 This is a Howard Tibbals photo of the set up on the Chicago lot in 1941. We see that the Horse Fair is connected to the menagerie. The gorilla top is in its place between the menagerie and big top. Note the different colors for the canvas. Menagerie - - red top and blue side; Big Top - -red above and blue below (note the silver air conditioning ducts); Horse Fair - - red top with red and white striped side; Side Show - - - yellow top and blue side, though the yellow looks almost red here (I've seen movie film of it, and it was definitely yellow); Dressing Room - - khaki top and yellow side. At the lower center-left is one of the over-the -road tractor/trailer rigs which formed part of the 5th section. Richard Reynolds said... I inverted the color description of the big top canvas - -obviously it is blue on top with red side walls. It was that way in 1940 as well. The use of different colored canvas for the other tents came in 1941.  Ole Whitey
said... Richard: Excellent commentary on great view. Someone (maybe Joe
Bradbury?) has said that the menagerie top started the year red and later was
changed to blue. Any thoughts on this?Looked up in the first of Joe's two-piece treatment of the '41 season (May-June, 1978 WT) to find out where the show set up in Chicago that year. I didn't get enough clues from the pic. As you know they used one or more Grant Park sites opposite the Hilton/Stevens and also both inside Soldier Field and south of same. On p 23 Joe says that the billing was changed at some point from "Lake Front" to read "South of Soldier Field, Lake Front." Actually Joe says "Soldier's" which you sometimes see. |
Thursday, March 27, 2014
1941 Soldier Field #1 (From John Goodall)
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3 comments:
Richard,
Why after all these years did Ringling and Cole go to colored big tops instead of the white ones they all used for many years.
I wish I could see a picture in color of the Cole early 1940's blue big top.
From the Castle film here comes the circus you can see around the poles had the stars and stripes.
Harry in Texas
[. . .the menagerie top started the year red and later was changed to blue. Any thoughts on this?]
I read somewhere that, during the day, the red top gave the interior of the menagerie a weird colored appearance which many found annoying. The idea of painting the various tops different colors might have been inspired by the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, where color were used to identify the Fair's various zones: the Food Zone, the Transportation Zone, the Business Zone, etc. All the buildings in a particular zone were painted the same color.
Richard: I think they set up inside Soldier Field in 1935 and 1936. But don't forget in 1944 they played it open air on the "Blue Heaven" tour after the Hartford fire.
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