William Cameron Coup
William Cameron Coup (August 4, 1836 – March 4, 1895) was a Wisconsin businessman who partnered with P. T. Barnum and Dan Castello in 1871 to form the "P. T. Barnum’s Museum, Menagerie and Circus". Previously Barnum had a museum at a fixed location in New York City and the traveling circus allowed him to bring his curiosities to more paying customers. Coup's innovations were the circus train to transport the materials from town to town.[1] He also came up with the concept of adding a second ring to the circus.
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[edit] Biography
He was born in August 4, 1836 in Indiana. After his mother died in 1849 he moved from Martin County, Indiana to Terre Haute, Indiana. There he worked as a printer. In 1853, he joined Mabies' Grand Olympian Arena and U.S. Circus where he worked as the side show manager.
Between 1866 and 1869 he managed the Yankee Robinson Circus then moved to a ranch in Delavan, Wisconsin.
Dan Castello suggested he work with P. T. Barnum. On April 10, 1871, Coup and Barnum created "P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Circus and Hippodrome" in Brooklyn, New York.[1]
In 1876 he opened the New York Aquarium and later organized "The Equescurriculum", "The New United Monster Shows" and several touring Wild West Shows.
He lost most of his equipment in a train wreck near Cairo, Illinois in 1887.
He died in Jacksonville, Florida on March 4, 1895.
[edit] Circuses
- W. C. Coup's Circus (1885–1889)
- W. C. Coup's Rolling Palaces
- Coup's Equescurriculum
- W. C. Coup's New United Monster Shows
- Coup's 10 Consolidated Shows
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Circus: P. T. Barnum's Circus, 1871-1880". The Circus in America. http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/corporate_bodies/public_show/13. Retrieved 2011-11-20. "Along with William Cameron Coup and Dan Costello, Barnum began P.T. Barnum’s Museum, Menagerie and Circus, a traveling combination of which the “museum” part was an exhibition of animal and human oddities, soon to become an integral part of the American circus known as the Sideshow. In 1872 Barnum and Coup utilized the railroad to transport their show."
