Circus Report, April 4, 1977, Vol. 6, No. 14

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Page 14 April 4, 1977 The Circus Report Aut Swenson points out some exciting events as he recalls the days of Swenson's Thrillcade, the world's largest stunt car show.
AUT SWENSON... What do you do for an encore? That has been the problem for Aut Swenson ever since he first began thrilling Minnesota racing fans with his offbeat antics in the 1920's. Swenson, now a Springfield (Mo) real estate developer and horse show promoter, captured the Northwest dirt track championship at the age of 18 in a souped-up Model T he called "Jinx". He numbered his car 13, and painted it yellow, a color other drivers feared as unlucky. He even raced with a black cat sitting in the passenger seat. "I was never superstitious," Swenson says. "It was just a kiddish idea". But it was more than that. It was showmanship - the force that stimulated the likes of Evel Knievel and P. T. Barnum. Driven by an urge to thrill, dazzle and amaze, the young Swedish immigrant's son dropped his mechanical engineering studies at Minnesota University in 1924 to become secretary of the Northwest Racing Association. He booked races, handled publicity and sold advertising. This led to a job with the late Alex Sloan, one of the top racing promoters of that time. After a year on his own Swenson went out on his own in 1925. He combined auto racing with daredevil stunts. The promotion flopped. In 1926 he went out with his Austyn's Greater Flying Circus, featuring three planes, some motorcycles and several cars. He was the first to combine air and ground thrill shows, and it might have worked if the weather had cooperated. More than half of his shows were rained out. It was the making of "a rather disastrous season", he said. His bankroll gone, he went back to work for Sloan. He also did free-lance promotions and pioneered the 100 mile auto race in 1935. "Wild Sam" Purvis won the race at Camp Foster, Fla., in a V-8 stock Ford and Swenson was among the first to recognize the consistency and speed of stock ca rs in endurance races against special-built racing cars. World War II halted auto racing and the thrill shows in 1942 and Swenson spent the war years at Pittsburg, Kans., and Ponca City, Okla., as a civilian training Army pilots. After the war he went back on the thrill show trail, including a stint with Jimmy Lynch's Death Dodgers. In 1949 he bought the Chitwood Thrill Show franchise and the following year opened with his own Swenson's Thrillcade, based in Springfield (Mo.). Opening in Corpus Christi, Tex., in Oct. 1950, Swenson's Thrillcade was an instant hit. He included circus acts, musical entertainers and pretty girls and plenty of daredevil auto stunts. In ten consecutive performances at the Canadian National Exhibition at Toronto, Thrillcade outdrew the Ringling-Barnum Circus. In six appearances at the Red River Valley Fair in Fargo, N.D. the show drew the largest crowds ever recorded there. (Continued on Page 24)
Page 1 and 2: 6th Year April 4, 1977 Number 14 Bo
Page 3 and 4: The Circus Report BABY JUDY THREE Y
Page 5 and 6: BILLY BARTON - - IN A BUSINESS fill
Page 7 and 8: The Circus Report While making my w
Page 9 and 10: he Circus Report Page 9 » NOW AVAI
Page 11 and 12: The Circus Report Page 1 EARLY STAR
Page 13: The Circus Report Page 13 •Flying
Page 17 and 18: The Circus Report REVIEW (Continued
Page 19 and 20: The Circus Report Page 19 BOYCOTT L
Page 21 and 22: The Circus Report Page Show Notes T
Page 23 and 24: The Circus Report Page 23 • . FOR
Page 25 and 26: The Circus Report Page 25 SALLY ASH
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Circus Report, April 4, 1977, Vol. 6, No. 14

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