In 1912 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “January 15th the big furnace at the studio fell over and started a fine fire – a loss of about $2,000.00, a week’s delay in repairs and getting started. I went to Baraboo in the meantime to see Ringling Brothers and close for another big spectacle. Mr. Al Ringling took me through the winter quarters of the animals, which was also very interesting. Feeding time for the lions, tigers and all the cat family was a noisy time. Watching the training for the elephants was also very interesting. The immense chain and derricks they have to use to teach the elephants to stand on their heads was strong enough to lift a battleship. A great deal of care is given to all the animals, much more than is given to the men that attend the animals. The Ringlings have their own car shop and big paint shops, and everything is taken care of here except scenery and wardrobe. They are very busy getting ready for the next season; making contracts for all supplies at every town they visit, and they certainly have some system.”
In winter, Baraboo, Wisconsin, was home to exotic and their caretakers. Both Ringling Bros. Circus equipment and animals were cared for during their off-season, from November until April of each year. When Moses visited Baraboo during January 1912, the town had increased to include approximately 117 Ringling Brothers’ Circus employees. From late fall to early spring, the Ringling brothers planned for the upcoming season, designing new shows and working out the logistics. Winter was a time for preparation, training and hard labor as the off season provided an opportunity to design new spectacles, assemble costumes, select new acts, and rehearse animals. A team of writers developed news stories for spectacles that would open each show.
Of the 1912 Ringling circus, the “Richmond Palladium and Sun Telegram” advertised, “This season, in addition to their promised array of aerial, acrobatic and arena marvels the Ringling Bros. have produced a gigantic spectacle, Joan of Arc, on a monstrous stage erected in the bog top. There will be twelve hundred people taking part in all, three hundred ballet girls and large chorus. This is said to be the most sumptuous pageant every presented in the country. It created an enormous sensation at The Coliseum in Chicago” (6 May 1912, Richmond, Indiana, page 3). Sosman & Landis provided the new scenery that premiered at the Chicago Coliseum.
Later in 1912, Moses wrote, “Another trip to Baraboo to see the Ringling’s about next year’s show, which I secured.” From 1905 until Al Ringling’s passing in in 1916, Thomas G. Moses completed several designs for the Ringling Bros. grand circus spectacles, also known as “Specs.” Specs were visual spectacles involving hundreds of participants, a short dramatization that was added to the parade of animals and performers. Albeit the production time was relatively short, the scale was of epic proportions.
Moses worked directly for Al Ringling, the eldest of the brothers who was in charge of hiring and supervising the circus performers during his lifetime. He was also the one responsible for contracting scenery and other specialty items for the shows, the main visionary for the group. He would later plan and construct the Al Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, again hiring Moses of Sosman & Landis to provide the scenery.
Each year, the Ringling Brothers presented some new feature as the traveled from coast to coast. In 1905 Moses designed a setting for “The Field of the Cloth of Gold.” Advertisements reported, “The Vast Main Tent of the Ringling Brothers World’s Greatest Shows, wherein are presented the Superb Circuses and Hippodrome Displays, is converted into a huge, hundred-fold theatre for the presentation of the gorgeous, brilliant spectacle, the Field of the Cloth of Gold.” Of Moses’ scenic contributions, “The Washington Post” reported “The scenery is massive and brilliantly painted to show the crystal palaces, fairy structures, golden tents, and other flashing and picturesque features of this famous plain, ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold’” (The Washington Post, 5 May 1905, page 8).
Ringling contracted Sosman & Landis to manufacture spectacle settings each year, but it was solely Moses who worked with Al during the design phase. By 1912, Moses was a well-known scenic artist and designer, eagerly sought after by many well-known personalities, including Al Ringling. Although times were changing and new studios continued to pop up across the nation, Sosman & Landis still dominated the theatre industry and were known as giants in their field at this time.
To be continued…
