circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org
These wagons ar something that everyone has to make an effort to see. They are breathtaking.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Circus World Museum--Baraboo, Wisconsin
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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2 comments:
Wade, you are correct that the first three wagons are from the Circus World Museum collection. The latter two are not in Baraboo but at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota.
The first photo is the Cole Bros Asia wagon. It was one of four tableaus ordered by Barnum & Bailey in 1902. Each of the wagons represented a different continent - America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Originally, each wagon had life-sized woodcarvings that were duplicates of groupings representing the four continents that surround the Prince Albert Memorial in London. These carvings could be lowered into the body of the wagons. In later years, the carvings were removed and the sides of the wagons were built up which allowed the circus to carry large loads of equipment on the inside. The wagon was later sold to Christy Bros, Circus and then to Cole Bros.
Next depicted is Cinderella Pony Float. Seven pony floats were built for Barnum & London Circus in the middle 1880's. The first two, Santa Claus and The Old Woman in the Shoe, were made in 1883. Between 1886 and 1888, Mother Goose, Bluebeard, Sinbad the Sailor, Cinderella, and Red Riding Hood were added. James A, Bailey sold the show to Bailey to Barnum & Bailey, Ltd. Circus World has Cinderella, Old Woman in the Shoe and Mother Goose in the collection. In recent years both Cinderella and Mother Goose have gone into the Circus World shop for restoration and have been gold leafed. It is expected that Old Woman in the Shoe will be going into the shop within the next year or so for restoration and will be gold leafed. With the current price of gold, this process may be delayed. A circus fan and Great Circus Parade volunteer, Dick Britton, has commissioned a Baraboo wood carver to build a replica of Red Riding Hood pony float. Don't know how far this project has progressed or when it is supposed to be completed.
The third photo is of a replica of Ringling Bros. Giraffe Wagon No. 93 which was built in the Circus World shop. A few years ago, it was decided to build this wagon for the Great Circus Parade which for several years was a feature in Milwaukee, WI. parade. A giraffe was trained to ride in the wagon. It is expected that this wagon will be in the revival of the Great Circus Parade to be staged in Milwaukee, WI on July 12, 2009
The next rwo wagons are in the collection at Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL. Picture four is the Sells-Floto Elephant tableau . Joseph T. Bradbury writes....The wagon was built in Denver quarters about 1905 for the Great Floto Shows, owned by Fred Bonfils and Harry Tammen, with Otto Floto also in on the deal. Bonfils and Tamen were the owners of the Denver Post newspaper and Otto Floto the sports editor. The show became known as the Sells-Floto Circus for the 1906 and following seasons. There is a chance that the actual carvings on the wagon were furnished by the Bode Wagon Works. My first photo of the wagon shows it as the No. 1 bandwagon on Sells-Floto taken in Mexico City on Dec. 2, 1906. It was pulled by a fourteen horse hitch.
The wagon served as the No. 1 bandwagon through the years on Sells-Floto. In 1914 and 1915 the show was called Sells-Floto Circus and Buffalo Bill Wild West, and Buffalo Bill himself was with the show.
The wagon was on the show on through the 1924 season and then no doubt was there also in 1925. All of the three American Circus Corporation units, Sells-Floto, Hagenbeck-Wallace, and John Robinson went out in 1925 intending not to parade, but in late May of that year the parade was revived. The Billboard claims that the shows went out prepared to parade if it was felt it was necessary for business reasons. With that we can assume the wagon was also there in 1925.
In 1926 the parade on Sells-Floto was abandoned, but whether this wagon was parked at Peru quarters or was still taken on the road I am unable to state. It does not appear in any photos I have seen of Sells-Floto from 1926 through 1932 the last year Sells-Floto was on the road, but during that time other tableaus were carried on the road some seasons, for example in 1929 both the Buffalo tableau and the old India or Jardiner tab were on the show.
