Indoor Circuses Held at Jackson Junior High

From 1940 through 1958, the Sandusky Industrial Union Council sponsored an annual indoor circus, which was held at Jackson Junior High School. The event was sponsored by . The November 1940 performance by the Patterson Brothers included trained horses, trapeze artists, clowns, and comical dogs and monkeys. A feature of the 1940 indoor circus was a trained pony that kicked footballs into the stands. In the 1941 Indoor Circus, Buck Owens appeared with his horse Goldie.

Buck Owens was a native Sanduskian. He was born Max Geis, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Geis, who lived on Clinton Street in the 1940s. 

Below is an advertisement for the indoor circus held on March 17, 1949, which appeared in the March 12 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News. School age children could attend the event for forty cents.

The indoor circus of 1953 featured the Lehmback family from Fort Wayne, who performed balancing, juggling and acrobatics. Captain Walcott also brought trained dogs and ponies to entertain the crowds. In 1958, aerialist named “Miss Consuelo” performed. Area residents recalled her last appearance in Sandusky when she was featured during the halftime show of the Harlem Globetrotters game. 

While the indoor circus was not as large as a traditional circus, the Junior High provided a convenient location for most area residents.