Sparks FIGHTING FOREST-BRED MALE LIONS

Sparks FIGHTING FOREST-BRED MALE LIONS, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. From Chris Berry: This poster dates from the 1920s when the Sparks Circus was still under control of Clifton and Charles Sparks. In November of 1928 H.B. Gentry (one of the "Gentry Bros") purchased the "Sparks Circus" from them and while they didn't know it at the time, Gentry was merely acting as an agent and two months later he sold the show to Jerry Mugivan and the American Circus Corporation. Charles Sparks was furious as he swore he would never sell his show to Mugivan. Of course later that same year (1929) John Ringling acquired the Sparks Circus when he purchased the American Circus Corporation -giving him control of 10 circus titles, 150 additional railroad cars and over 2000 animals. The Sparks Circus train left Ringling's Sarasota winter quarters for its final tour under the control of the Ringling organization in April of 1931. In an efficiency move the Sparks railroad cars were hooked to the back of the Ringling-Barnum train for a trip north in April. The smaller show was unhitched in Pennsylvania for its tour. At the end of the season the show was brought back to Sarasota. The Sparks title was briefly resurrected in 1946-47 for a show operated by James Edgar and staffed by a group of circus vets including Arnold Maley and Victor Robbins. That version of Sparks Circus started on trucks and actually transitioned to rail in 1947. The title, however, was shelved forever when the show closed on September 7, 1947 in Tacoma, Washington.