New York clothiers Barking Irons have designed one of their latest t-shirts around that notorious bit of circus slang, "Hey Rube!" Harking back to the glory days of the traveling big top, "Hey Rube!" was a rallying cry for circus people who found themselves in a tight spot—a fairly common experience. At hearing "Hey Rube," fellow workers and performers would drop whatever they were doing and converge on the source of the outcry, ready for trouble. Nowheresville's local bully, who thought he had picked a fight with the tiny clown who jumps out of a suitcase, suddenly found himself dealing with the roustabout who tosses around huge piles of canvas like so many throw pillows.
The folks at Barking Irons live and breathe Americana. They don't just want to sell you a piece of clothing; they want you to walk with them in history. That's where Greg Renoff, author of The Big Tent, comes in. Barking Irons interviewed Renoff about the "strange and embattled history of the circus in America" to ground readers in this fascinating chapter of our past. Learn about a bygone era in American popular entertainment—and then get a nice deal on a book and tee package.
