Monday, October 30, 2006

Ringling-Barnum Circus 1941 #22

Posted by Buckles at 10/30/2006 06:11:00 AM

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Richard Reynolds says - -

This is the neon light tower on the midway of the 1941 show. It was part of the Norman Bel Geddes redesign of the show that year, the most dramatic "new look" ever for the show. It was the first effort at a themed show - -Old King Cole and Mother Goose (such themes are now part and parcel of the new age shows like Soleil and Big Apple). For RBBB that was significant departure from the old. Previously the shows had always opened with a spec or tournament featuring a potpourri procession of animals, strange people from exotic places etc. They had different names over the years like the Durbar of Delhi, Nepal, Return of Marco Polo etc. Essentially, however, they were all the same. But in 1941 all that changed with the spec moving well down into the program.

This was also the first time the brilliant Miles White got turned loose with the costumes and the resulting array of pastels and subtlety was stunning. Originally Bel Geddes had envisioned having the whole show put on in front of Old King Cole with color coordination throughout and each act bowing before the King before performing. However, that was never implemented. How would one ever get the imperious Alfred Court to bow to a clown and then put on his animal acts which occupied all three rings.

Whatever, the public loved it, while old timers just shook their heads in dismay. The 1941 show was so large that that they had to employ some over the road tractor-trailer rigs to haul stuff that could not fit on the 90-car show train. I don’t believe they used the neon light tower but that one year. Carnivals made heavy use of neon lighting on the midway but not circuses.

The late Col Woodcock once told the late Joe Bradbury that the 1941 RBBB show was the largest he ever saw. And it certainly was in my experience. Though the 1947 show was on 108 cars (vs. 90 in 1941), the expansion of the train was caused by the addition of the new ex-W.W.II hospital cars while they still carried the old sleepers. And sleepers do not add to the size of the show on the lot.

Again these Behein pics (with the captions below) are from Tru-View film strips that one looked at through a stereopticon viewer with a lever to advance from one pic to the next. There were four different films strips dealing with unloading/set up, menagerie, performance and misc. views of performers, midway, etc. All were taken in 1941 with a few from 1942 as I recall. I got my set of these films for Christmas in 1944. They were my first circus photos.

30 October, 2006 11:18
Anonymous said...

I must disagree with Mr. Reynolds remarks that 41 was the first effort for a themed show as I recall a number of themes in the shows over many years. Not storybook stuff but certainly themed, such as Frank Buck and the whole spec about bring em back alive featuring Terrel Jacobs, I believe Gargantua, Ubangis, and other themes going back to Adam Forepaugh. The only themes, however you define the word, concerning Soliel are names or titles that are not even something that us poor unsophisticated citizens could hardly relate to and even the audience don't know what the Hell its all about. The Big Apple does a great job with a theme and carries it througout the entire performance very niceley. Alot of shows have done themes quite well. You suggest that all those great specs in previous years were basically the same. I disagree with exception that they used elephants, horses, other animals and people in exotic wardrobe depicting a period of time and place and that is what the circus is all about. Great people like Miles White Bel Geddes and whoever did not invent the wheel. You can be sure the great shows had wonderful themed production. I well remember the great Frank Buck spec and for a young boy it was awesome. I regret that you even suggest Soliel in any reference to a circus.

01 November, 2006 18:29
Anonymous said...

PS I think it was a brilliant idea of putting the spec later in the program.

01 November, 2006 18:32

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