Lifestyle

The Circus Tents are Coming Down: The Closing of an American Entertainment Icon

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

After 146 years of big-top performances, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is coming to a close this weekend. The final performance of the last remaining (of two) units of the company is scheduled for Sunday, May 21, 2017, in Uniondale, New York. Its roots dating back to the mid-1800s, the circus started 20 years prior to the U.S. Civil War, with an equal variety of freak show, museum, and zoo. Their traveling performances commenced in 1871, and one decade later it was the circus that many generations grew up going to see. Evolving over the years to meet the current issues of the times (most recently in its decision to retire the elephant acts), there are several integral moments along the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that are worthy of review.

The Circus Tents Are Coming Down: The Closing of an American Entertainment Icon

Photo: Wikipedia

In 1881, “Barnum & London Circus,” was a show that developed from Phineas Taylor Barnum’s partnership with a number of showmanship entities, (one of which included James A. Bailey,) and in 1882, the Ringling Brothers (consisting of Alf, Charles, Al, Otto, and John,) give their first vaudeville-style show in Wisconsin. This launched them into bigger and better opportunities, and by 1884, “The Ringling Brothers Circus,” began traveling performances. By 1895, the Ringlings wanted to expand into New England, which was already unofficially identified as Barnum’s territory. In a quote by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the two entities “agreed to divide the U.S. rather than compete head-to-head. The Ringlings established their headquarters in Chicago while Barnum and Bailey stayed in New York.” After James Bailey’s death in 1907, the Ringlings purchased Barnum and Bailey, but continued to keep the circuses separate. By the 1910s both circuses had over 1,000 employees, more than 300 horses, over two dozen elephants, several camels and other assorted animals, traveling on more than 90 railcars, making stops across the contiguous U.S., appearing numerous times in Texas.

The Circus Tents Are Coming Down: The Closing of an American Entertainment Icon

Photo: Flickr/CharmaineZoe’s Marvelous Melange

But it was in 1919 when the two circuses merge to become the “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.” A number of changes, good and bad, befell the organization following this amalgamation. In 1944, a fire broke out at a performance in Connecticut, resulting in the deaths of 168 people and injuring hundreds more. There were several children identified among the victims. A little more than a decade later, Paramount Pictures released “The Greatest Show on Earth,” which was touted as one of its more aggressive films and budgets to date. Featuring a top-billed cast, it went on to with the Academy Award for best picture in 1952. In the late ‘60s, Irvin Feld, a famous entertainment promoter, purchased the circus and made it official in a high-toned, high-flash ceremony which was held at the Colosseum in Rome. Upon his passing in 1985, his son Kenneth inherited the business, becoming the owner of Feld Entertainment.

The Circus Tents Are Coming Down: The Closing of an American Entertainment Icon

Photo: Wikimedia

In terms of changing and growing with the times, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus named Johnathan Lee Iverson as its first African-American ringmaster in 1999 – something which, oddly enough, was unheard of before then. And in 2016, Feld Entertainment announced it would retire its elephants from the circus shows, moving the animals to its Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk County, Florida. That same year, they had another “first” in the naming of Kristen Michelle Wilson as its first female ringmaster. Unfortunately, less than one year later, Feld Entertainment announced it would close the doors on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for good, with its two units giving their final performances on May 7 and May 21, in Rhode Island and New York, respectively. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, a sign of forward-thinking on the part of animal and human rights, or a mixture of both. Some will feel a nostalgia, and others may celebrate its closing. But the grandeur that once was the circus, the big-top, the animals, and the shows will always figure prominently in America’s entertainment past.

Source:

MSN