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Part 487: The Logistics of Touring Ringling Brothers’ “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba”

One of the things that I keep thinking about is the logistics of organizing and managing a touring circus a century ago, especially the 1914 Ringling Brothers’ “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” The Pittsburgh Press published an article that provides insight into the 1914 circus (11 May 1914, page 14). Here is a section from the article that I found intriguing:

“The big enterprise bearing the name of the five brother showmen arrived in Pittsburgh in the small hours of Sunday morning and with very little noise and no confusion an enormous tented city was quickly established on the show grounds in East Liberty. The show came from Wheeling, W. Va., where it exhibited on Saturday, and it was met in the yards of the Pennsylvania railroad by a vast horde of excited youngsters who had braved both the displeasure of parents and Sunday school teachers in order to be on hand to help unload the elephants and lead the spotted ponies to water. All day yesterday they loitered around the East Liberty grounds watching the erecting of the tents and other unusual sights.

Twenty-four tents are required this season. The main canvas – the big top is the largest the Ringlings have ever used – is especially constructed, not only to accommodate the circus with its three rings, stages and hippodrome track, but also arranged for the massive spectacle “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba,” which is presented on a stage five the size of that found in the largest theater. The Ringling circus is a perfect city in itself traveling every night, making a new city every day and morning with more system, rapidity and less fuss and noise than any branch of the army. To prepare for its coming exactly 106 representatives, each with a various mission to perform, have visited this city.

All of the cooking for this enormous enterprise is done by steam and in ranges built in a wagon weighing six tons and drawn by eight horses. As a mere detail of the marketing the circus consumes daily 4,500 pounds of fresh beef, 300 dozen eggs, 800 pounds of bread, 150 pounds of sugar and other items equally as large. The first order to the cooks in the morning is for 5,200 griddle cakes and yet, as large a number as this may seem, it is only four a piece. For the stock and animal department there are used daily: 10 tons of hay, five tons of straw, 300 bushels of oats, while no well behaved elephant would think of starting his day’s labor without his morning cereal – a bale of hay. Most of all, these purchases are made from local merchants.

The circus travels on its own trains and only requires engines and crews from the railroads. The show also carries its own blacksmiths, horseshoers, wagon and harness makers, tent makers, rope splicers and a corps of decorators are kept on hand continually touching up the gilded and brilliantly painted tableau wagons and cages. Two men are employed eight hours a day doing nothing but greasing axles. In the wardrobe department presided over by Mrs. George Hartzell, known as “the little mother of the circus,” nearly 6,000 costumes have to be handled daily and kept in repair. Five dressmakers and six tailors, besides armorers, are in this department. The circus has its own physician who carries with him a complete surgical and medical outfit. There is also a barber shop and, incidentally, no driver or man appearing before the public is allowed to leave the show grounds until he is shaved. This also suggests another rule strictly enforced by the Ringling Brothers’ which absolutely forbids the use of whips by any of their drivers.

It costs $8,000 a day to run the circus and it represents and investment of nearly $4,000,00. The show maintains winter quarters and shops at Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Stoke-on-Trent, England. The firm is now planning an expedition of its own to trap animals in the jungles of India and the wilds of the Egyptian Soudan. In every part of the world its agents are on the alert to secure novelties.

Starting as mere boys with a borrowed tent in which they were given a few juvenile attempts at entertainment, these five brothers have seen their dreams realized and have become master showmen of the world.

The afternoon performance began at 2 o’clock and the big tent was crowded. Opening the bill came the spectacle, “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” Nothing so richly costumed or so effectively presented has ever been given here before. The opening pageant, the ballet of dancing girls and the dramatic action were veritable surprises. The spectacle was followed by surprises. The spectacle was followed by the circus performance in which 400 men and women appeared. More novelties that ever before are presented, the Ringlings having brought from Europe the majority of their people.

The final performance will take place Tuesday night at 8 o’clock. The doors open an hour earlier, allowing time to visit the extensive menagerie and also enjoy the operatic concert rendered by the military band of 80 pieces.”

