In 1927, Don Carle Gillette gave "statistical evidence that the tented drama constituted 'a more extensive business than Broadway and all the rest of the legitimate theatre industry put together.
The tents were outdoors and therefore had no problem with overheating or poor ventilation, because the winds would provide a nice way of cooling down the audiences.
This is where the tent shows made their way to become forerunners in the entertainment industry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
An excerpt from the book Traveling Medicine Show states, "Circuses were based on the idea that rural townsfolk were underexposed to the world, and the circus was the medium through which they could experience exotic entertainment and ideas, a concept the medicine show would later exploit to equal success.
The development of vaudeville marked the beginning of popular entertainment as big business dependent on the organization of a growing number of white-collar workers and the increased leisure time, spending power and changing tastes of an urban middle class audience.
She was a young sharpshooter who got her start in other, less popular touring shows and was brought on by Buffalo Bill Cody as a novelty act.
Unlike the other styles which were obviously spectacle and performance-centric mediums, circuit Chautauqua marketed itself as an educational week for local towns.
"Although Chautauqua programs were performed in a tent, on a stage, by professional entertainers, for which admission was charged, extreme care was taken to keep this separate from 'show business'".
A few big names of the tent show circuits include Edwin Forrest, Jenny Lind, Fingal O'Flahertie, Wills Wilde, Eddie Foy, and Jack Langrishe.
His tent was designed to maximize airflow during blistering Texas summers, and mimic a homely feeling that was a fun place to be.
Harley knew how to entertain and handle the business side of a production company that large with such a widespread footprint.
Sadler’s tent show, though the most beloved of them, represented a vast majority of what it meant to be a successful touring theatre troupe in America.
"[4] Such an amount of stage materials, animals and performers would have been impossible to move without an effective transportation system like the railroads.
"Rail transportation was made even more attractive for touring companies when the railroads offered theatrical rate concessions.
Though previously a luxury item only for the extremely wealthy, automobiles quickly became safer and cheaper to own, and thus more lower-class people began to purchase vehicles.
"[4] In the boom of tent repertoire, motion pictures began to be the easiest and most popular ways to make money.
The craze of picture shows first began in 1896 "with the first exhibition of Vitascope at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City," which "had by 1906 reached a degree of public acceptance totally unexpected.
Because of the vast popularity that was achieved, "motion pictures were not only drawing audiences away from the live amusements, they were taking over their facilities as well.
The late Joe Creason, long time Louisville Courier Journal staff writer, was familiar with and wrote about these two shows.
Long before the days of wide angle screens and television, tent shows were bringing live theater to small towns a thousand miles from Broadway.
"[2] Actors and managers, now without jobs, primarily went to work for radio, which was dominant in Chicago, or movie studios on the West Coast.
They would also find employment with the Federal Theatre Project, which was created under the Works Progress Administration in 1935 and was intended to help actors who were jobless during the Depression.
[12] It was a changing time for America, as tent shows became "no longer necessary to bring theatre to small communities.
"[4] With improving technology, automobiles provided the general public with the ability to travel and take part of any entertainment they wished.
During World War II, "with its drain on personnel and its gas and tire rationing,"[2] many more tent shows ended.
The rapid expansion of the business set stakes for future forms of entertainment and, even though the economy, technology, and unionizing eventually led to the demise of tent shows, future companies realized, and continue to realize that, in order to be a successful business, they need to be like tent shows.
The last touring tent show company was the Schaffner Players, under the management of James and Grace Davis, which is a museum piece, "representing what was once an energetic industry.
"[4] Although tent shows are over, the companies are remembered for their love and passion for theatre and various forms of entertainment, leaving a legacy of strong business, which overcame many obstacles.