Wade,
I know this all gets muddied with wagons being named the same. Here is the Great Britain Bandwagon at the Circus World Museum. The photo I have named just "GB" came from Chappie Fox's book Horse Drawn wagon collection on page 42. The other photo I grabbed off of Flickr.
This wagon was built in 1903 at the Bode Wagon Company in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Ringling Bros. Circus from 1903 to 1918 then on the Ringling / Barnum parade in 1919 and 1920. It was sold and travelled through a couple different show owners. It last paraded on the Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Wild West Show. Bill Hames Carnival bought it and they kept it inside a building for many years. They eventually gave it to the Circus World Museum in 1962. It is 20 feet long, 10 feet 3 inches tall and weighs about 4 tons.
It has been painted with with gold carvings, as shown in Chappie's book, and then now as seen in the Flickr photo without the flag or the words Great Britian on the bottom anymore. This is also nicknamed the John Bull tab. If names weren't enough, a nickname too.
Bob
'Why in the world would they have not painted the Union Jack and "Great Britain" on the Bandwagon when it was repainted? Is there a historical reason the flag and wording was omitted? The "new" version is sure lacking compared to the "old" version.'The Circus "NO SPIN ZONE": Bandwagon--Cole Bros. 1939
Take a look at Bob Clines blog: Bob Cline's Sawdust and Spangles linked on the right in relevant stops. He has some super photos posted of the United States Bandwagon, including some great pictures taken before it's restoration by the "Magicians of Wood" at Baraboo's Circus World Museum.
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4 comments:
The reasoning is that we restored the wagon back to the configuration that it was when it was on the Miller 101 Ranch show. It is now "officially" called The Miller 101 Ranch Band Tableau.
Flint
Flint,
Thank you, but you know me, and you know I gotta ask, why? Why, the decision to go with the Miller 101 Ranch show paint scheme? It just seems to be really lacking without the Union Jack in the middle, and the wording.
Wade
Dear Wade-
When restoring the wagons at CWM several things came into play.I know this will not bode well with some BUT in the early days at CWM wagons were not always restored to 100% historic accuracey.
In the 1990's assessments were made of the wagon collection. When restoring, money was always a factor to consider. The Great Britain wagon in its original configuration had a longer front end on it, much like the US and Columbia bandwagons. This was lost due to a train wreck.
The decision to restore it to the Miller days came about because it just would have been too costly to extend that front end out as it was originally. It would have meant completely tearing down the wagon to replace the main frame supports correctly. Then comes the matter of replacing the missing carvings.
Another factor that came into play was the fact that so few wagons in the collection represented the Miller 101 title.
In 1991, when we restored the Hagenbeck-Wallace #50 wagon we took it all down to the metal framework and rebuilt it. HW has always been one of my favorite shows and this wagon had not been touched since CWM gained ownership in the mid 1960's. After 7 months of work we put the final coat of orange paint on it.The Director informed us that it was to be titled Great American Circus. The reason being that the GAC title wasn't represented in the collection and this wagon had been on that show. I was greatly disappointed but there again, I was only a volunteer shop rat. In the end really the only thing that matters is the fact that the wagon was preserved and that the title really is only a coat of paint.
Another example comes to mind here. The Arthur Bros. #11 ticket wagon (formerly HW) had the most beautiful tigers painted on the sides for years at CWM. When the time came to restore it we did it with great historic accuracey. The skyboard scrollwork disappeared, the corner columns were painted orange and the most God-awful tigers were painted on it. Certainly not as pretty as it once was BUT it is now historically accurate and matches the old pictures of it.
Flint
Flint,
Great stuff, thank you for sharing. I have always been aware of the "political" scene at CWM. I have never been real versed at politics, preferring to cut right to the chase and call a nitwit a nitwit. I really don't know how folks can deal with it. In studying the history of CWM a bit I have also noticed one name coming up more often then anyone else's as being a "grandiose, I'll get mine, screw the rest" Director.
Doesn't make sense. We are not represented by a certain show, so let's restore a wagon to fit that show chucking Historical authenticity out the window?
Wade
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