To be continued…

Part 486: Ringling Brothers’ “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba”

I now understand why people ran away to join the circus during the early twentieth century. If I were born a century ago, the circus would have been too tempting to resist as it passed through my hometown; it offered escape from a mundane existence. In 1914, the “Indianapolis Star” reported, “Nero has watched his Rome burn to a cinder beneath a circus tent. Pompeii has fallen to ruins in the scattered sawdust of the ring and Cleopatara has taken her last look at Egypt before the clown’s entry. And now the wise King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba have been made the hero and heroine of the circus spectacle, surrounded with all the gorgeous pageantry and lavish costumes a showman can devise” (4 May 1914, page 3).

That same year, Thomas G. Moses was still designing scenery for the Ringling Brothers’ Grand Spectacular productions, also advertised as “great wordless plays” (The Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 16 May 1914, page 9). Moses designed and led the scenery production at the Sosman & Landis studios. The completed settings were then delivered to Baraboo, Wisconsin, as the production was prepared at the circus’ winter quarters.

In 1914, Moses wrote, “Jan. 6^th, went to Baraboo, Wisconsin, to see the Ringling’s for the new spectacle, “King Solomon.” Another big show. Made a model for one scene and got $2,900.00.” Of the final production, Moses observed, “Ringlings’ work came out very good. Everyone was pleased and that is saying a good deal.” Moses was referring to the 1914 Ringling production “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba” that toured throughout the United States.

Of the circus with Moses’ scenery, the “Star Gazette” reported:

“Nearly half of the entire train section is used to transport the scenery and costumes used in the massive spectacle, “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” The spectacle includes a cast of more than 1,250 characters and a ballet of 300 dancing girls under the personal direction of Ottokar Bartik, balletmaster of the Metorpolitan Opera House, New York, and late of La Scala, Milan. The music for this spectacle has been written by Faltis Effendi, formerly bandmaster of Khedive of Egypt, and is rendered by an orchestra of 90 musicians, 400 trained singers and a chorus of 1,000 voices accompanied by a cathedral pipe organ, costing $100,000. The Ringling Brothers’ have expended $1,000,000 in the production of this mammoth spectacle which faithfully and accurately portrays the pomp and ceremony, life and wisdom of a period a thousand years before Christ, and introduces Solomon in all his glory and Balkis, Queen of Sheba, the most interesting woman of her day” (Elmira, NY, 21 May 1914, page 3). The US Inflation Calculator measures the buying power of $1,000,000 in 1914 to be the equivalent of $25,200,600.00 in 2018. Fifty men were needed to handle scenery and special effects (Dayton Daily News, 26 April 1914, page 31).

When the circus arrived in Elmira, New York, the “Star Gazette” included a large article about the early morning arrival and events, advertising:

“The big circus is almost here. Tomorrow morning in the small hours just before dawn, four long red and yellow trains, made up of 86 cars will roll quietly into Elmira coming from Binghamton, over Lackawanna railroad. They will be unloaded immediately and within a few hours the big aggregations of world wonders which comprises Ringling Brothers’ ‘world’s greatest shows’ will be safely sheltered under twenty acres of white canvas on the show grounds.”

The circus included an elaborate parade that traversed the principal streets of each town on the morning of their arrival. The “Star Gazette” announced, “The cavalcade which, it is promised, will be the longest and most gorgeous display ever seen in the streets of this city, will start from the show grounds promptly at 10 o’clock. It will be more than three miles in length and will include all the performers and animals, in addition to the long procession of handsome tableau wagons and allegorical cars, filled with pretty dancing girls in gay costumes. Six bands and two calliopes will furnish the music for the cavalcade and the fifty famous Ringling clowns will be on hand to keep the sidewalk spectators in good humor. A striking feature of the procession will be the long line of elephants, forty in all, and a team of sixteen camels, broken to bit and harness driven the same as horses. These beasts draw a huge parade wagon and this is the first instance on record where the ‘ship of the desert’ has ever been successfully broken to harness and bit.”

