the globe to the ground. An older act, revived in the 1930s by a performer named The Great Fussner. G-Top — A private club, generally under a tent, where staff drink or gamble. Gaffer — Circus manager. Gag — A short clown trick, too brief to be an act. Gallery — General seating area (the cheap seats), consisting of backless bleachers in the old days. Gandy Dancers — Originally referred to a railroad crew pounding spikes in a coordinated pattern of motions, each of several men striking the stake head with sledgehammers in sequence. The raising of the circus big top also requires the driving of many spikes, and (until the invention of mechanical stake drivers) the job was pretty much the same, so the term followed thework. Garbage Joint — The souvenir or novelty stand. Gaucho — Someone working in the circus who was not born into circus life. Probably a corruption of the gypsy word "gadjo" (sometimes "gadje"), meaning a non-Gypsy. German Wheel — Invented in Germany in 1925 as a gymnastic prop, the "german wheel" is a pair of 8-foot aluminum hoops joined by 8 struts. The gymnast can grip the struts in various ways, using his weight to throw the wheel into several types of spin. Also called the "gym wheel." The lesser-known "cyr wheel" is a single hoop used the same way. Geronimo — A "death dive" act, jumping from a great height onto a big air bag (as movie stunt men do today) or a "sponge plunge" into an