From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:

This afternoon Uncle Bernard took Irving and me to the circus. I don’t like circuses but of course I didn’t say that. I had to pretend that I was having a beautiful time. It was so big, I was so dizzy trying to see everything. I was sorry for all the poor animals in cages and I was so afraid that the people on the trapezes were going to fall down on top of me and I didn’t think that the clowns were very funny. I didn’t even like the pretty pink candy that looked like cotton because it melted as soon as we put our tongues on it so we couldn’t taste it, or maybe it had no taste.

Hilda was ahead of her time - she would be happy with the changes in circuses in recent years– even Ringling Brothers is coming back without animal acts.