The “twenty-four hour man” arrived a day ahead of the circus to set up the infrastructure needed to feed an enormous amount of people and animals. Other circus staff that arrived a day early included “a number of stage and electrical experts who precede the show to make arrangements for the staging and lighting of the big spectacle “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” It is important to remember that the King Solomon spectacle was just one of the principal features for the Ringling Brothers’ program that season; it was not the whole show. This makes theatrical touring shows, such as “Ben-Hur,” seem like child’s play when compared with the logistics of a touring circus with thousands of moving parts.

The first train to arrive was the commissary department and the first tent to be pitched on the show grounds was the “cook house.” The second and third trains pulled the heavy red wagons, loaded with canvases, properties, the elephants, the 730 horses and the other animals. On the last train, composed entirely of sleeping cars, arrived all of the performers and ancillary staff members for the show.

“King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba” was presented in a series of dramatic pantomimic pictures staged with “all the lavish splendor and opulence that marked the period when the wise Solomon ruled the Kingdom of Israel, the action of the spectacle is laid in Jerusalem, at the time of the historical visit of Balkis, Queen of Sheba.” The Star Gazette continued, “The spectacle is presented on an enormous, specially constructed stage, which occupies nearly one entire side of the main tent. The tent measures 560 by 320 feet and seats 14,000 people at a performance.” Remember that two shows were given daily; one at 2pm and one at 8PM, and the doors opened an hour before show time, allowing spectators to visit the 108 cages in the Ringling zoo and purchase candy and souvenirs!

The Star Gazette concluded, “Despite the enormous cost of the spectacle, no expense has been spared to make the arena program the most thrilling and novel entertainment that has ever been presented. In the three big rings and two stages more than 400 performers will appear in a series of new and sensational, riding acrobatic and aerial acts, nearly all of which have never before been witnessed in America. Such famous foreign performers as Charles Augustus Clark, England’s foremost bareback rider; the Mirano brothers, wonderful perch artists; the Balkani troupe of the Far East equestrians; the famous four Lloyds, daring Indian riders; Mijares, the Mexican wire wizard, and the world famous Clarkonians, who turn triple somersaults in mid-air and are a few of the host of performers who will furnish the spectators with an abundance of thrills.”

The Queen of Sheba was played by Mme. Bartik, a Russian actress and a pupil of M. Pierre Devereau, the French teacher of pantomimic art.

Who wouldn’t get caught up in this excitement and plan their escape from the doldrums of everyday life? But this was just the 1914 show. Another would be planned for 1915. By the end of 1914 Moses wrote, “Took a trip to Rockford to see Ringling’s about more work for the next season.”

To be continued…

Part 485: The Ringling Brothers’ Winter Quarters and Thomas G. Moses

From 1905 until Al Ringling’s passing in in 1916, Thomas G. Moses completed several designs for circus spectacles. The first mention of work for one of Al Ringling’s spectacles was in 1905. Fast forward to 1912 when Moses mentions another visit to Baraboo, Wisconsin, during the Ringling Brothers’ off-season. Moses wrote, “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 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.”

Both equipment and animals were cared from November until April of each year during the off-season; Baraboo became home to the exotic and their caretakers. In 1913, 117 Ringling Brothers’ Circus employees worked in Baraboo during the winter months. The staff included the following positions: Caring for work horses (23), caring for show horses (7), caring for menagerie animals (8), elephant caretakers (10), blacksmiths (5), railcar repair (16), paint shop (16), harness shop )3), wagon and repair shop (9), wardrobe (5), hotel (12), watchmen (2), and office (1). As the circus employed approximately 1200 people during the season, where did the remainder of employees winter? Some acts sought contracts in warmer climates, returning to Wisconsin in April for the new tour. Some workmen found work in nearby lumber camps and spent the winter in less than ideal conditions. A few took the winter months as an opportunity for rest and relaxation

It was at the winter quarters that the Ringling brothers planned for their upcoming season. Shows were chosen, costumes assembled and scenery designed for elaborate spectacles. Winter was not hibernation, it was a time for preparation, training and hard labor. As there was no constant moving from town to town, time was available to plan and rehearse the animals for another season. A team of writers wrote news stories for upcoming shoes that would tour the country. Circus wagons were repaired and repainted. Animals were exercised both indoors and outdoors. Everyone had a specific project to accomplish all year long.

