Bandwagon, March 1955

Bandwagon, March 17, 1955. Note: Only some articles are included in this online edition. Illustrations are not included. The Circus Historical Society does not guarantee the accuracy of information contained in the information in these online articles. Information should always be checked with additional sources.

Circus Chronology, 1954

JANUARY

RINGLING-BARNUM played its annual run in Havana.

CRISTIANI FAMILY made plans to operate a show of its own as the partnership between Lucio Cristiani and Floyd King ended.

BOB STEVENS joined Lucio Cristiani in the new Bailey Bros. & Cristiani Circus ball park show. Ben Davenport also was confering with the Cristianis about a possible second new show.

CLYDE BEATTY and his show completed film work on "Ring of Fear."

EDWARD J. KNOBLAUGH, former INS foreign correspondent, joined Ringling-Barnum, working with Roland J. Butler in the press department. Trade reports were that Knoblaugh would succeed Butler as chief of the press department.

RINGLING announced it would play 40 days in New York, starting March 31, giving it one of its earliest starts and one of its longest Madison Square Garden runs.

RUDY BUNDY was named front door superintendent of Ringling. J. C. Griffin was succeeded as auditor by F. J. McKenna. Grace Killian resigned. Hugo Schmitt was hired to work elephants.

BAILEY-CRISTIANI opened in Texas.

JACK MILLS toured Europe in search of new acts for the April opening of Mills Bros. Circus.

D. R. MILLER announced plans to open a new enterprise, Miller Bros.’ Rodeo, and to join with Jack Moore in enlarging the Tex Carson Circus.

BEN DAVENPORT was at Mayo's Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and his elephant and lion acts opened in Venezuela with Circa Razzore.

FEBRUARY

KING BROS. bought four of Cole Bros.' elephants and a ten-horse Liberty act.

LOYAL-REPENSKY Circus was taking shape, with the bareback riding family set to launch a European-style show on their own. Dub Duggan was to be manager.

A. J. ODY, owner of Adyson Circus, one of few Canadian shows in history, was visiting U. S. winter quarters.

CLYDE BEATTY denied that he and Art Concello had discussed a new partnership.

BEV KELLY was named radio-TV publicity chief for Ringling.

BEATTY CIRCUS moved back to Phoenix to make the film "Three-Ring Circus."

KELLY-MILLER plans to eliminate their cookhouse and pie car to combine them into a single dining unit of a more efficient type.

TOTO II, Ringling gorilla, was recuperating after a highly publicized operation on its brain.

STROBRIDGE Lithograph Company, Cincinnati, took its first circus account in years when it contracted to print three new styles of paper for Ringling.

WALLACE & CLARK Circus owner, Norman Anderson, decided against touring in 1954.

LOYAL-REPENSKY Circus opened at Carasota in cold weather.

GAINESVILLE Community Circus began promotion for its 25th season.

GONZALES, Tex., quarters of Ben Davenport were being used for assembling the Bailey-Cristiani Circus.

TOM PACKS hired Archie Gayer with the purpose of doubling the 1955 route of the Tom Packs Circus.

BILL OLIVER was named manager of the new Mills Bros. advance car.

COLE & WALTERS changed its title to George W. Cole Circus.

KING BROS., owned by Floyd King and Arnold Maley, bought the Christianis' share in the 1953 King-Cristiani show and they also were dickering for purchase of all of Cole Bros. equipment and animals.

RINGLING billposters, a stronger crew than any since 1947, began work in New York, where the advertising car was used as such for the first time.

MARCH

HAMID-MORTON found business off five per cent at early stands.

ROY FELTUS, 77, veteran of Shipp & Feltus, Gentry and other shows, died at Bloomington, Ind.

RINGLING'S RETURN to use of a separate tent for a full-sized menageries was predicted for 1955.

CHICAGO STADIUM revealed it expected to omit its spring circus.

APPOINTMENT of Ed Knoblaugh to the position of press chief on Ringling-Barnum became official. Roland Butler remained as director of newspaper and magazine advertising.

