In the photo above we see an "artist's interpretation of a carousel", always depicted by a tiered structure in the middle of the ring with a mounted rider at the peak. As I have asked " cirucs horse historian" Col. John Milton Herriott many times how that was possible, and never got an answer we can only assume it is more "circus bally ho" which is long hand for BS. Back in the day's before video, I think it was the only way they could project and let you see the number of horses in the ring.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Barnum and Bailey
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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3 comments:
That 70 some carosel of Jorgen Cristiansen is exactly just that and there is a model of it that exists somewhere. Jorgen told me that during the Garden John Ringling came to him and said that prop boss Mickey Graves complained about handling all the decking for the crousel trouping under canvas and said he wanted Jorgen to go back to the twenty four liberty act sfter the Garden closed.
This is not the Cristiansen carousel. I take that back but was the sixty one tableaux by John O'Brian and later Denny Curtiss. But again Cristiansen was bigger and used camels and I believe zebras as well.
Col. Herriott,
No way!!!! What kept the horses from stepping off the 3rd or 4th tier? You know as well as I that, they go "out to the ring." In most of the "artists imagination lithos, that are available, there is not even a ring curb on each tier. Just a "wedding cake" looking deal. I think it was no more then a carousel like Fredy Knie did at MC, like Christal Sembach Krone used to do, and like Togni's did years ago with 60 some horses. So that it could be appreciated on a poster or litho the artist just "stacked it up" and I think Mr. Christiansen was just jerking a young man who respected him around, much like you jerk me around because I respect you.
Wade
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