In “Tents, Tigers, and the Ringling Brothers,” the author comments that the Ringling family functioned as a well-oiled machine. Apps wrote, “Different from some families, the 7 Ringling brothers got along very well with each other. They knew that if their circus was to succeed, they must not squabble” (page 55-56).

Baraboo remained the winter quarters for the Ringling Brothers’ circus from 1886 to 1918. At that time the circus moved to a new location in Connecticut; it had been the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows since 1907 and began to recoup at the old Barnum & Bailey winter quarters.

It was not until 1954 that John M. Kelly, a personal attorney for the Ringlings, incorporated the Circus World Museum as a historical and educational facility. He had worked for the Ringlings for more than three decades. The Circus Museum opened to the public July 1, 1959. The website reports that “The museum’s collection of circus artifacts is perhaps the largest in the world. It includes over 210 original wagons and vehicles once used by American, English and Irish circuses. It houses an exceptional collection of circus ads and posters. Over 9,500 multi-colored circus posters range in size from half-sheets to an 80-sheet Buffalo Bill Wild West poster which measures 9’ high and 70’ long. Thousands of journals, manuscripts and business records are available as well as original fine art oil paintings, hand bills, heralds, programs, artifacts of circus performers and a collection of rare photographs and negatives.” I have yet to spend a significant amount of time in their archives. Here is the link to their website: http://www.circusworldbaraboo.org/

In spring of 1912, Moses caught up with the circus in his hometown of Sterling, Illinois, as he needed to collect the final payment for the season’s production. He attended the show and wrote, “Went to Sterling to catch Ringling to collect $1,200.00. As went to the tent to find Al Ringling, I discovered everyone watching a fire – a stable at least four blocks away. A spark was blown towards the tent, the top of which is prepared with parafine to make it water-proof. It soon ignited from the sparks and in less than thirty minutes the big tent was destroyed. The rest of the tents were saved. It was mighty fortunate there were no people in the tent. Some of the animals in another tent started some noise when the smelled the smoke, but they were soon quieted. I sneaked away without making myself known. There was no money for me, that I guessed.”

Moses eventually collected the payment during 1912, and by the end of the year wrote, “Another trip to Baraboo to see the Ringling’s about next year’s show, which I secured.” They were contracted to provide the scenery for another production in 1913. Al Ringling liked the work produced at Sosman & Landis studio and its last president Thomas G. Moses.

To be continued…

Part 484: Thomas G. Moses’ and the Al Ringling Theatre

In 1883, the Ringlings called their show “Ringling Brothers Grand Carnival of Fun.” Five of the seven brothers were business partners by this point – Albert (1852–1916), Otto (1858–1911), Alfred T. (1862–1919), Charles (1863–1926), and John (1866–1936). Their two other brothers Augstus “Gus” (1854–1907) and Henry (1869–1918), later joined and worked as employees.

It was the combined efforts of the brothers that helped secure enough income to purchase their first circus tent. The first Ringling tent measured 45’ wide by 90’ long, with a seating capacity for almost 600 spectators. Later tents would measure 440 feet long by 190 feet wide, seating more than 12,000 people. The largest tents took 30 employees with horses and elephants to raise the center pole. Their show included acrobatic acts mixed with comedy acts and musical selections. The Ringling brothers played instruments in the band, performed in the show, and led several of the acrobatic acts.

The death of their mentor Yankee Robinson became a turning point in the trajectory of the Ringling Brother’s circus, they all needed to assume the supervisory role of practical tasks that Robinson had led in the beginning. At first, the circus traveled from town to town by wagon, but as the size increased they traveled by rail. Over time their circuses continued to increase in size and scope. They hired new acrobatic acts, clowns, dancers and animal trainers.

