North America's Leading Circus Fan Organization - Founded 1926
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History of the CFA  Submitted by Member on   4/4/2004 Last Modified History of the Circus Fans Association of America Established 1926 The Circus Fans Association of America has an interesting origin. Stanley F. Dawson, a circus ticket seller, in traveling about the country noticed that in various communities certain individuals were on hand regularly each year to watch the circus activities on the lot. He became acquainted with some of them and suggested to several his idea that they should form a circus fan organization. Thus it was that on May 9, 10 and 11, 1926, a group of business and professional men interested in the preservation of the circus as an institution gathered in Washington, DC, and at that convention founded the CFA. There were many in that organizational group who, as youngsters, had carried water for the elephants or helped put up the tents. They had never outgrown their love for the circus and now as adults were anxious to do all that they could to help this institution they so enjoyed - the circus. In the ensuring years the organization has grown so that now there are members from virtually every walk of life from students to professors, form clergy to morticians, from mechanics to salespersons, including many circus personnel and ex-circus people. The CFA has members in nearly every state. State organizations are known as Tops, whereas local organizations in cities and towns are called Tents. They bear the names of distinguished circus men and women. The purpose of the Association may perhaps be best expressed by the preamble of its constitution: "We who love the circus, being ever mindful of the problems that confront it tending to impede its operation and continuance, bind ourselves together in the hope of forming fast friendships, to make an organized effort to create an enthusiasm for , and interest in, the circus as an institution, and thus preserve for future generations this beloved American institution known as the circus." Members of the Association believe that the circus, to succeed, must sell the only thing it has to sell - namely its tickets. Accordingly, members do not accept passes, but consider it a privilege to pay their way. Members likewise extend a welcoming hand to the circus on the occasion of each annual visit and endeavor to explain the problems of the circus those who might not understand to the end that the circus may carry on. Whenever the circus comes to town, it will find in the Circus Fans Association a real friend, ready to serve and seeking no reward except the success of the circus. The circus is the only amusement that has never needed a censor. It was born with the Republic, and comes down to us in its traditional form, which must not be lost. George Washington attended John Bill Ricketts’s Circus on April 22, 1793, at Philadelphia, and since the earliest days of the nation the circus has been the one amusement welcomed by young and old. The Association possesses, as a great connecting link between its members, its own wieldy read publication called The White Tops. Karl K. Knecht, cartoonist and former staff member of the Evansville (Indiana) Courier, founded The White Tops, which contains only circus news and news of the Association. Email This Resource   Copyright © 1999-2015 Circus Fans Association of America and Authors. For more information view our  Copyright Policy & Privacy Policy .

Most Viewed Back Issues of The White Tops CFA Future National Convention Schedule CFA Annual National Conventions & Circuses Clowns and Clowning - by Joseph W. Rogers, Ph.D. Educational Resources for Teaching about the Circus Last Viewed History of the CFA Ducat First of May Top 20 - Joel E. Warner Brill's Bible