Sunday, January 20, 2008

No 4- RBBB in Chicago Aug. 2, 1941


P02370, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

"In the back lot of the circus in Chicago."

The last of the baggage stock! Buckles

Posted by Buckles at 1/20/2008 06:04:00 AM

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This would be a beautiful picture to paint.

20 January, 2008 07:31
Down the Road by Jim said...

Maybe beautifuler( more beautiful ??) if we could see it live again!

20 January, 2008 07:47
Monty said...

This picture is ahead of its time. Except for Ringling, wouldn’t most canvas sidewall of the time have been plain old brown canvas? Also, is the Big Top already blue? When did JRN first begin using the dark blue?

20 January, 2008 12:04
Buckles said...

This is the year Norman Bel Geddes re-invented the show so I suppose anything might be possible.
Richard Reynolds or Dom Yodice would know.
No doubt the color was outstanding when the show opened but by August it looks pretty ratty.

20 January, 2008 12:13
Anonymous said...

Hi Buckles,
I hope that this will answer Monty's question about the blue Big Top.
When John Ringling North took control of the show in 1938 they were using a 6 pole white Big Top.
In 1939 he went to a 4 pole top in white with a large painted blue stripe down the center interior. Probably for the new lighting effects they were using.
A 4 pole blue Big Top with red sidewalls was used in 1940,41 and 42.
Robert Ringling took control of the show in 1943 and returned to the 6 pole white Big Top. This was also used in 1944,45 and 46.
John Ringling North regained control in 1947 and used a 6 pole blue Big Top.
In 1948,49 & 50 they used a 4 pole blue Big Top.
Another change was made in 1951 when they eliminated the separate menegirie tent. They used a 5 pole blue Big Top with the menagirie in one end.
This was used through the 1954 season. In 1955 they returned to separate menagirie tent and again used the 4 pole blue Big Top. The same was true for the last under canvas season of 1956.
I hope this helps. All this data came from Joe Bradbury's series on the Ringling show that was published in the "White Tops" magazine many years ago.
Dom Yodice

20 January, 2008 14:37
Anonymous said...

If my memory serves me well, I think that the gilly wqgon was still horse drawn in 1946.
Bob Kitto

24 January, 2008 20:21
Anonymous said...

A note of interest, in 1955 the show played Beloit, WI and I watched the show come down. One of the cat Drivers was just waiting to clear the menagerie and I asked him how long he had been with the show and he said he joined out every time the show was going west, as he had family on the west coast and it was the cheapest way to see them.
Bob Kitto

25 January, 2008 20:07

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