ALBERT LINDEMANN, one of the former owners of Sells-Sterling Circus at Sheboygan, Wis.

JOHN G. ROBINSON, of the John Robinson Circus family, died in Cincinnati. He was 60.

ALASKAN DATES were in the works for Bailey-Cristiani, it was announced.

POLACK'S ELEPHANT act, a new one broken by Mac McDonald, made its debut and featured a one-foot stand by a baby elephant.

EDDIE TREES, animal trainer, died in Japan, where he was appearing with his wife, Mabel Stark, in a Japanese circus.

BRYAN WOODS closed his dog and pony show after 30 years, saying costs and transport problems forced him out of the business.

RINGLING confirmed reports it would add ten cars to its train for 1955.

EMMETT KELLY backed away from a role in “Three-Ring Circus" as John Ringling North repeated a ban against his contract performers appearing elsewhere during the winter.

MILLS BROS, booked ballet girls and clowns in England.

ART CONCELLO conferred with Clyde Beatty in Arizona but no deal followed. Concello reportedly wanted to buy into the Beatty show.

KELLY-MILLER'S giraffe died.

APRIL

CLYDE BEATTY Circus opened in Tucson, Ariz., and moved into its usual Southern California route for good business. A street parade was given in most stands.

"CLOWN," BOOK by Emmett Kelly and F. Beverly Kelly, was published.

MRS. HAROY, whale, went on exhibition in New York but business was bad.

KING-CRISTIANI Circus of 1953 officially split, when the Cristiani section departed from the King Bros.' quarters in Macon, Ga., with a dawn parade complete with calliope music.

POLACK BROS. and Beatty circuses played opposition dates in Los Angeles.

HERTZBERG COLLECTION, of the San Antonio Public Library, and The Billboard, published “Who's Who in the Circus," a compilation of 3,000 names.

FOUR SHOWS in which D. R. Miller associated opened out of Hugo, Okla.

RINGLING-BARNUM opened March 31 and was playing its longest New York run of recent years, 40 days, to big business.

"SUPER CIRCUS" began use of film to show big acts for which it does not have stage room.

JOHN JOANIDES, wire-walking juggler, was injured in a parade accident on the Clyde Beatty Circus.

CHRISTIANI REVEALED plans for making two stands in Alaska, where no circus had appeared before.

MILLS BROS. reactivated billing crew included Bill and Jackie Wilcox.

EDGAR BUCKS Circus began its season to light business.

KING BROS. opened with three shows in Macon, Ga.

RINGLING welcomed Circus Fans to the show with a special invitation printed on route cards.

GIL GRAY featured Horwath's cats and the Flying Malkos.

RING BROS., owned by Franco Richards, opened.

SPRING STORM IN Texas ripped up the Bucks Circus tents.

CONEY ISLAND prepared to host the stuffed whale exhibit which had not been doing well in a Broadway location.

MOUNTING CROWDS made Ringling's gross soar in New York.

MILLS BROS. opened its 15th season, this one at Greenville, O.

TERRELL JACOBS' animal acts were featured as Kelly-Miller Circus got going for the season.

HOWARD SUESZ revealed his Clyde Bros. would play a number of Canadian dates during the summer, while his Hagen Bros. toured in the Mid-West.

BEATTY AND POLACK shows reported increased Los Angeles business altho they played dates close to each other.

MAY

HUNT BROS. opens its 62d annual tour in Maryland.

RING BROS. was doing okay in Tennessee.

EIGHT BABY elephants were imported by Louis Goebel, dealer.

GIL GRAY'S business in Lincoln,, Neb., was off.

HENRY TREFFLICH, animal dealer, authored a new book about his business.

RINGLING-BARNUM topped $2,000,000 to set a new record net for its New York run.

HOT WEATHER hurt business for the Beatty show in California.

ORRIN DAVENPORT Circus was doing okay business but having trouble with North Dakota weather.

