In short
The 1855 “Toronto Clown Riot,” sparked when clowns from S.B. Howe’s Star Troop and Menagerie (from New York) went to Marianne Armstrong’s King-and-John brothel and got into a fight with Toronto’s Hook and Ladder fire brigade.
Guests
None; the hosts are Josh, Chuck, and Jerry (Dave absent).
Key claims
Firefighters and police were tied to the Orange Order (Irish Protestant political power), leading to corruption and non-intervention. The clowns “won” the first brawl after a firefighter was seriously injured, but Orange Order men retaliated by attacking the circus with rocks and beatings. The Hook and Ladder company allegedly escalated by starting fires and using axes to burn tents and destroy property.
Notable examples
17 charged with rioting; circus performers fled to Ottawa; Adam Bunch (Spacing Magazine) frames the riot as a turning point toward a less corrupt police force.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOSetting the Scene: Toronto in 1855
1:12 to 2:30
Discussion about Toronto's environment and culture in 1855.
“In my head, it was going going to come out better.”
The Arrival of the Circus
2:30 to 4:02
Introduction of the S.B. Howe's Star Troop and the clowns in Toronto.
“But we need to hop in the Wayback Machine for this one because we're going back to 1855.”
The Clown Riot Begins
4:02 to 6:06
Narrative of the clowns and firefighters' interactions leading to a brawl.
“It was before the city government had, you know, was in charge of that kind of thing.”
The Clown Riot Begins
6:11 to 7:12
Narrative of the clowns and firefighters' interactions leading to a brawl.
“Your space should feel like you, and if it doesn't yet, that's probably not a taste problem.”
The Clown Riot Begins
7:16 to 7:27
Narrative of the clowns and firefighters' interactions leading to a brawl.
Aftermath of the Riot
8:13 to 12:06
Details on the outcome of the riot and the societal implications.
“I don't think anybody disputes that because one firefighter was seriously injured.”
Long-Term Effects on Toronto
12:06 to 13:33
Discussion on how the riot influenced Toronto's governance.
“you just can't even come close to touching that word.”
The Orangeman Handshake Explained
14:00 to 14:35
Learn about the humorous way to identify an Orangeman through a handshake.
“I'm going to see if I see any, like, Orangeman stuff anywhere.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Josh Clark:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.
0:04Chuck Bryant:With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder that Capital One Bank Guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also tell you about how Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends. It's pretty much all he talks about. In a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash Bank Guy.
0:29Josh Clark:Capital One N-A, member FDIC.
0:59Josh Clark:is Hype wherever you get your podcasts.
1:05Chuck Bryant:Hey, and welcome to The Short Stuff. I'm Josh. There's Chuck. Jerry's here, too. She's just on mute, and she's sitting in for Dave, who's not here. And this is Short Stuff.
1:14Josh Clark:That's right. About the Toronto Clown Riot.
1:19Chuck Bryant:That was dead on Toronto.
1:21Josh Clark:That was supposed to be a clown horn. It sounded like a sick mule. In my head, it was going going to come out better. And I thought about doing a second take, but who cares? Let's leave it in there. It's fun.
1:32Chuck Bryant:It was a sick mule doing the disco call. Wow. And we also culled a lot of information from the Toronto Star, Spacing Magazine, specifically Adam Bunch on Spacing Magazine, and the Circus Diaries.
1:47Josh Clark:That's right. The sexiest miniseries.
1:50Chuck Bryant:The Red Shoe Circus Diaries.
1:53Josh Clark:But we are talking about one of our towns that we love a lot, Toronto. And we are coming back there to Massey Hall, by the way, as part of our Canadian tour. We always love Massey Hall in particular and playing to our friends there. I think that I think our very first live show ever was in Toronto, right?
2:10Chuck Bryant:I think it was actually. Yeah. Our bars episode. Good call, Chuck. That was our first one.
2:14Josh Clark:That's right. That's what gave us the taste, everybody.
2:18Chuck Bryant:The taste of Toronto.
2:20Josh Clark:That's right.
2:21Chuck Bryant:And also, I've spoken to Chuck everybody. He's promised to do like 90 % less Gordon Lightfoot jokes this time.
2:29Josh Clark:That's right. But we need to hop in the Wayback Machine for this one because we're going back to 1855.
2:41Josh Clark:When Toronto was a different place, it wasn't the metropolitan kind of refined big city that it is now. It was tough. It had like 352 drinking establishments for the 40 ,000 people there. It had a lot of brothels. And they were people that liked to mix it up, it seems like, back in the day.