Al was the ringmaster and in charge of circus operations and hiring; this is why he was the one who met with Thomas G. Moses about the scenery. Otto was the treasurer and referred to as the “King,” since he controlled the finances. Alf T. was in charge of marketing and working with newspapers for advertising. He wrote “Life Story of the Ringling Brothers” in 1900. Charles was in charge of dozens of men who put up advertising, such as billboards, posters, and other signage. He was the most musically inclined of all the brothers and worked behind the scenes, becoming a favorite with many of the performers. John planned the logistics of the tours, establishing the route that the circus would travel each year. He worked with the railroads and hired the locomotives that would pull the Ringling railway cars. Gus supervised Advertising Railcar No. 1 and the twenty-seven men who were responsible for pasting up circus advertisements. Henry was the superintendent at the main entrance of the big top, supervising the ticket takers.

By 1890, the circus required 18 railcars. The troupe’s touring menagerie was quite large, including 107 horses and ponies, 3 elephants, 3 camels, 3 lions, monkeys, a kangaroo, a water buffalo, an emu, a zebu, a zebra, a hyena, an elk, an anteater, a hippopotamus, snakes, and a variety of birds. When they stopped at a town to set up, their location was referred to as Ringlingville. Their traveling city included a barbershop, general store, dining hall, post office, and blacksmith shop.

Twenty-five years later, the Ringling Brothers circus traveled on 85 railcars that moved in 4 sections, with each section being pulled by a steam locomotive. In 1915, the circus included 17 tents that covered 14 acres of land. The tents included the big top for a main performance, an animal menagerie, the side show, three horse tents, the pony tent, three dining tents, a cook tent, two dressing tents, a ballet tent, and wardrobe tent and others for candy and souvenir stands.

Weeks before the circus would arrive in any town, advance men were sent ahead to secure the necessary supplies during their stay. Moses did the same thing as carpenters were sent ahead to prepare the areas where he would be working and transport all the necessary supplies and tools.
The first Ringling train to arrive in any town was the “Flying Squadron” who was met by the 24-hour man. The Fling Squadron carried the kitchen and dining tents, chef, cooks, equipment and helpers. This included some 20 circus cars that were set on a side track for unloading. The Ringling circus employees drank 185 quarts of coffee and 65 quarts of tea daily.

Thomas G. Moses worked directly for Al Ringling, the eldest of the brothers who was in charge of hiring. Al was in also in charge of supervising the circus performers, as well as contracting scenery and other specialty items for the shows. For many years, Al was the ringmaster, announcing the acts twice daily. Al’s home basd remained in Baraboo, where he would later finance the building of the Al Ringling Theatre, another project that Moses would work on.

In 1915, Moses wrote, “The new theatre we did at Baraboo for Al Ringling was a good contract at $2,600.00. I went up to open and found a beautiful theatre, very unique in design, fifty years ahead of the town. Poor Al Ringling died soon after this.” The Janesville Gazette reported, “Sosman & Landis company of Chicago did the scenic painting in this new theatre” (20 Nov. 1915, page 20). On April 7 of that same year, Joseph S. Sosman passed away at the age of 70, leaving a widow and two sons (Arthur and Fred). Thomas Moses became the president of Sosman & Landis, with Arthur Sosman as vice-president. The Ringling Theatre was one of Moses’ flagship projects as the new studio president.

The Al Ringling Theatre opened its doors in November 1915 and has been operating continuously ever since. Al Ringling hired the architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp to design a theater based on the Orpheum Theatre built in Champaign, Illinois in 1914. The Janesville Daily Gazette reported, “Theatrical men, scenic painters, canvas makers and many prominent citizens from Chicago and other towns, all of whom were bound for Baraboo to do honor to a man who had the courage to build in that city one of the finest, if not the finest, playhouse in America, Mr. Al Ringling. (20 Nov. 1915, page 20). There were 844 seats, with seventeen boxes, each containing six seats. The stage was 33’-6” deep, 60’ wide and 46’ high. The massive fire curtain of asbestos measured 24’ high by 40’ wide, weighing 750 pounds.