KING BROS. played to straw houses in Indiana storms.

MISS AMERICA for 1954, Miss Evelyn Ay, was guest at Hunt Bros.

BOSTON CROWDS gave Ringling a $300,000 gross, compared with $250,000 in other years.

WILLIAM CONANT was Ringling's director of finance, a new post created to improve business efficiency of the show.

SI RUBENS closed his Bill Bailey Minstrel Show.

RINGLING planned to use a completely new staff of ushers this year, with high school diplomas as a requirement.

BIOGRAPHY of Charles T. Hunt was published, telling his 62-year show experience.

RINGLING AGENT, F. A. Boudinot, was routing the show into fresh territory by playing smaller towns and those the show has passed up for years.

KING BROS. lost its big top for three days when a truck driver abandoned the tent vehicle off the route. Another one was borrowed but the original was located before the spare was used.

KELLY-MILLER was battered by dust and wind storms in Kansas, with the top going down in Stockton.

DIANO ANIMAL show left Canton, O., to join World of Mirth.

MILLS BROS. scored big business in Chicago suburbs.

JUNE

STRAW HOUSES dotted Ringling's route, for its best under-canvas spring in years.

GEORGE KING was injured when a Gil Gray elephant fell gainst him during a baggage car move.

GARDEN BROS. found going rough in Eastern Canada. Aerialist Don Dorsey was injured while working with the show.

HAGEN BROS. layed off at Jefferson, Wis., for several days and then resumed its tour.

HUNT BROS. put an experimental seat wagon into service.

BUCKS CIRCUS lost another top in a storm.

KELLY-MORRIS ran up against many obstacles in New England, which forced the show to abandon some stands.

RINGLING LOST two shows at Mineola, N.Y., because the change in tides prevented landing of ferry boats at the scheduled hour.

BAILEY-CRISTIANI was in Casper, Wyo., making final plans for the historic jump to Alaska.

KING BROS. rolled smoothly, with Floyd King and Arnold Maley as co-owners. lt faced some wait paper in New York State.

ROLAND BUTLER left Ringling, where he had been director of publicity until this year. Edward Knoblaugh continued in that post.

TOM PACKS show started well, with Southern Illinois clicking.

EVA DAVENPORT said Ben Davenport and Pete Cristiani planned a new show for 1955.

"RING OF FEAR" movie starring Clyde Beatty, opened in Phoenix.

2 RINGLING HORSES were hurt when a stock car derailed.

HUNT BROS. added an elephant, giving the show seven. Beatty added one this season also, bringing his total to nine.

JULY

BEATTY BUSINESS was spotty in the Northwest as the show prepared to enter Canada for a month.

RINGLING LOST Syracuse, N. Y., to weather. Other stands in the State were good.

KING PLAYED to turnaways at Norwalk, Conn.

KELLY-MILLER succeeded in obtaining a lot in Rapid City, S. D., despite concerted efforts by the local Shrine Circus committee to keep the show out. Business was big.

BEN DAVENPORT planned to take a big snake to Alaska with Bailey-Cristiani Circus.

PORTLAND PACKED the Beatty top for three days. The show abandoned its street parade upon entering Canada.

BUSINESS GENERALLY was spotty or fair for circuses at mid-season.

CFA elected Dick Wareing, of North Sacramento, Calif., as president. The association convention was on Hagen Bros. in Jackson, Mich.

FRED STAFFORD, Mills Bros. press director and right-hand-man, died after an extended illness.

FIRE PAYMENTS by Ringling are completed as it pays $10,000 in fees to the attorney who saved as temporary receiver.

BONNIE DONTA was injured in a fall from her perch pole while on Hunt Bros. Circus.

ELEPHANTS of King Bros. and Cole were being used in several Hollywood films from time to time during the summer, and all of them were with King Bros. between extra engagements.

AKRON OFFICIALS denied a permit to Ringling in a move at least partly attributed to protecting the Tom Packs Circus date there.

