Saturday, February 09, 2008

19th Century Tents #2


Dan Rice tent-BW, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Dan Rice Great Hippodrome & Menagerie.

Posted by Buckles at 2/09/2008 06:11:00 AM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Also referenced last month was the unique and lesser-known Dan Rice poster in the Hertzberg collection showing a tent form seen during the 20th century in Europe and in the US more recently but it is quite a surprise to see a four mast format in this American poster of, probably, the 1860s. Can our European friends tell us more about the early use of this style of tent in their countries? This is a striped tent with striped sidewall though details are hard to see due to its very poor condition.
Dick Flint
Baltimore

09 February, 2008 11:01
Anonymous said...

Not so much different that the tents we are seeing today?

09 February, 2008 12:30
Raffaele De Ritis said...

I saw that image before.
I remember that Mr.Carlyon's book says something about this structure( I don't have it at hand being in Madrid now, but I'll be home tomorrow in Italy to confirm).

The early recorded use of this structure I know in Europe is the "pavilion" used by Myer's "American Circus" in England, France, Italy.
Now, a very interesting thing is that, comparing dates, sources and advertising, I am convinced that Myers purchased this Rice's same "pavilion" from Europe.
I'm sure that Richard Flint (or Perhaps Mr.Carlyon) can confirm my suspect.
I hope to find the time tomorrow to scan and post and original italian Myer's playbill.
Comparing what I remember from Carlyon's book and Myers' advertising, I think that the "pavilion" was not a proper big top but a kind of "construction" structure.
European fully developed touring big top started after the BB tour of 1901.
But Sanger and Pinder in Britain was precursors in the 1870s.
At my knowledge, the first moving european big tops recorded in Europe are around 1860's with one central mast, mainly France and Italy. Later, they was a developement of touring covered menageries.
The first documented European big top I know is the small circus Bothour in France (I can't tell now the year) portrayed in a painting.
I will be more precise during the week.
Stripes: the first european striped tent I know documented is a Sarrasani four masts square from 1926, manufactured by Stromeyer. In Europe, Canobbio manufacturer started to produce regularly striped big tops by the late 1960s, setting a trend for the 70s.
But this is a very long history now.

09 February, 2008 17:08
Anonymous said...

Richard Sands introduced the American style circus big top to England when he toured in 1842. See Speaight's book, page 43. Christian Dupavillon's book "La tente et le chapiteau" includes a painting dated 1830 of the cirque Bouthours that records a single center pole round top.

The proof of engraving accuracy is found in period descriptions, patents and similar era engravings. Subsequent memoirs are less reliable, as people often forget exact dates.

It took a long time before Thayer showed that J. Purdy Brown had the tent in 1825, a year before Howes.

10 February, 2008 18:50

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