3:04Chuck Bryant:For sure. Not just the people at Toronto, but the people who were in circuses, too, liked to mix it up. And specifically in July 1855, when our event takes place, the S.B. Howe's Star Troop and Menagerie and Circus was in town. And that circus was from New York State. And they showed up in Toronto. They set up their tents and said, hey, everybody come see. And of course, since this is a circus, even an 1855 circus, there were a bunch of clowns there, Chuck. And these clowns, they had a long day of performing and they said, let's go to a local brothel. And they did as a group.
3:43Josh Clark:That's right. They said, let's go get drunk and doing other things you can do at brothels. And they went to Marianne Armstrong's brothel. It's a corner of King and John streets. And this happened to be a brothel where that was kind of the main hangout of the hook and ladder fire brigade. so we need to explain a couple of things about these two groups the clowns at the time are not the lovable psychopaths that we have now in our circuses they were you know they were kind of the the road crew as well as clowns so they had to put up these big tents break everything down get all the gear in place so they were they were brawny like big dudes and the firefighters of the day in Toronto at least and I bet they were like this in a lot of places.
4:29Josh Clark:It was before the city government had, you know, was in charge of that kind of thing. So you had private fire departments and private companies that, you know, build for their services, like we'll put out your fire for this amount of money. So you have fire, private fire companies like racing to fires to get there first. And there were several instances of them arriving at the same time and like fighting one another to put out the fire while the fire's burning.
4:53Chuck Bryant:Yeah, several instances. One, as recent as just a couple weeks before, that hook and ladder company who called Marianne Armstrong's House of Ill Repute their hangout, they showed up to one and there was already another company there and they got into a fight and a riot broke out, right? So there was a firefighter riot at a burning house. The firefighters all decided instead of putting the house out, they let it burn and looted the houses around it. It was that kind of riot. These are the firefighters in Toronto at the time, right? So by the time this Toronto clown riot happens, the Hook and Ladder Company has already been in one riot within the last few weeks.
5:31Chuck Bryant:And I guess they were itching for another one or something.
5:35Josh Clark:Yeah. So they were there and they were hanging out and they were drinking. And the clowns show up and they're ready to do their thing. And pretty much everyone's account is the same. It's that the clowns started it. I didn't see anything that said that the firefighters did. So it was either like clowns cutting in line or there was a clown that knocked. This all sounds very funny, by the way, even as it's coming out of my mouth. Or a clown knocked a firefighter's hat off and went. And all of a sudden, a big brawl breaks out. And maybe we should take a break there and tell everybody who won right after this.
6:11Chuck Bryant:OK.
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8:13Chuck Bryant:I'll tell you who won, Chuck. The clowns won. You know it. I don't think anybody disputes that because one firefighter was seriously injured. And so he was kind of removed from the brothel. and as his fellow firefighters were dragging him off, they all retreated as well. So the clowns were like, okay, great. Well, we're here now. So they just enjoyed the rest of the night there, right?
8:36Josh Clark:That's right.
8:37Chuck Bryant:The problem was is that the city of Toronto at the time was run and was for like 100 plus years by an Irish Protestant group called the Orange Order. It was kind of like a fraternal order. And if you wanted to be an elected official, a cop, a firefighter, if you wanted a government job, you basically had to be an orange man, a member of the order. And the Hook and Ladder Company were all orange men, which meant they were deeply connected to a lot of other people they called brothers in town. And the clowns had just stepped in it big time. Yeah, this has got to be from Syracuse University's Orange Men.
9:16Josh Clark:It's got to be related, right?
9:18Chuck Bryant:I don't know.
9:20Josh Clark:I meant to look that up. But as soon as I saw Orange Men, I was like, wait a minute, Syracuse? So I imagine that came from the same Irish Protestant order. That would be a weird coincidence. How many orange men are there after all?
9:31Chuck Bryant:Well, they grow a lot of oranges in Syracuse, so maybe that's it.
9:34Josh Clark:Okay, that's probably it. Gentle winters there. Good for the fruit. So word spreads about what happens at this fight. And the next day, a bunch of mad orange men show up. And they're like, we're going to kick the fun out of these clowns. they started attacking the circus, basically, and it got really out of hand.