When asked about the approximate cost of the enterprise, Al Ringling refused to give a price. Instead, he responded, “My object from start to finish was to give the people as fine a playhouse for the size of it as there was anywhere, and the architects and finishers and many theatrical men have said that I have accomplished my undertaking. And if it is, then I am satisfied, for I have had much pleasure in all the years that I have been in the business, and although at times it seemed hard, it was a pleasure for me to make the money, and now if I have done something with a part of it that will bring pleasure to my friends and neighbors, I have accomplished something.”

To be continued…

Part 483: The Ringling Brothers

Creating scenery for circus spectacles was just some of the many projects that kept Thomas G. Moses busy at Sosman & Landis. In yesterday’s post, I examined the 1905 Ringling Brothers’ spectacle, “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” by Sosman and Landis. Moses created the designs for Ringling Brothers’ production about King Henry VIII of England. Their grand circus spectaculars were also known as a “specs.”

I grew up in the Midwest, and was well aware of both the Ringling Brothers’ Circus and their summer home in Baraboo, Wisconsin. We even ventured to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to see the great circus parade with other circus enthusiasts. The Milwaukee Circus Parade was an event where dozens of ornate circus wagons were paraded through the streets, including one massive wagon pulled by a forty-horse hitch team. It was easy to understand the excitement of those witnessing the arrival of the circus during the early twentieth century.

I also encountered the history of the Ringling Brothers circus while evaluating the Scottish Rite scenery collection in Madison, Wisconsin. On my first day off, I visited the Wisconsin historical society and discovered a book about the Ringling Brothers -“Tents, Tigers and the Ringling Brothers” (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2007). It written by Jerry Apps and contained obscure tidbits of information concerning the logistics of the massive touring show. Apps provided a conversational record about this famous circus family and their early adventures; I was intrigued with the family. The Ringling brothers were just a few of the many famous personalities who Moses worked with during the early twentieth century.

So let’s travel back to 1869 when Thomas G. Moses was thirteen years old and living in Sterling, Illinois. That same year there were seven future circus stars living in McGregor, Iowa. Their father was August Frederick Rüngeling who owned a harness shop. The oldest son was Al Ringling (16), followed by Gus (15), Otto (11), Alf (6), Charles (4), John (3) and Henry (almost 1 year old). The two eldest sons helped their father in his harness-making shop. As soon as each child reached the age of ten, they began helping out in the shop and entered the family business. At the same time, Moses was also working for his father’s business – a tannery.

As many Midwestern children, the Ringling brothers first encountered circuses transported by riverboats. Circuses followed rivers, stopping by towns on major waterways. It was a riverboat circus that inspired the Ringling boys to set up their first circus. The event was to be a circus performed by children for other child. The initial price of admission being 10 straight pins, and was later increased to a penny. Their children’s circus shows took place in an old neighborhood barn where the brothers created a series of exhibits. One was a caged bullfrog with the sign, “From Timbuctoo. Captured at great risk from the depths of a far-away swamp from which no other frog collector ever emerged alive.”

In the early years, Al Ringling explored his acrobatic abilities. By the age of 20 he was a tightrope walker. When he was not working in the wagon and blacksmith shop in Brodhead, Wisconsin, he would string a rope between two buildings and perform his act for local passersby. Juggling was also added into this early routine. By 1879, Al gained additional circus experience when he went to work at Parson and Roy’s Great Palace Show. His brother John also began working with a circus at this time.

It was Al who came up with the idea of starting a performance troupe, and during the fall of 1882 proposed the idea of a hall show. The plan was to perform their variety acts in performance halls until they had raised enough money to purchase a circus tent. By this time Charles Ringling had become a skilled violinist and Alf played several other instruments that included the trumpet and tuba.

The Ringling’s first show was in Mazomanie, Wisconsin, about 25 miles away from Madison. There, Edward Kimball and three other actors from Baraboo joined the endeavor to form “the Ringling Brothers Classic and Comic Concert Company.” The price of admission was fifty cents for adults and twenty-five cents for children. Their first show opened on November 27, 1882. Unfortunately, it resulted in a loss of $12.90 – today’s equivalent of almost $320.00. However, they continued to perform their acts across Wisconsin, putting on a show every night. Their standard hall performance included an introductory opening followed by a coronet solo, short play, violin duet, vocal duet, and a longer play. One of the troupe’s longer performances was titled “A Cold Bath, or as Failure a Great Success.”

