Saturday, September 24, 2011

From Robert Karczewski #2

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4 comments:

Bob Cline said...

Was Ringling the only show that used the white pith helmets?

Anonymous said...

Can anyone tell us, the uninformed, what's with the cannon ?

Chic Silber said...

How else could you get them up

& over the alps (ask Hannibal)

Anonymous said...

Forepaugh-Sells and Barnum & Bailey later employed pith helmets as parade wardrobe, after they came under Ringling ownership. You might also check outfits that bought second hand from the Ringlings, like J. H. Garrett.

I imagine that there's a story relating to the origin of pith helmet use by the Ringlings somewhere, maybe arising from an overage of hats made for the Boer War or some such thing. They gave the drivers, helpers and bull men a distinctive appearance, exotic and foreign starting with the first glance at them..