Ringling Barnum ALFRED COURT (1941) - half sheet flat

Ringling Barnum ALFRED COURT (1941) - half sheet flat, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. From Chris Berry Contemporary news accounts from 1940 indicate that the Alfred Court mixed wild animal act had a number of problems early in the season. On the day before the show opened in Madison Square Garden one of his Indian leopards killed what was billed as the "only performing snow leopard in captivity". In 1940 Court had truly a "mixed act" with lions, tigers, jaguars, panthers, pumas and leopards all in the same cage. John Ringling North was trying a lot of new things with the show during that period - including the enlistment of famed designer Norman Bel Geddes to help with not only the staging but also remaking the entire image of the Greatest Show on Earth. This poster - executed by the Bel Geddes studios - is an example of the bold steps that North was taking in the early 40s. Although this particular litho is not signed, it does have the Bel Geddes "G" logo and is attributed by some to be the work of well-known poster artist E. McKnight Kauffer - who did indeed execute (and sign) other posters and programs that he was commissioned to produce for Ringling-Barnum.