DonM435 wrote:
When I was a little kid, I got to go to the circus at the Chicago Amphitheatre twice (once withg my school class). This would have been mid 1950s.

On both occasions there was a stunt wherein an "ape" (no doubt a performer in a suit) ignored his trainer and jumped a fence into the crowd. The whole section cleared. Parents had to calm down scared kids. It was all a stunt.

Can you imagine that going on today?
The 'gorilla running amok' bit was a circus standard back then- I remember seeing it three separate times at three different circuses (large to small). The most memorable was at a small 'tent' circus in a small midwestern farm town. I would guess 300 people in the audience, tops. When the guy-in-the-suit ran up the center aisle, pandamonium broke loose, and my little brother (who loved monkeys-and still has a pet one) about crapped his pants. I remember that like it was yesterday.