TONY DIANO brought some of his animals back to Canton, O., quarters but the elephants remained on the World of Mirth carnival.

FIRE ENDED the whale show at Coney Island.

POLACK WESTERN found business off in a number of California towns.

BAILEY-CRISTIANI successfully moved ip the Alcan Highway to Anchorage, Alaska, and played an engagement there for the Shrine Club. Capacity crowds turned out for the ballpark show.

LOYAL-REPENSKY Family, whose own show folded earlier, joined Hunt Bros.' Circus as top feature while Hunt faced opposition with King and Hagen.

BLOWDOWN at a Montana town and hot weather hampered Kelly-Miller.

VANCOUVER, B. C., was big for Beatty.

FAIR CROWDS turned out for Ringling in the East.

FAIRBANKS weather was poor, but this second stand also proved good for the Bailey-Cristiani Circus in Alaska. The show then played some towns in northern Canada and returned to the States.

BEERS- BARNES Circus found business below that of 1953.

JOHN RINGLING NORTH was making his regular tour of Europe.

DROUGHT and heat hit the Ringling show in the Middle West. Drought conditions prevailed in many parts of the country and shows ventured into stricken areas suffered.

14 ELEPHANTS were acquired by Ringling-Barnum as it began to expand its herd toward its 1955 goal of 50 head.

AUGUST

ZACK TERRELL, former owner of Cole Bros. and manager of Sells Floto, died at Owensboro, Ky.

CIRCUS HISTORICAL Society convened on the Tom Packs Circus.

RINGLING RETURNED to Cleveland after skipping it several years and won good business.

KENTUCKY WAS good for George W. Cole Circus.

CHARLES TURNER was named assistant general agent on Ringling. William Lester retired. F. A. Boudinot announced other changes in his advance department.

LUCIO CRISTIANA confirmed that his show had scored heavy profits in Alaska and said it may go back.

BUSINESS CONTINUED spotty for most shows.

SEPTEMBER

CHICAGO LAKEFRONT throngs established a new high record for the big show's Windy City business.

TOBACCO MARKET towns gave King Bros. good business.

NIGHT CROWDS in the wheat country were okay for Kelly-Miller.

GEORGE DAVIS, veteran circus steward, died in the East.

WARD-BELL TROUPE announced it would start a new show in 1955.

BEATTY LUCK turned upward with big business at Denver.

GUNMEN SPRAYED the George W. Cole lot with bullets, hitting an elephant but not injuring any persons.

DOC CAPELL'S Buck Circus lost its fourth big top to storms.

KING BROS. noticed a sharp drop in business as it headed into drought-stricken cotton country of the Deep South.

MILLS BROS. closed early and went into quarters.

OCTOBER

RINGLING ADDED a week's route in the South, planned a November 28 closing, its latest on record. Iowa business was good.

EDWARD HUNT, of Hunt Bros.' Circus, died unexpectedly. The show had dropped plans for a tour of the South, and now canceled the few remaining contracted towns and went into quarters.

BAILEY-CRISTIANI closed earlier than originally expected and went to Florida quarters.

WILLIAM GARDEN, Canadian show owner, died.

ART CONCELLO had been visiting the Clyde Beatty Circus, Royal American Shows, and other outfits as rumors persisted that he was seeking to re-enter show business.

JAY GOULD closed a big year and announced plans to expand for next season.

KELLY-MILLER business was fairly good as it played toward its October 31 closing date.

NOVEMBER

WALLACE BROS.' Circus was being planned by Ben Davenport and Pete Cristiani as a truck show.

TRUCK TROUBLES hit hard at the King show but the outfit kept moving, missing no parades or performances.

HENRY R. NORTH confirmed that R-B was seeking a big elephant and tribe of pygmies in Africa.

COLD WEATHER hit Ringling in the South.

KING BROS. closed and returned to Macon, Ga., quarters, calling off a week of route because Ringling moved into the territory.

STARR DeBELLE signed as Mills Bros. press agent.

