Ringling Barnum TIGER & MOON (1949)

Ringling Barnum TIGER & MOON (1949), originally uploaded by bucklesw1. From Chris Berry This poster is for a performance in Redding, California that was never played during the fall of 1949. For only the second time since World War II had ended, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey was making a visit to the west coast that season, where according to a 1987 White Tops article by Joe Bradbury, the Southern Pacific Railroad was playing havoc with the train and performance schedules. In this case Medford, Oregon was played on Saturday September 17. Although the show was loaded onto the Southern Pacific that night, it wasn't until 6pm on Sunday that the trains arrived in Redding, a distance of only 150 miles. By that time of evening it was far too late to set up the big top and hold a performance, so management decided to skip the date and move on to Sacramento, a distance of about 160 miles. Adding insult to injury, that jump was also delayed and the Monday matinee - which was scheduled for a late start of 3:30pm - also had to be skipped with only a night show given in Sacramento.