The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth. It and its predecessor shows ran from 1871 to 2017. Known as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
and
James Anthony Bailey
James Anthony Bailey (July 4, 1847 – April 11, 1906), born James Anthony McGinnis, was an American owner and manager of several 19th-century circuses, including The Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth.
Early life
James Anthony McGinn ...
, was merged with the
Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. The
Ringling brothers
The Ringling brothers (originally Rüngling) were seven American siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of the largest circuses in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers ...
had purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.
After 1957, the circus no longer exhibited under its own portable "
big top" tents, instead using permanent venues such as sports stadiums and arenas. In 1967,
Irvin Feld
Irvin Feld (April 19, 1918 – September 6, 1984) was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros ...
and his brother Israel, along with Houston Judge
Roy Hofheinz
Roy Mark Hofheinz (April 10, 1912 – November 22, 1982), popularly known as Judge Hofheinz or "The Judge", was a Texas state representative from 1934 to 1936, county judge of Harris County, Texas from 1936 to 1944, and mayor of the city ...
, bought the circus from the Ringling family. In 1971, the Felds and Hofheinz sold the circus to
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
, buying it back from the toy company in 1981. Since the death of Irvin Feld in 1984, the circus had been a part of
Feld Entertainment
Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the now-defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus then expanded into additional live events, including Dis ...
, an international entertainment firm headed by his son
Kenneth Feld
Kenneth Jeffrey Feld (born October 31, 1948) is the CEO of Feld Entertainment, which has operated the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (relaunched September 2023), Disney on Ice, Doodlebops Live, Disney Live, Monster Jam, Internati ...
, with its headquarters in
Ellenton, Florida
Ellenton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,129 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
.
With weakening attendance, many animal rights protests, and high operating costs, the circus performed its final show on May 21, 2017, at
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...
and closed after 146 years.
On May 18, 2022, after a five year hiatus, Feld Entertainment announced that the circus would resume touring in the fall of 2023, but without animals.
History
Predecessor circuses
Hachaliah Bailey
Hachaliah Lyman Bailey (pronounced ''heck-a-LIE-uh''; July 31, 1775 – September 2, 1845) was the founder of one of America's earliest circuses. In 1808, he purchased an Indian elephant which he named "Old Bet" and which was one of the first suc ...
appears to have established one of the earliest circuses in the United States after he purchased an African elephant, whom he named "Old Bet", around 1806,
just 13 years after
John Bill Ricketts first brought circus to America from Great Britain.
Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He wa ...
, who as a boy had worked as a ticket seller for Hachaliah Bailey's show, had run the
Barnum's American Museum
Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway, Park Row, and Ann Street in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P. T. Barnum, who purc ...
from New York City since 1841 from the former
Scudder's American Museum
Scudder's American Museum was a museum located in New York City from 1810 to 1841, when it was purchased by P.T. Barnum and transformed into the very successful Barnum's American Museum.
Before Scudder
The roots of the museum date back to 1791 ...
building.
[ Besides building up the existing exhibits, Barnum brought in animals to add zoo-like elements, and a ]freak show
A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...
. During this time, Barnum took the Museum on road tours, named "P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling American Museum". The Museum burned down in July 1865. Though Barnum attempted to re-establish the Museum at another location in the city, it too burned down in 1868, and Barnum opted to retire from the museum business.
In 1871, Dan Castello and William Cameron Coup
William Cameron Coup (August 4, 1836 – March 4, 1895) was a Wisconsin businessman who partnered with P. T. Barnum and Dan Castello in 1870 to form the "P. T. Barnum's Museum, Menagerie and Circus". Previously Barnum had a museum at a fixed loc ...
persuaded Barnum to come out of retirement to lend his name, know-how, and financial backing to the circus they had already created in Delavan, Wisconsin
Delavan is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,505 at the 2020 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee. The city is located partially within the Town of Delavan, but the two entities are politically i ...
. The combined show was named "P.T. Barnum's Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome". As described by Barnum, Castello and Coup "had a show that was truly immense, and combined all the elements of museum, menagerie, variety performance, concert hall, and circus", and considered it to potentially be "the Greatest Show on Earth", which subsequently became part of the circus's name.
Independently of Castello and Coup, James Anthony Bailey
James Anthony Bailey (July 4, 1847 – April 11, 1906), born James Anthony McGinnis, was an American owner and manager of several 19th-century circuses, including The Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth.
