Fantastic Feat
It's been billed the most amazing show on earth, with tightrope walkers tiptoeing gingerly across thin wires, sword swallowers devouring sharp steel, elephants squirting water at unsuspecting observers and lions courteously responding to their trainers.
But it is more amazing when hundreds of these colorful circus figures are hand-carved and smaller than a match — the product of one man's lifelong passion and artistry.
"This is one-of-a-kind. There is nothing else like it," said Rebecca Crum-Reinsel, executive director of the Butler Historical Society, describing the Jay Bee Miniature Circus created by 90-year-old artist Jimmy Bashline of Butler.
As of April 26, the greatest little show on earth will have come to town permanently as an exhibit acquired by the Butler County Heritage Center on West New Castle Street.No one has counted the number of pieces contained under the Jay Bee Circus big top, menagerie, side show, food tent, train yard and circus parade, but there are easily hundreds of them. The cars, figures and a train track that circles the entire layout are displayed on a 14-by-10-foot platform.The miniature spectacle exhibits Bashline's ingenuity as well as his skill. Tiny clowns carry a bunch of shiny hat pins as balloons, scraps of pale yellow sponge become bundles of hay in a wagon and pieces of pipe-cleaner decorate the heads of carved horses. Finishing nails serve as pegs holding down the canvas tents, and black painted paper clips become seats that accommodate spectators under the big top.The mechanics of the moving pieces also are ingenious, explained Crum-Reinsel, pointing out an elephant that squirts water from its trunk."A fish aquarium pump sits in a plastic tray below the elephant," she explained.<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE43947419.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>
In 1946, Bashline fashioned his first piece, a red calliope car from a kit."The music box doesn't work anymore," said Pat Collins, vice-president of the historical society's board of directors. "The train yard was created from a kit, too. After that, he made them from scratch," she said.A few pieces are metal or plastic, which Bashline customized, but most are carved from bass wood or pine and hand-painted with acrylics.The only component Bashline did not make or customize is the canvas, which he helped design. Nuth Awnings of Butler made it.He also had a little help with wiring from a friend, said his daughter, Aryl Bashline of Butler Township, who acquired the circus for the historical society from her father."This is what he wanted," she said. "Dad loved to show his circus to everyone, especially kids."Though Bashline's poor health prohibits him from attending the unveiling next weekend, his daughter said he would have loved the clowns, balloon artists, games and circus food that will be part of the event."He loved the circus, especially the animal acts," she said. "Dad has a lot of circus signs and other memorabilia dating back to 1948 and older.""My grandmother had circus posters on her barn," said Bashline's brother, Charles "Charlie" Bashline of Butler.Charlie recalls how locals often posted the paper signs to advertise the live circus coming to town, and he described the parade of glittering acrobats, bazaar sideshow artists and animals that made its way down Cunningham Street to Fairview Hill.
"A lot of times they went right past our house on Jefferson," Charlie added.A love of the circus is also evidenced in many of Bashline's carvings, cartoons and paintings. One painting in particular, titled "Loading in the Circus," will be displayed along with the Jay Bee Circus at the unveiling.Bashline made his first painting of the Cole Brothers circus unloading in front of Oesterling's feed store in the late 1960s or early 70s, Aryl said."He sketched it, and the feed store burned down a couple of months later," she said.Jimmy Bashline ended up selling the painting but missed it so much he painted it again. This time, he decided to depict 15 Butler residents in the scene, with himself on a horse directing the group."That's Bob Oesterling riding the camel," Aryl pointed out. "And that's Clarence ('Duke') Mohan, looking at the girl. He always liked the girls."Charlie pointed out a character that resembled "old McGee that worked at Alan's," while Aryl identified someone who closely resembled Charlie."I never really looked at it up close," said Charlie, who said he ran in different circles than his brother as they grew up but remembered his early interest in drawing."He always liked to draw. He would always draw the donkey for the games at birthday parties. Then someone suggested he go to take lessons from Evelyn Greer."Greer was a local artist who taught Bashline in his early years.
Before and after serving in World War II, Jim Bashline attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, but during the war, he continued to utilize his talent, drawing cartoon postcards to send home."This one he made when my mother had a tooth extracted," said Aryl, laughing at a card included in a book of sketches, postcards and photographs which she has amassed. It will also be available for visitors to peruse at the grand opening, along with a video of her father talking about his work.Bashline used his art training to start his own sign business, Jim Bashline Signs, in 1948, which was in a rented garage on New Castle Street. That was about the time he began creating objects for his circus.In the mid-1950s Bashline obtained plans from Ringling Brothers and laid his circus out according to that plan. He worked on his circus in the same garage where he and members of his family worked on the signs."I remember he had those pulleys on the platform, and every morning he'd pull it up out of the way, so that we could get to work," Charlie said.By the 1960s, his skills at sign painting had attracted businesses like American Hardware (later ServiceStar), and his circus was attracting children from all over the county. He later exhibited the circus at other venues including the Butler Farm Show, Freeport Art Show, Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg and Saxonburg Arts Festival.
"Though he stated that he actively worked on the circus for 22 years, he was always adding things to it," his daughter said.In the 1970s, he focused more on his large-scale carvings and paintings. By the late 1990s, Bashline had stopped tinkering with it, because of health issues, she said.But others have only begun tinkering.Before arriving at its new home, the Jay Bee Circus had to be disassembled, cleaned, transported and reassembled exactly as it had been in Bashline's garage, Crum-Reinsel said."When we first looked at it, I was overwhelmed by it. It was time-consuming and you want to try and reassemble it exactly as Jimmy had it. The pieces are fragile too. … We took tons of pictures," she said.Some lighting and moving pieces also had to be rewired. Tiny lamps set on row after row of miniature lamp posts illuminate the layout, just as a circus in the 1950s would have been lit. Model railroad hobbyist Bill Ketchem and retired teacher Doug Custead of Butler helped with the rewiring."Doug used to help his father, who worked on pinball machines and jukeboxes," Crum-Reinsel said.More than 10 volunteers worked to restore the circus and plan its unveiling party."We have people who were in religiously once or twice a week for six months," said Crum-Reinsel, who added that it was a labor of love that hopefully won't need to be repeated. "It's not going anywhere."With that she confirmed Bashline's prediction.The accomplished woodcarver, cartoonist, businessman and painter often said, "What do you think people will remember me for? The circus."
WHAT: Unveiling of Jay Bee Miniature Circus including exhibits, clowns, balloon artists and circus-style food.WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 26. Regular summer hours will be noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to noon Fridays excluding holidays beginning in May. Groups will be admitted by appointment.WHERE: Butler Heritage Center, 119 W. New Castle St.ADMISSION: FreeINFORMATION: www.butlerhistory.com.
