Museum showcases circus history

Circuses of yesteryear were quite different from the big-name, triple-ring circuses of today, with their trained animals, acrobats and clowns.

"The first circus in the United States was in 1724," said Eric Scites, a performer in the group Faire Wynds, which re-enacts a family circus from the 18th century. The troupe played at the Aiken County Historical Museum on Oct. 26.

"The first circus was a man and his wife. He was a fire eater, and she was a female Samson, or strong woman."

The Scites family, of Ohio, performed acts that would have been found in such circuses.

Although Mr. Scites performed sleight-of-hand tricks, he did not want to be called a magician.

"Magic was illegal to do in the 18th century," he said.

Among the tricks he performed was a centuries-old one in which a small red ball seems to magically appear under a cup. In Mr. Scites' case, the balls seemed to multiply, with two or three appearing where there had been none.

Other tricks included blindfolding his wife, Susan, and asking a member of the audience to write a number on a small chalkboard while another member of the audience picked a card.

Mrs. Scites correctly gave the answer for all three digits and guessed the card.

Then the family's tricks became a little more dangerous.

Their daughter, Virginia, climbed a ladder, the steps of which were made of sword blades.

"There are only seven sword-walkers in the country today," Mr. Scites said.

Before the finale, Mr. Scites gave a disclaimer, "Don't try this at home," as he prepared to eat fire.

He also performed a trick called the human Vesuvius, in which he spewed a flammable liquid from his mouth, causing a pillar of flame to rise from it.

The Faire Wynds visit was the third in a series of fundraising events at the museum. The other two performances were from an antique-lace maker and a Benjamin Franklin impersonator.

Reach Charmain Brackett at charmain.brackett@augustachronicle.com.