Early life
James Anthony McGinn ...
had teamed up with James E. Cooper to create the Cooper and Bailey Circus in the 1860s. The Cooper and Bailey Circus became the chief competitor to Barnum's circus. As Bailey's circus was outperforming his, Barnum sought to merge the circuses. The two groups agreed to combine their shows on March 28, 1881.[Famous Elephant]
Thai Elephant Conservation Center, Lampang Province
Lampang ( th, ลำปาง, ; Northern Thai: ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat''), lies in upper northern Thailand. The old name of Lampang was ''Khelang Nakhon''.
Geography
Lampang is in the broad river valley of the ...
. Retrieved August 28, 2010. Initially named "P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth, And The Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United", it was eventually shortened to "Barnum and Bailey's Circus". Bailey was instrumental in acquiring Jumbo
Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...
, advertised as the world's largest elephant, for the show. After Jumbo died, Barnum donated his taxidermied remains to Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
on whose Board of Trustees Barnum served as one of Tufts' first trustees. The Barnum Museum of Natural History opened in 1884 on the Tufts campus and Jumbo was a prominent part of the display. To this day the Tufts athletic mascot is Jumbo and its athletic teams are referred to as the "Jumbos". Barnum died in 1891 and Bailey then purchased the circus from his widow. Bailey continued touring the Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...
until he took his circus to Europe. That tour started on December 27, 1897, and lasted until 1902.
Separately, in 1884, five of the seven Ringling brothers
The Ringling brothers (originally Rüngling) were seven American siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of the largest circuses in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers ...
had started a small circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin
Baraboo is a city in the Midwest and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The largest city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. It is situ ...
. This was about the same time that Barnum & Bailey were at the peak of their popularity. Similar to dozens of small circuses that toured the Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
and the Northeastern United States at the time, the brothers moved their circus from town to town in small animal-drawn caravans. Their circus rapidly grew and they were soon able to move their circus by train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...
, which allowed them to have the largest traveling amusement enterprise of that time. Bailey's European tour gave the Ringling brothers an opportunity to move their show from the Midwest to the eastern seaboard. Faced with the new competition, Bailey took his show west of the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
for the first time in 1905. He died the next year, and the circus was sold to the Ringling Brothers.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
The Ringlings purchased the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth in 1907 and ran the circuses separately until 1919. By that time, Charles Edward Ringling
Charles Edward Ringling (December 2, 1863 – December 3, 1926) was one of the Ringling brothers, who owned the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was in charge of production and greatly admired by the employees, who called him ...
and John Nicholas Ringling
John Nicholas Ringling (May 31, 1866 – December 2, 1936) was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros World's Greatest Shows ...
were the only remaining brothers of the five who founded the circus. They decided that it was too difficult to run the two circuses independently, and on March 29, 1919, "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows" debuted in New York City. The posters declared, "The Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows and the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth are now combined into one record-breaking giant of all exhibitions." Charles E. Ringling died in 1926, but the circus flourished through the Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the ...
.
John Ringling had the circus move its headquarters to Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
in 1927.
In 1929, the American Circus Corporation
The American Circus Corporation consisted of the Sells-Floto Circus, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, the John Robinson Circus, the Sparks Circus, and the Al G. Barnes Circus. It was owned by Jerry Mugivan, Bert Bowers and Ed Ballard. They s ...
signed a contract to perform in New York City. John Ringling purchased American Circus, owner of five circuses, for $1.7 million.
In 1938, the circus made a lucrative offer to Frank Buck, a well-known adventurer and animal collector, to tour as their star attraction and to enter the show astride an elephant. He refused to join the American Federation of Actors, stating that he was "a scientist, not an actor." Though there was a threat of a strike if he did not join the union, he maintained that he would not compromise his principles, saying, "Don't get me wrong. I'm with the working man. I worked like a dog once myself. And my heart is with the fellow who works. But I don't want some ... union delegate telling me when to get on and off an elephant." Eventually, the union gave Buck a special dispensation to introduce Gargantua
''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son Pantagruel ...
the gorilla without registering as an actor.
The circus suffered during the 1930s due to the Great Depression, but managed to stay in business. After John Nicholas Ringling's death, his nephew, John Ringling North, managed the indebted circus twice, the first from 1937 to 1943. Special dispensation was given to the circus by President Roosevelt to use the rails to operate in 1942, in spite of travel restrictions imposed as a result of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Many of the most famous images from the circus that were published in magazine and posters were captured by American Photographer Maxwell Frederic Coplan Maxwell Frederic Coplan (February 13, 1912 – July 1, 1985) was an American photographer. His subjects included Bob Dylan, Alfred Hitchcock, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, as well as many other noted public figures o ...
