Congratulations to Rylee Bordwick for winning the Lambertville Historical Society’s $500 scholarship in 2020! A South Hunterdon Regional High School senior, Rylee will be studying at Lafayette College next year. For the application, Rylee interviewed longtime Lambertville resident Sharon DiSalvi about her first job.
St. John Terrell’s Music Circus
By Rylee Bordwick
Imagine being able to see today’s most talented artists in your hometown on a weekly basis. Imagine world famous bands and popular Broadway musicals drawing in crowds from all over to come see their shows in your backyard. This is what life was like in Lambertville. The St. John Terrell’s Music Circus opened in Lambertville in 1949 and lasted until 1970. It featured some of the biggest entertainers known at the time. Stars like Louis Armstrong, Johnny Mathis, and Mahalia Jackson came to Lambertville to give performances inside of the legendary giant circus tent that held around 2,000 people. If you were lucky enough to land a job at this unique music circus then you were in for the experience of a lifetime.
During high school, from 1960-1964, Sharon DiSalvi worked at St. John Terrell’s Music Circus. To work at the music circus you had to be a jack of all trades. Sharon had to learn how to be an usher, a concession stand worker, she had to work the box office and the parking lot, and she even had to dress in a chicken outfit and serve chicken dinner to important performers and guests. Though dressing as a chicken while you serve people chicken seems like a ridiculous job to do in high school, this is how Sharon was able to meet the world famous musician, Louis Armstrong. Having to work as a “Chick” provided Sharon and her colleagues with a lot of free time and one day, while roaming around the tent, one of Louis’s handlers invited her to meet the star, while she was all dressed up as a chicken. Sharon often worked after school and on weekends. Soon she knew every lyric from the musical West Side Story and was frequently able to interact with the performers such as The Supremes and Diana Ross. When young performers from the city would come to the circus to do summer stock as part of their training they would spend time with the employees. These performers would be amazed at the sight of farmland and the many cows that grazed on the roads leading into Lambertville. Though it was hard work, the opportunities to be immersed in the art and culture of the time made working at the music circus worth it.
Sharon worked around 30 hours a week and made $19 and change. When she worked on the weekends there were often double shows. Like many high school students today, Sharon liked to spend her money on clothes and going out with friends. Going shopping and out to eat were popular activities for teens in the 1960’s and remain so today. Sharon also saved her money for pursuing her college education which is something that many students still do because of the high cost of tuition. Currently in New Jersey minimum wage is $10 an hour. While Sharon made $19 a week for working 30 hours at the music circus, teens today would have made $300 a week. Even by the standards in the 1960’s, working at the music circus was not a high paying job. Though working at the circus was an enriching experience that provided its workers with an opportunity to be exposed to the arts, it did not provide enough money for someone to live off of. The circus often hired high school students as employees because of this. Similarly to today, many high school students take lower paying jobs, such as bussing tables in a restaurant or babysitting to earn some pocket money.
As far as first jobs go, working at St. John Terrell’s Music Circus seemed like a pretty good one. It was more than just working for money. Employees at the music circus learned to see the world in a bigger picture. Small town kids were exposed to art and culture. They were given opportunities that they otherwise never would have had. Besides $19 a week, employees of St. John Terrell’s Music Circus were given an education and the ability to expand their world view.
Works Cited
Case, Jon. “St. John Terrell’s Music Circus.” St. John Terrell’s Lambertville Music Circus Summer Stock Theater, 16 Jan. 2005, www.lambertville-music-circus.org/. Accessed 10 May 2020.
DiSalvi, Sharon. Interview. 9 Apr. 2020.