – and a small slice of Americana when rail travel was the norm – at the Bullthistle Railroad Society Museum at 33 Rexford St. in Norwich. An American Flyer circus train model, complete with circus tents and push buttons that trigger gears and lights, is on display. Collector Elton Ireland of North Norwich donated the exhibit when the museum opened in 1998.
Law’s fascination with the circus began when his grandfather told him that he supplied rabbits to a broken down circus operation on Borden Avenue. The spectacle, was most likely horse and buggy drawn, Law said, and offered a tiger and a python for audiences to see.
“He gave them rabbits (for feed), and they gave us Chinese hens in return,” he said. In the novel, Jankowski is shocked to see the empty pens of goats that were kept on the Benzini train solely to feed the lions and tigers.
When he was in the third grade, in the late 40s, Law said two midgets from Ringling came into his classroom to tell children about the circus. “They got right up and stood on the desk and told us all about it,” he said.
Armed with five bucks from his father, which he said “was big money in those tough times,” Law watched his first circus parade down East Main Street and onto Broad Street, complete with hippos, small giraffes, elephants and marching bands.
The Norwich native did, in fact, water the elephants for Ringling in the mid 1950s when the circus raised its three ring tents on what is now the site of the Norwich Town Hall.
As a young teen, Law said he road his bike from his house on Silver Street to Hale Street to see if he could get a job with Ringling while the circus was in town. To his surprise, they asked him to water the elephants.
“They handed me the buckets and told me not to be afraid, because they can sense your feeling,” he said.
And to his further astonishment, Law found a herd of 21 elephants to water.
“I just assumed there’d be one or two,” he said.
Take care of them he did; all day long. In fact, Law remembered that he completely missed the circus.
The town of Norwich was the hub of the New York O&W beginning in 1858 and ending in March of 1957. To learn more about the railroad and collecting, visit the Bullthistle Railroad Society Museum on Saturdays between 1 and 4 p.m. The museum also accepts members.