On Wednesday of this week we went to visit the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. The Museum sits on 66 acres of land that features not only the Circus Museum, it also has an Arts Museum, the Ca' D'Zan, the estate of John and Mable Ringling, the Historic Asolo Theater, and a Rose Garden.
Ernie Burch was a professional clown for 56 years. He was the character Blinko in "The Greatest Show on Earth".
1952 Movie
Yes, it shot live people into a net, after testing it with a bag of sand of the same weight.
There were 5 brothers actively involved in the circus production.
A billboard on the marque. The 3 legged man.
The bearded lady
A view of the Blacksmith Tent. Besides keeping the many horses in shoes, the crew also inspected the metal wagon parts every day.
Wagon #9 was the blacksmith supply wagon.
Everything in the circus, that was included on the trains, was kept and stored in an orderly fashion in the wagons, which were numbered and located on the train according to setup.
The Hotel flag signified that meals were ready.
If you have a carving skill and need a volunteer job, sign up. Only good until May 1.
The next 3 show the work tables of the people painting minature figures.
The Band Wagon
Looking up at the man on stilts.
Emmett Kelly, the mute, never smiling clown.
In another part of the building was a miniature model of the setup of the Circus. The detail in the pieces was unbelievable. The next series of pictures are all miniature pieces.
Feeding over 1300 people. Each person had a designated seat.
Washing dishes 3 times a day.
The circus lineup begins.
The Big Top. It took 4 hours to set it up.
Keep in mind that you are looking at thousands of hand painted miniatures.
A 3 inch bike
Relaxation area for the actors.
At the circus, there was always more that one act going on.
Those that didn't have a fare.
To give you a better grasp of the circus operation, think about 1300 people, many beginning before sun up, unloading about 150 wagons from the flatbed train cars, pulling them to different locations to begin the process of setting up the circus. Meanwhile the kitchen begins preparation for that many days meals. The tents besides The Bigtop are unloaded and setup. Circus members prepare for the day, sometimes for several performances, and by the end of the day, everything is taken down, cleaned if needed, packed away, loaded on to wagon, pulled onto the flatbed train cars in order, and transported to the next city.
For further reading go to the link. Ringling Brothers Route Book, 1892
CBS Morning had a program about the Circus on April 30th. The link of that part of the program is in this link. Ringling-bros-circus
Thanks for keeping an eye out for Grammie.
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