RBBB1955 (From Dominic Yodice)

RBBB%201955, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Hello Buckles, Regarding the questions about the height of the Ringling side poles and the seat wagons, I think I can shed some light on that. Prior to the introduction of the seat wagons in 1948, the Ringling side poles were 16' high. The quarters were 36' & 46' and the centers were (I believe) 58'. When the seat wagons were introduced they changed the height of all the poles to accommodate the height/pitch of the wagons. The side and quarters were also then manufactured from aluminum. The new pole height was 17' for the side poles, 37'& 47' for the quarters and the center poles were increased to 62'-6" . In 1948 when the seat wagons were first introduced, there were 20, all with chairs. The blues were still the old stringer and jack type. Then in 1949 the blues seat wagons were added. There were 8 of them. They placed 4 at each end of the big top, side by side. They also changed the shape of the ends of the big top (see photo). In order to accommodate the 4 wagons, the ends were actually an octagon shape (when placed together...rather than a circle). This gave them a straight edge for the four wagons. As to the number of wagons, that varied by year. In 1948 there were 20 chair wagons. In 1949 & 1950 there were 28, 20 chair and 8 blues. Then in 1951 when they placed the menagerie in the end of the big top, 2 chair wagons were left in winter quarters. From 1951 through 1954 they carried only 26 wagons. In 1955 they once again went to a separate menagerie tent so they went back to the 28 seat wagons. This was also true for the "End of an Era" year of 1956. Hope this helps a little . Dom The 1955 photo shows the octagon ends of the big top. Photo from Circus World Museum - Baraboo, Wisconsin