Banner Line wagons #1 (From Richard Flint)

bannerline Pop Mech, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. bannerline Popular Mechanics For Jim Zajicek, curator of the curious Here is a 1952 Popular Mechanics illustration explaining how the bannerline wagons worked. Such wagon show fronts were traditional on the European fairground and their use came to the US with the birth of the carnival business and were first used on the Barnum show in 1915. The next railroad show to use them was Cole in 1949 after Jack Tavlin bought the show and these were later used only on the 1955 King truck show. Subsequently, in 1959, Beatty-Cole inaugurated folding banners but have not used their folding set since about the time they abandoned the side show. Only a few other truck shows have tried folding bannerlines. Probably the best photo of how the Ringling wagons appeared from the backside is the (in)famous 1956 Pittsburgh view of the last day under canvas. Dick Flint Baltimore