| In December of 1908 the Ringling Bros were clearly the Circus Kings of the world - with not only their own show, but also as owners of Barnum & Bailey and Forepaugh-Sells. All three shows were in Winter Quarters a century ago, getting ready for the season of 1909. The attached two posters are well-known among collectors and had been used for the first time during the season of 1908 - exactly 100 years ago. As the sharp-eyes of Ole Whitey recently pointed out - the version with Bailey on the left MAY be the only poster of this vintage that has "BARNUM BAILEY GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH" without the "&" separating the two names. |
Monday, December 08, 2008
100 Years Ago! #1 (From Chris Berry)
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5 comments:
Forepaugh-Sells remained in the barn for 1908 and 1909 and it was essentially an entirely different circus that rolled out in 1910.
Anonymous:
I'd be interested in your view of why the 1910-11 Forepaugh-Sells show went out. I have heard more than one opinion.
Taking a wild guess here... When you own RB and you own BB and you see yourselves as the Circus Kings you might not want to get dirty down in the trenches anymore fighting opposition battles with Ben Wallace, or with the increasingly popular Floto show. Forepaugh-Sells is a well known title that you route against the competition.
I was led to believe that Al Ringling took it out for the same reason Obert Miller took out Fairyland Circus.
A need to do things the way they had been done in the past.
It's been generally believed that Al wanted to take out his own show, to manage it the way he wanted. Presumably John routed it, as he did the other two troupes. It could be that Alf T. had a hand in the advertising plan. Charlie was general manager for Ringling and Otto was the same for B&B. The performance was Al's big thing, where he'd made his mark. In the long term, Forepaugh-Sells became one of the largest railroad circuses ever shelved and the physical plant liquidated, until RBBB closed in 1956. When you're rich, you can afford to play big-time. Al's wife reportedly quipped something like "When Al got rich, he got boring." But, she squandered and lost her proceeds from the sale of the show [she built resorts, by which she was "burned"] and thereafter reportedly took up with her chauffeur. Maybe he was an exciting driver?
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