From 1882-1883, the Ringling Brothers put on 107 shows that winter. They performed six days a week, with each show opening in a different town. Al Ringling had previously worked for the “Yankee Robinson Circus,” and managed to convince the owner to help them start a circus; Robinson was 66 years old and became one of the featured acts.

At this same time, Moses was also branching out on his own. He had traveled extensively with Joseph S. Sosman from 1881 to 1882, with the firm provided scenery for seventy-four theaters all across the country. It was in 1882 that Moses would leave Sosman & Landis to partner with Lem Graham and form their own scene painting studio. Graham later founded the Kansas City Scenic Co.

For the Ringlings, Brother Otto would soon join the team and now the five Ringling Brothers would form the Ringling Brothers circus during 1883-1884. Al, Alf, Charles, John and Otto combined their efforts to secure enough income to purchase their first tent. That same year, Moses would board with the widow of Dan Castello, the famous circus clown, in Racine, Wisconsin, while he was working in the area.

To be continued…

 Part 482: Ringling Bros. “The Field of the Cloth of Gold”

In 1905, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Went to Baraboo to see Ringling Bros. Hunt went with me. I don’t know why, as I had to do all the talking and make the sketching for ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold.’ We got the contract for $3,500.00.” David Hunt was in charge of New York Studios, the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis.

Advertisements for the new circus promised” The Regal Beauty, Brilliancy, and Splendor of an Event told in Song, Legend and History, and now made into an Eye-Story of Magnificence such as the World has never seen before.”

Each year, the Ringling Brothers presented some new feature as the traveled from coast to coats; in 1905 it was “The Field of the Cloth of Gold.” The show bill advertised, “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).

This was during an era occasionally referred to as the golden age of the Grand Circus Spectacular, or “spec.” Circus performances were opened with visual spectacles involving hundreds of participants. From 1903-1905, these lavish displays included medieval topics such as “Jerusalem and the Crusades” and “Joan of Arc.” We are familiar with a procession as the circus opens, complete with elegantly costumed performers and animals that assemble in the ring prior to the first series of acts. The early twentieth century specs involved a short dramatization that was added to the parade of animals and performers. This short play was of epic proportions, especially when produced by the largest circuses such as The Ringling Brothers.

Ringling Brothers’ 1905 production for “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” promised, “twelve hundred characters and a stage larger than those of 100 theaters combined” (The Rock Island Argus, 10 April 1905, page 5). Posters advertised, “a whole train-load of Armor, Ancient Weapons, Paraphernalia, Banners, Golden Hangings, Scenery, and Accessories. “The show toured with 1200 characters, 200 chorists, 300 dancing girls and a band of 50 soloists. The “Rock Island Argus” reported, “it is said to be the most successful historical play ever put before the people in this manner” (The Rock Island Argus, 10 April 1905, page 5).

The Coffeyville Daily Journal reported, “The Story of the ‘The Cloth of Gold,’ with which the performance is opened, is one of the most gorgeous spectacles ever presented by a circus. The story of ‘The Cloth of Gold’ is reproduced by a company of about twelve-hundred people and the costumes and scenic effects are a faithful copy of the luxury of the mediaeval courts” (The Coffeyville Daily Journal, 28 Sept. 1905, page 1).

