 Assembled by Bailey who planned on taking Barnum & Bailey to Europe and needed something to fill the void against the up and coming Ringling brothers. Above we see the days of wagons of wood and men of iron who appear to have moved a set of runs from one run car to the other. Most of these pictures are stamped on the back: Hugo Zeiter 1215 E. Fairchild St. Danville, Illinois  |
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Adam Forepaugh & Sells Bros. (From Buckles)
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The initial operation of the Forepaugh-Sells combination endured through 1907. Bailey bought it all when the property was placed up at auction in early 1905, marking retirement of the last of the Sells brothers, and sold a half interest to the Ringlings, who bought the second half from the Bailey Estate in 1906.
The wagons on the first flat of the left cut are the #56 steam calliope, the ex-Forepaugh Cleopatra barge, the Cinderella pony float and #55 double hippo den, the only one of its kind ever built.
The date of 1901 was applied by Bernard Kobel, but internal evidence for that is scant. It is surely before 1906, when the calliope was re-numbered. Pre-1905 is also likely, since the barge went off the show when Henry Ringling came on as manager.
The double hippo den mentioned by our friend who had hoped to remain anonymous was not built to house the rare double hippo, of which species we have yet to find a specimen, but for two individual hippos.
A picture of this wagon appears in Chappie's "Circus Parades" on page 137. I'm hoping the gent from Atlanta will provide us with the names etc of the occupants of this double den.
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