Read the full transcript
9:58Chuck Bryant:Yeah, it did get out of hand. They were throwing rocks. They were beating up the clowns. And the crowd just kept growing and growing. And so not just the clowns, but the entire circus was overwhelmed. Then the hook and ladder company, who had been in the fight the day before with the clowns, they showed up. And rather than put out any fires, they actually started fires. They started burning down the tents. They had fire axes, which they used to break up the property of the circus. Like everybody kind of dragged the circus performers wagons down to this lakeside and tipped them over. Yeah, it was a bad jam for sure.
10:36Josh Clark:Yeah. So the circus is in big trouble at this point. So they're like, you know, thank God the police, the police show up. but they were also corrupt because they were also orange men, orange people, or at least the chief was. And I bet a lot of the cops were. Mayor Quimby finally steps in and calms everything down. He arrives on the scene and this is, I love this because this is totally made up lore, but I've got to read it anyway. He said to have grabbed the ax out of the hand of a rioter mid swing as he was about to bring it down upon a clown.
11:09Chuck Bryant:Yeah.
11:11Josh Clark:The mayor's office put that out the next day.
11:13Chuck Bryant:For sure. He was shirtless, too, when he did it. The police chief, who, like you said, was an orangeman and was very corrupt. He is supposedly credited with saving the animals or keeping the rioters from harming the animals, which.
11:28Josh Clark:Yeah, not the elephants.
11:30Chuck Bryant:It's a big mark in his favor, frankly.
11:32Josh Clark:No, for sure.
11:33Chuck Bryant:Aside from that, though, the police just sat on their hands. They purposefully did not intervene, right? Eventually, this riot, what became known as the Toronto Clown Riot or the Toronto Circus Riot. I prefer Clown Riot. What about you?
11:46Josh Clark:Yeah, that sounds, that's the better band name. So that's what I'll go with.
11:49Chuck Bryant:Sure. It eventually settled down. The mob dispersed and the circus people came back and grabbed their things and they hightailed it out of town. They were like, we're going to Ottawa. This place is way too hot for us.
12:01Josh Clark:You know what? Now that I'm thinking, though, you can't use Toronto Clown Riot as a band name. because once Insane Clown Posse did that, you just can't even come close to touching that word.
12:12Chuck Bryant:In a band name, I don't think. Could you use it as like an album name?
12:18Josh Clark:Maybe, but I don't know. Who wants to be associated with the Juggalos, you know?
12:24Chuck Bryant:I know some Juggalos or former Juggalos. They're good people.
12:27Josh Clark:Oh, yeah?
12:28Chuck Bryant:All right. I'm going to stand up for them, sure.
12:30Josh Clark:Look at you going to bet for the Juggalos. Sure. I feel like Aaron Cooper has done We talked about Juggalos before And I believe there are pictures of us as Juggalos If I'm not mistaken
12:39Chuck Bryant:Yeah, for sure I think from our Magnets episode maybe Yeah, that sounds right So Chuck, okay Obviously the whole thing settles down Everybody gets level-headed again And justice prevails
12:53Josh Clark:Yeah, we'll see We'll let the audience decide 17 people were charged with rioting it was basically because of the corruption that there wasn't a big widespread dragnet over this whole thing but the one you know it took a while but the one good thing that came out of this was it was kind of the last straw for the people of Toronto with like these corrupt orangemen kind of running everything it was kind of like the you know New York City's Tammany right and they were like we're not going to handle this anymore we can't be like New York and so the reform party comes into power and the idea of reform is top of mind.
13:33Josh Clark:It took about 100 years to kind of get the orange men completely out of the picture. That's kind of the weird part.
13:42Chuck Bryant:Yeah. Adam Bunch in that Spacing Magazine article, he says, though, that he points to the clown riot as like the turning point that eventually became the foundation for the modern, less corrupt and less orange, I guess, police force in Toronto.
13:58Josh Clark:Yeah, I'm going to look and see when I'm there, when I'm walking around, which is, I love to do that when I'm there. I'm going to see if I see any, like, Orangeman stuff anywhere.
14:07Chuck Bryant:Well, you know how you find out somebody's an Orangeman? You should walk up to a cop, and what you do is you hold out your hand, like you're going to shake it, and then the Orangeman handshake is when the cop goes to grab your hand to shake it, you take it away and smooth the side of your hair. And he or she will do the same thing. Just watch.
14:26Josh Clark:Okay, I thought you would go up to them and squeeze their skin like you were popping a zit to see if any orange essential oil comes out.
14:33Chuck Bryant:That works, too.
14:34Josh Clark:Yeah, all right.
14:35Chuck Bryant:Okay. I think short stuff is out.
14:41Josh Clark:Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
14:56Thank you.
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