LATE SEASON rally helped bring Polack Western's gross up close to previous ones.

COLE BROS. sold its Peru, Ind., quarters property to Paul Kelly, menagerie owner. King Bros. was clearing its ex-Cole show property from the buildings.

DECEMBER

KING BROS. reported it had paid off large proportions of its commitments to Lucio Cristiani and Cole Bros.' Circus as well as all of its Macon, Ga., obligations.

CHARLES WIRTH, veteran of 51 years with The Billboard, died.

HORSES STAMPEDED when a driver struck ring stock going to the Ringling train and three horses were killed.

FIRE RAZED the Gainesville Community Circus barn and destroyed much equipment which the Ward-Bell Circus had planned to use. Dolly Jacobs rescued her elephants from the blaze.

BEN DAVENPORT and Pete Cristiani called off plans for a new show.

C. C. SMITH was named Mills Bros. agent.

RINGLING readying for its Havana run.

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Favorite Circus Fat Lady

Washington - I was pained to learn of the passing of my favorite circus fat lady

Her name was Lotus. She was big in the right places, but also in the wrong places. The gal, who was past 50 when her end come, trailed a caboose as big as the train which carried her around the country.

I would have written about her years ago, except that I just learned how to spell hippopotamus. She died at the Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey winter quarters in Sarasota, Fla., where the two-ton pachyderm had been retired several years ago when she started to go blind and to creak from the miseries of old age.

The big girl, when she was able to kick up her tiny toes and waddle around the hippodrome track, was the darling of millions, young and old.

Across the many years, she trouped with the great and the near-great of the circus world. Emmett Kelly, the famous sad-faced clown, never passed her quarters that he didn't stop and give Lotus a friendly pat on her big snout. The sad man always managed a smile for Lotus and he said that Lotus seemed to smile right back.

It was the same with the trapeze people, the high-wire people, the cowboys and even the tough roustabouts.

The hippo spent her salad days with the Al G. Barnes Circus. Al was the first circus man ever to train a hippo to trip through the sawdust and follow the rest around the track at the opening and closing.

The fat girl, with jaws powerful enough to break a man in half, never harmed anyone. She wore the tab of a lady saint among the hired hands of the several circuses for which she worked and generally was tabbed as a "glamour girl." She was that, in fact, in a chubby sort of way.

Dr. Bill Mann, director of the Washington zoo, who is probably America's No. 1 circus fan, also felt the loss of a friend.

Lotus, he said, was a very unusual hippo. First, she loved to travel. But most remarkable of all, she obviously like people. Instead of displaying a surly hippo resentment at the crowds of human beings that always surrounded her, she thoroughly enjoyed being a circus star.

Everybody is missing the fat girl, said Dr. Mann, that's for sure.

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The M. L. Clark Show

The sale of the M. L. Clark Show in August, 1930, to E. E. Coleman of Dayton, Ohio, as told to F. C. Fisher by Coonie Malone, who made the purchase for Coleman and afterwards managed the show for the balance of that season.

At the time of the purchase of the Clark Show I was managing a Tabloid show in the Rialto Theatre at Dayton, Ohio. The theatre being operated at that time by E. E. Coleman. Mr. Coleman had a year or so before sold his Circus to John Pluto of Baltimore, Maryland, and he was anxious to get back in the circus business again. Learning that the Clark Show was for sale, Mr. Coleman and myself (Malone) drove to a small town in West Virginia where the show was then playing. When we arrived there a couple of other showmen then interested in the purchase of a circus were there and had been for several days. One of these men being Paul Liniger who several years before had out a small circus called "Liniger Bros." We stayed on a couple of days. Finally drove back to Dayton.