“The Washington Post” commented that the Ringling Brothers introduced stage scenery and lighting effects for the first time in “The Field of the Cloth of Gold.” The article noted that the huge spectacle was a reproduction of this famous episode in the life of King Henry VIII of England. Here is “The Washington Post” provides a sense of scope for the project that Moses was working on: “The spectacle is revealed in its fascinating features, upon a stage larger than the ground space occupied by a score of the largest theaters in the country. Twelve hundred people are employed, and the costumes worn are made from correct historic designs, and the materials used are the costliest velvets, silks, satins, and gold and silver cloth of mail…In the pageantry functions of the scene, five hundred aristocratic, symmetrical horses are brought into the exhibition. The head stalls, bridles, saddles, and other trappings are beautifully decorated. The retinue of kings, their high officials, the dignitaries of the church, soldiery, nobility and gentry, pensioners, peasants, &c. are dressed with a lavish disregard of expense and in exact copy of the originals on the dazzling field, where the two youthful kings had their ceremonial interview. All the contests of the tournament that gave zest to the meeting are reproduced in the spectacle of the Ringling Brothers’ circus, if anything with more stimulating excitement.”

The article continued, “After the tournament, we are told, revelry reigned supreme. In the Ringling production the immense banquet hall is a faithful copy of the golden room. The climax of exhilarating gayety is the huge ballet divertissement. This original dancing conceit brings into view three hundred girls – lithe, graceful, and young – led by a galaxy of premiers of European celebrity, who make their first appearance in this country with Ringling Brothers. The music of the spectacle was written for it, and is rendered by a band of fifty soloists. The scene in its ensemble is one that holds the sense spellbound and forges another link in the chain that draws the crowds to the place of Ringling Brothers’ circus exhibitions” (The Washington Post, 5 May 1905, page 8).

To be continued…

Part 481: Meet Me at the Fair

“Meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
Meet me at the fair,
Don’t tell me the lights are shining
Any place but there,
We will dance the Hoochee Koochee,
I will be your tootsie wootsie,
If you will meet in St. Louis, Louis,
Meet me at the fair.”

In 1904, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “In the fall, Ella and I went to the St. Louis’ World’s Fair, and enjoyed it immensely. We went direct to the grounds and registered at the ‘Inside Inn.’

“I knew the manager very well, and we felt we would be well taken care of.” The manager was Colonel E. M. Statler. Statler had built and operated Statler’s Pan-American hotel at the Buffalo Exposition. Moses would have known him there as he had worked on Thompson’s “Trip to the Moon.”

For the World Fair in St. Louis, Statler conceived of the idea to construct a grand hotel inside the fairgrounds. In fact, the Inside Inn was the only hotel located on the 1904 World’s fairgrounds. Partially shaded by large oak trees, the ten acres occupied by Inside Inn were situated in the southeast corner and offered premium views of the Plateau of States.

The Inn accommodated 5,000 guests with 2257 rooms. Moses wrote, “Our room number was 6325. Of course there were not that many rooms.” Serviced by a staff of 2,000, there were two restaurants, a drug store, a lounge, haberdashery, shoeshine parlor, newsstand and a barbershop. The Inside Inn was intended as a temporary building, constructed of yellow pine, stucco and fire-proof burlap. Of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition structure, Moses wrote, “It was an awful firetrap and awfully poor furniture, but they had a good chef and he made up for many other defects.”

The price to stay at the Inside Inn ran from $1.50 to $7.00 dollars, some plans offered two meals per day in addition to accommodations. One of the slogans was “A room and bath for a buck and a half.” There was also a buffet that could seat 2,500 patrons. It was reported that at the close of the fair, Statler’s receipts totaled $1,480,743.13. That is not bad, considering the initial investment was 300,000 dollars. In the end, Statler sold the Inside Inn building for $30,000 dollars scrap.

Commenting about the fair, Moses wrote, “We covered a lot of ground in the four days we had to spend there, which was hardly enough. The Art Gallery was very good and I saw many of my old favorites in the English and American schools. Some of the sideshows were also good. The Fair covered so much ground that it was tiresome going from one show to the other.”

To be continued…

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: CITT, August 18, 2018

We started the day fairly early. Rick Boychuk and I walked to the conference center to see Peter McKinnon’s session about the creation of plays being inspired by theatre architecture. After a lively discussion, we took a quick trip over to Niagara Falls. I had never visited this famed site. There is nothing quite like looking at a composition that I have sketched from photographs! The experience exceeded all of my expectations.