You rarely see a circus act involving live animals anymore. Years of concerns about the ethical (or unethical) treatment of animals by circuses has seen the practice fall out of fashion. People didn't have those concerns a century ago, and the animals were the stars of the show.
Wherever a large circus went, excitement would follow. Here, crowds have gathered to watch an elephant from the Ringling Brothers Circus step off the train in the Bronx in April 1963. It looks like it's waving!