Coleman and I talked the deal over and he decided to buy the show. I drove back to "Terre Alta" a small town on the state line of Virginia and Maryland where I again caught up with the show and on August 7th the show was in Marginsville, Virginia. The show encountered some trouble here and the outfit wild catted over the state line into Maryland. A couple of the Lucky Boys had been jailed in Martinsville and Bill Chidister out of Chester, West Virginia, was the fixer, went bail and got the fellows released. In the meantime I had negotiated the sale for Coleman and the show was brought to Brunswick, Maryland. At this time there were 52 people with the show and amongst them were the aerial Delmars, the Grant Family and Tex Cheanault who had the Concert. There were some 25 head of horses, 6 ponies, 1 elephant, "Mena," 2 burros, 1 very large camel, 1 zebra, 1 kangaroo, 4 monkeys, and 1 hyena.

The show was then being moved by some horse drawn wagons and seven 1928 Chevrolet trucks. The elephant and camel being walked from town to town. So when the show arrived in Brunswick, I ordered a large furniture car. All the animals, the elephant and 13 head of horses along with the ponies and burros I loaded in the car, also the big top canvas.

A showman by the name of Bob Davis had been sent on from Dayton with 6 men to drive the trucks through. So the trucks left Brunswick, Maryland, on August 14th, early in the morning and the loaded railroad car left on a fast freight at noon that same day. I went with the car to take care of the animals. All of the show, both by railroad and highway headed for Xenia, Ohio, where I had arranged to make a fast paint and overhaul job and return it to the road for the balance of that season. Benny Wells had been engaged to paint the show and Ross Engle to go as agent. The Stoltz family were engaged to play in the band and the Show would stay out until as late in the Fall as possible.

In due, time I arrived in, Xenia with the Car and animals and two days later Bob Davis and a couple of his boys arrived with three of the trucks. I was informed that one had gone over the mountain and was a total wrick. The other one was back at Cumberland, Maryland, broken down. This accounted for 5 of the trucks but there were still 2 missing. I immediately drove back over the highway and at Cumberland, I found the prop truck by the side of the road, the motor being completely shot. I went to the freight agents office where I ordered a "Gondola R. R. Car" with end doors and with the help of several towners I employed and the Chevrolet agency there, the truck was dragged in, loaded on the car, chalked down and covered with canvas. The car was billed out, sent on to Xenia. Now to find the other 2 missing trucks, but this I was able to do, while driving back towards Xenia, Ohio, and making inquiries along the way and going over a different route than the one I drove up on, they were come across during the night at a schoolhouse where I happened to see a campfire burning. On stopping, I found the two lost trucks, these two drivers had run out money and gas and were waiting for someone to come back. In an hour or so I had them rolling towards Xenia. To replace the truck that had been wrecked I bought one from Jimmie Woods. He also came on and took the Side Show for the balance of that Season. The aforementioned Bob Davis was sent out as Bill Poster. The show opened at Vandalia, Ohio, stayed out 4 weeks and closed at Lebanon, Ohio.

The Clark Show at the time this deal was made then owned by Lee Clark. But there were two other Clarks on the Show. Bill "Gold Tooth" Clark was agent and Lum Clark who had the Pit Show and featured a very nice "Silver Cape" Baboon. These Clarks were all related but Lee Clark was sole owner.

Lum Clark came on to Xenia after the show was sold and stayed on until the show closed for the season.

As "Mena" the elephant, had never been around a railroad show, I experienced a very difficult time with her when I attempted to load her in the railroad car at Brunswick, Maryland. It required 5 1/2 hours to get her in the car and by that time half of the population of the town were in the railroad yards to see the loading of "Mena.”

After that season of 1930, Coleman bought a truck and she was hauled in place of walking from town to town as she had all previous seasons.

"Mena" was sold in 1940 to Kelly Miller Bros. Circus together with The Fink Dogs and ponies, and I delivered them to the show for Coleman at Dodge City, Iowa.

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Gainesville To Continue Circus Despite Fire Loss

Gainesville, Dec. 1. - Jimmy, the chimpanzee, is dead. The big top is a mass of ashes. The building that housed the Gainesville Community Circus is rubble. But the spirit of the circus that brought international attention to this North Texas city is still very much alive.

