A circus is one of the few pre-industrial deals left around, though they did adapt well. On the eve of WWI (the war to end all wars, remember?) the German High Command was studying Ringling Brothers for how to load and unload trains. It does remind me that a long time circus dude once told me the difference between the circus and real life was that "in a circus a freak show was called a freak show, in real life they just call it the news."