, who traveled the world with the circus, capturing its beauty as well as its harsh realities.
North's cousin Robert took over the president of the show in 1943. North resumed the presidency of the circus in 1947.
Hartford circus fire
On July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, during an afternoon performance attended by some 8000 people, the Big Top tent caught fire. At least 167 people were killed and many hundreds injured.
Circus management was found to be negligent and several Ringling executives served sentences in jail. Ringling Brothers' management set aside all profits for the next ten years to pay the claims filed against the show by the City of Hartford and the survivors of the fire.
Feld family
The post-war prosperity enjoyed by the rest of the nation was not shared by the circus as crowds dwindled and costs increased. Public tastes, influenced by the movies and television, abandoned the circus, which gave its last performance under the big top in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
on July 16, 1956. An article in ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine reported that "a magical era had passed forever".[ In 1956, when John Ringling North and Arthur Concello moved the circus from a tent show to an indoor operation, Irvin Feld was one of several promoters hired] to work the advance for select dates. Irvin Feld
Irvin Feld (April 19, 1918 – September 6, 1984) was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros ...
and his brother, Israel Feld, had already made a name for themselves marketing and promoting D.C. area rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
shows. In 1959, Ringling Bros. started wintering in Venice, Florida
Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in S ...
.[
In late 1967, ]Irvin Feld
Irvin Feld (April 19, 1918 – September 6, 1984) was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros ...
, Israel Feld, and Judge Roy Mark Hofheinz of Texas, together with backing from Richard C. Blum
Richard Charles Blum (July 31, 1935 – February 27, 2022) was an American investor and the husband of United States Senator Dianne Feinstein. He was the chairman and president of Blum Capital, an equity investment management firm. Blum wa ...
, the founder of Blum Capital
Blum Capital Partners, L.P., also known as Blum Capital, is an American private equity firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and PIPE investments in small cap and middle-market c ...
, bought the company outright from North and the Ringling family interests for $8 million at a ceremony at Rome's Colosseum. Irving Feld immediately began making other changes to improve the quality and profitability of the show. Irvin got rid of the freak show so as not to capitalize on others' deformations and to become more family orientated. He got rid of the more routine acts.
In 1968, with the craft of clowning seemingly neglected and with many of the clowns in their 50s, he established the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.[ Circus Williams, a circus in Europe was purchased for $2 million just to have its star animal trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams, for the core of his revamped circus. Soon, he split the show into two touring units, Red and Blue, which could tour the country independently.][ The separate tours could also offer differing slates of acts and themes, enabling circus goers to view both tours where possible.. Also in 1968, Feld hired The King Charles Troupe, a unicycle club from ]The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
and the first ever African-American circus troupe, to perform unicycle basketball for 18 years with the circus.
The company was taken public in 1969.[ In 1970, Feld's only son ]Kenneth
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byn ...
joined the company and became a co-producer. The circus was sold to the Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
company in 1971 for $40 million, but the Feld family was retained as management.[
After ]Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
opened near Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
, Florida, in 1971, the circus attempted to cash in on the resulting tourism surge by opening Circus World theme park in nearby Haines City
Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 13,174 at the 2000 census and 20,535 at the 2010 census. It is the third most populous city in Polk County. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan S ...
, which broke ground on April 26, 1973. The theme park was expected to become the circus's winter home as well as to have the Clown College located there. Mattel placed the circus corporation up for sale by December 1973 despite its profit contributions, as Mattel as a whole showed a $29.9 million loss in 1972. The park's opening was then delayed until .[ Venture Out in America, Inc., a ]Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
recreational subsidiary, agreed to buy the combined shows in January 1974, and the opening was further pushed back to 1975.[ While the Circus Showcase for Circus World opened on , Venture Out placed the purchase deal back into negotiations, and the opening of the whole complex was moved to an early 1976.
In the 1980s, Ringling sued the ]American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
for airing a Schoolhouse Rock! episode titled "The Greatest Show On Earth", later known as "The Weather Show" due to the circus' slogan being used as a title for that episode.
By May 1980, the company expanded to three circuses by adding the one-ring International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo that debuted in Japan and Australia.[ The Felds bought the circus back in 1982][ less Circus World. Irvin Feld died in 1984 and the company has since been run by Kenneth.
In 1990, the ]Seminole Gulf Railway
The Seminole Gulf Railway is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida. The company's Fort Myers Division, whic ...
