Monday, June 08, 2015

Sells-Floto #14


7 comments:

Harry Kingston said...

3 rings and 2 stages and what a tent and what a circus.
Harry in Texas

Chic Silber said...


Pretty steep angled quarters

Paul Gutheil said...

My God, the enormity of it. Doesn't matter to me how many times I see photos like this, my mind is still boggled.

Question for you Circus Savants: How does the size of this top compare to Carson & Barnes when they were 5 rings>

Thanks, and many thanks to you Buckles for another great morning.

Harry Kingston said...

Paul,
Like you I am just amazed at photos like this and Carson and Barnes never had a real wide tent but long as they come.
At one time D. R. had a 8 pole tent with the 40 middles and 2-20 footers for the trapeze acts.
Maybe 130 feet wide as I remember the track was not wide at all.
Now this S F tent is a winner as it looks like 5-50 foot middles as it looks like the same distance between all centers.
The width maybe 160 or 170 wide just a guess as I cannot see the section as usually they were around 5 feet or so and 8 or 10 or more make a center section.
Now my question to the circus scholars are what are those ropes hanging from the squares in the and maybe 3 to 5 feet long. Maybe used to tie the tent rolled together on the spool or roll or to hang banners on them for local advertising??????
Harry

Roger Smith said...

Can't be sure of the season, nor the menu that year. This black-draped affair may be a platform on which a horse and rider would be raised in the ascension act. This became a popular feature on the bigger shows. Mabel Stark ascended with the lion, Samson, for Al. G. Barnes, and later with the horse Jupiter for Bertram Mills.

Chic Silber said...


More than likely that circular shroud

covered a globe or drome of some kind

Buckles said...

Balloon Horse.