Early Tuesday morning a fire destroyed the huge building that housed the equipment of the 25-year-old show. The big tent was burned, along with the seats, aerial ladders and wardrobes. And Jimmy, the chimp, died in the fire.

Jimmy was better known than some of the prominent citizens of Texas. In the words of one circus executive "he was almost human." Jimmy would take one of your cigarets and smoke it like a veteran. Many people have told Jimmy their most secret secrets because he was an understanding sort of a chimp and he never talked back.

A disconsolate board of directors of the circus met last night to discuss what comes now.

Only a few weeks ago Gainesville was torn with strife on the issue of leasing the equipment to the Ward-Bell Circus. The issue was resolved amiably and the Ward-Bell people were to leave with the $85,000 worth of equipment for Hawaii in the near future.

The circus was to return to Gainesville for an early spring showing which would feature acts built up by the people of Gainesville who, in the past 25 years, have made their circus a national institution.

The fire changed all of this and put the community circus back to the place it was in the fall of 1929 when A. Morton Smith, editor of the Gainesville Register, conceived the idea of meeting the deficit of a little theater group by putting on a circus.

After the meeting of the directors, in which they voted to pay outstanding debts of the show, the informal talk was all about resuming next spring even if it had to be on the same basis that is was in 1929.

"It was the concensus of the directors," said Dr. A. A. Davenport, acting president and long the show's ring master, "to go ahead with the show but only to show in Gainesville."

The rodeo arena, at the Fair Grounds, would be utilized for a one-ring event where the veteran performers could show their wares.

The show will not have to start exactly even. There was $15,000 worth of insurance on the building and $4,000 on the equipment. The total loss was $65,000. Some of the trucks and wagons were outside and not burned. After the debts are paid there will be about $5,000 left as a nucleus.

But big as that $5,000 may look, now it isn't nearly as big as the determination of the performers that the show must go on.

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Ringling Bros. Visits To Canada

1900

An odd thing at least to me is the fact that this shows first tour of any part of Canada was Vancouver, B.C., Sept. 1. Also second year this show made the west coast.

1901

This was the first appearance of this show in eastern Canada. Valley Field, Quebec, the first stand, then two days at Montreal and 15 stands in Ontario (Brantford on June 19). Shows final 1901 stand was at Chatham, jumping from there to Port Huron, Mich.

1902

Show's only visit to this country that year was Vancouver, B.C., Aug. 23.

1903

13 stands in Ontario that year. Came in from Albany, N.Y., for two day stand at Montreal June 1 and 2, and last town being Chatham, Ontario, June 18th, and to Port Huron, Mich.

1904

Had a matinee only at Plattsburg, N. Y., on May 30 and jumped to Montreal for May 31 - June 1. Only 8 other stands, all in Ontario. Jumping from Chatham, Ontario, on the 11th to Fort Wayne, Ind., for June 13 date.

1905

From Berlin, N.H., to Sherbrooke, Quebec, and Montreal - 1 day stands, July 13 and 14. Back to St. Albans, Vt., on 15th. This was extent of 1905 as far as Canada was concerned.

1909 and 1911

Only 1 stand in Canada, that at Vancouver August 16, 1909 and August 21, 1911, respectively.

1912

Show came in from Ogdensburg, N. Y., and played Montreal, June 10-11. 10 stands, followed in Ontario. Show going from St. Thomas to 1 day stand at Detroit.

1913

Only stand - Vancouver, August 16th.

1914

This was the year that 43 cars burned in railway yards in Cleveland, during stand of May 25-26. I've never seen a write-up about this which would make an interesting tale. The show that year came in from Port Huron, Mich., to play the first stand at Chatham, June 5th and 2 stands, 2 in Toronto and 2 days in Montreal, June 22-23.

This was the last year that Ringling Bros. played Canada, so out of the 34 years the Ringling Bros. toured before amalgamation, Canada was visited 11 seasons.

Next show routes Barnum and Bailey.

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