The term showman has multiple meanings, but generally refers to an individual involved in the entertainment industry.
The term showman has multiple meanings, but generally refers to an individual involved in the entertainment industry.
There are a number of traditionally itinerant or travelling groups in Europe.
The origins of the indigenous itinerant groups are not always clear. The largest of these groups is the Romani people (also known as Roma or Gypsies, with the latter being increasingly taken as derogatory). They left India around 1,500 years ago, entering Europe around 1,000 years ago via the Balkans. They include the Sinti people, the second largest group. Travellers, assumed to have begun travelling from necessity during the early modern period, are unrelated to the Romani, and are assumed not to be ethnically distinct from their source population. However, recent DNA testing has shown that the Irish Travellers are of Irish origin but are genetically distinct from their settled counterparts due to social isolation, and more groups are being studied. The third largest group in Europe is the Yenish, an indigenous Germanic group.
A charter fair in England is a street fair or market which was established by Royal Charter. Many charter fairs date back to the Middle Ages, with their heyday occurring during the 13th century. Originally, most charter fairs started as street markets but since the 19th century the trading aspect has been superseded by entertainment; many charter fairs are now the venue for travelling funfairs run by showmen.
A travelling menagerie was a touring group of showmen and animal handlers who visited towns and cities with common and exotic animals. The term "menagerie", first used in seventeenth century France, was primarily used to refer to aristocratic or royal animal collections. Most visitors to travelling menageries would never have the opportunity to see such animals under other circumstances and their arrival in a town would catalyse great excitement. The shows were both entertaining and educational; in 1872 The Scotsman described George Wombwell's travelling menagerie as "[having] done more to familiarise the minds of the masses of our people with the denizens of the forest than all the books of natural history ever printed during its wandering existence."