It may not be generally known to the public, but it is a fact, that
nearly one-half of the entire expenditure of a circus is incurred in
the work of the advance brigades. The advertising material, its
distribution, express, freight and cartage, together with the salaries,
transportation and living expenses of seventy-five to one hundred men,
amount to vast sums of money. The largest number of men I ever used in
advance of my show was seventy-five, and for this people called me
crazy.
Though, of course, there is a limit to possible receipts, there is no
doubt that the business secured is in proportion to the sum used in
advertising, and it is almost impossible to draw the line at which
judicious advertising should stop. This is demonstrated by the fact
that the dressing-room tents of the present day are larger than were
the entire old-time circus canvases, when the advertising was done by
one man on horseback and all the paper used was carried in his
saddle-bags, and the salary of any star advertiser now is as much as
was required to run the entire show of years ago.