In 1933 the Elephant tableau appeared on the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus now enlarged to 40 cars since Sells-Floto was not sent on the road. In 1933 manager Jess Adkins tried a few old time street parades to stimulate business and the Elephant tableau was used in those parades. The 1933 spot parades were so successful that in 1934 Hagenbeck-Wallace featured a daily street parade, one of the largest and best in history. The show was enlarged to 50 cars a move made necessary primarily to carry the added parade equipment. The Elephant tableau was used in the 1934 parade, although not as one of the principal bandwagons.
In 1935 the show was cut down considerably and only a few parades were given and those in opposition stands only. The 1935 show was known as Hagenbeck-Wallace and Forepaugh-Sells Combined Circus, the latter title being tacked on to preserve the title from falling into public domain and also for tax purposes, so I've been told. There is a good chance the Elephant wagon was on the show in 1935 but I've yet to find it in any photos I've seen of that show.
In 1936 the Hagenbeck-Wallace show did not go on the road but remained in Peru quarters.
For 1937 season Ed Arlington and Frank Hatch leased the title and property and made a small fortune during the early weeks of the season before selling their interest to Howard Bary who continued to take the show on the road and do a good business all during that season. The Elephant tableau is supposed to have been taken on the road in 1937. The show did make a few parades in the early part of the season but cancelled them later.
In 1938 Hagenbeck-Wallace again went out under Bary's management, but the Elephant wagon was left in Peru quarters. It remained there until 1944 when the Ringling interests sold the quarters. The wagon along with a few others who got repreived from the large wagon burnings that took place there and was shipped to winter quarters in Sarasota.
The wagon remained in Sarasota rotting away in the sun and rain until late 1949. When I visited there in February 1949 the wagon was sitting out in the wagon graveyard down to the hubs in sand. A couple of guys were living in it, had knocked out one side and were hanging their wash out on a line. It was fast going to complete ruin, but fortunately John Sullivan of the Museum of the American Circus saw that the wagon was rescued and put in the museum to join several other old wagons that had ben placed there a year earlier. The Elephant wagon remained at the museum until December of 1955 when the Ringling management moved the wagons back to the winter quarters for a TV program.
Picture five is the Two Jesters Steam Calliope. The wagon was built by Leonard Ainsworth and Charlie Luckie at Sells-Floto's old quarters in Denver. Some confusion exists as to the date it was built but it was probably in the winter of 1919-20 , The Two Jesters wagon served on Sells-Floto from the 1920 through 1925 season. Following the 1925 season the street parade was discontinued and the wagon was stored at Peru quarters from 1926 to 1932. In 1932, Jess Adkins, who was then manager of the Ringling owned, Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, took the Two Jesters on the road to use it for lot concerts. In 1933 the calliope was also on Hagenbeck-Wallace for use in a few street parades that were given and also for lot concerts. In 1934 it was used in the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace street parade, one of the longest and most colorful of all times. In 1935 the show, now called Hagenbeck-Wallace and Forepaugh Sells Bros. Combined, discontinued daily parades but still gave a few at key dates using the calliope in those. In 1936 Hagenbeck-WaIlace did not tour but remained in Peru quarters. In 1937 Edward Arlington and J. Frank Hatch leased the Hagenbeck-Wallace show from Ringling and put it on the road giving a daily parade. They then sold out to Howard Bary who discontinued the street parade but the calliope was carried throughout the season. In 1938 the calliope remained in Peru quarters. It remained there until the 1941 season when it was put on Ringling-Barnum to be used in the Spec. In 1942 and 1943 it was again used by Ringling-Barnum. In 1945 is was back on the show, and possibly it was carried in 1946. It was stored in Sarasota quarters until 1949 when it was moved over to the Museum of the American Circus which is now the Ringling Museum of Art. In 1956 it was completely restored.
John,
Great stuff. Thank you again. The revival of the parade is some of the greatest news in a number of years.
The various battles/controversies over the years for the wagons, makes me think a standard or agreement on something in this business/industry/world is impossible, if there is going to be that much disagreement over some old equipment, no longer used, like the circus wagons. LOL
Wade
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