Photograph: Portrait of Fritz Smith, 1870

From Barnum Museum

1870 (Date manufactured/created)

Carte de visite (CDV) portrait photograph of Edwin Fritz Smith (1849 - 1931), a circus performer who  emigrated to America in the early1870s.  He was born in Liverpool, England, the son of a tailor, and was apprenticed to a "mountebank" from the age of 8 to 15 to learn tumbling, leaping, and acrobatics.  He performed in England with his master, William Chantrell, and other apprentices as the Chantrell Family.  Fritz won a prize, a silver belt in recognition of his talent, when he was about 13 or 14.  After completing his apprenticeship he taught his older brothers Sidney and Alfred, and for about five years the three performed throughout Great Britain and in Europe as the Fritz Brothers.  After Alfred was killed in an accident on stage, Fritz struck out on his own and partnered with another acrobat about the same age, James Cassim, The two traveled, among other places, to India, possibly because James' father had emigrated to Great Britain from India (his mother was Scottish).  They also performed in Spain and in France. The photograph taken in Glasgow, Scotland, and dated 1870 on the back, must have been taken at the time of Fritz's partnership with Cassim.  The two of them left England sometime in the first half of 1870 headed to South America with a newly formed circus company, Courtney and Sanford, who promised to pay high salaries. The company opened in Lima, Peru, on June 1, 1870.  Ultimately Fritz and his partner Cassim were left stranded, along with other performers, when the company went bankrupt and the owner disappeared.  They finally succeeded in returning to the coast and finding a ship to get them to San Francisco where they performed for some time before heading east across the U.S.  

Gift of Susan Crozier Fairchild

Accession/ID Number MS-0027-102-002