(who took over the rail line serving the Venice facility in 1987) could no longer support the show's train cars, which led the combined circus to move its winter base to the Florida State Fairgrounds
The Florida State Fairgrounds is located in East Lake-Orient Park, Florida. In addition to holding the annual Florida State Fair, the fairgrounds also host a wide variety of other events throughout the year. The 2022 Florida State Fair took plac ...
in Tampa. In 1993, the clown college was moved from the Venice Arena to Baraboo, Wisconsin. In 1995, the company founded the Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC).
Clair George
Clair Elroy George (August 3, 1930 – August 11, 2011) was a veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) clandestine service who oversaw all global espionage activities for the agency in the mid-1980s. According to ''The New York Times'', ...
has testified in court that he worked as a consultant in the early 1990s for Kenneth Feld and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was involved in the surveillance of Janice Pottker (a journalist who was writing about the Feld family) and of various animal rights groups such as PETA.
After three years in Baraboo, the clown college operated at the Sarasota Opera House in Sarasota
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
until 1998 before the program was suspended. On , the circus company started previewing Barnum's Kaleidoscape
''Barnum's Kaleidoscape'' was an American circus staged by Feld Entertainment, the owners of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, at a start-up cost of $10 million. It ran for one season, 1999–2000.
Inspired by both European traditions ...
, a one ring, intimate, upscale circus performed under the tent; designed to compete with similar upscale circuses such as Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...
, Barnum's Kaleidoscape was not successful, and ceased performances after the end of 2000.
Nicole Feld became the first female producer of Ringling Circus in 2004. In 2009, Nicole and Alana Feld co-produced the circus.[
In 2001, a group led by ]The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
sued the circus over alleged mistreatment of elephants. The suit and a countersuit
In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...
ended in 2014 with the circus winning a total of $25.2 million in settlements. On March 3, 2015, the circus announced that all elephants would be retired in 2018 to the CEC,[ but Ringling reversed the decision and retired the elephants in May 2016.
]
Eight months after it retired the elephants, it was announced on January 14, 2017, that the circus would do 30 more performances, lay off more than 462 employees between March and May 2017 and then close.[(1) ]
(2) The circus cited steeply declining ticket sales associated with the loss of the elephants combined with high operating costs as reasons for the closure,
along with animal cruelty concerns.[ On May 7, 2017, its "Circus Extreme" tour was shown for the last time at the ]Dunkin' Donuts Center
The Amica Mutual Pavilion (originally Providence Civic Center and formerly Dunkin' Donuts Center) is an indoor arena located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It was built in 1972, as a home court for the emerging Providence College men's ba ...
in Providence, Rhode Island. The circus's last performance was its "Out of This World" tour at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...
in Uniondale, New York on May 21, 2017.
On October 21, 2021, Feld Entertainment Chairman and CEO Kenneth Feld and COO Juliette Feld Grossman announced that the circus would be relaunched in 2023, without animal performances.
Animal Acts Replaced by Guest Acts
Circus trains
The circus maintained two circus train
A circus train is a method of conveyance for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the Ba ...
-based shows, one each on its Red Unit and Blue Unit trains. Each train was a mile long with roughly 60 cars: 36 passenger cars, 4 stock cars and 20 freight. Rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...
belonging to the circus displayed the reporting mark
A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...
"RBBX". The Blue and Red Tours presented a full three-ring production for two years each (taking off the month of December), visiting alternating major cities each year. Each train presented a different "edition" of the show, using a numbering scheme that dates back to circus origins in 1871—the first year of P.T. Barnum's show. The Blue Tour presented the even-numbered editions on a two-year tour (beginning each even-numbered year), and the Red Tour presented the odd-numbered editions on the same two-year tour (beginning each odd-numbered year).
In the 1950s, there was one gigantic train system comprising three separate train loads that brought the main show to the big cities. The first train load consisted of 22 cars and had the tents and the workers to set them up; the second section comprised 28 cars and carried the canvasmen, ushers and sideshow workers; the third section had 19 sleeping cars for the performers.
On January 13, 1994, the circus train, en route from St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to a three-day stand in Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
, derailed about four miles south of Lakeland near U.S. Highway 92. Several of the 150 to 200 train passengers were injured, and two were killed, those being clown Ceslee Conkling and elephant trainer Ted Svertesky. Circus animals were shaken up but not injured. The heavier horses and elephants, which could derail the train if carried in the middle, were in the front cars. Lions, tigers, bears and other animals were at the back of the train.
From 2003 to 2015, the circus also operated a truck-based Gold Tour presenting a scaled-back, single-ring version of the show designed to serve smaller markets deemed incapable of supporting the three-ring versions.
Animal care and criticism
Many animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
groups had criticized the circus for their treatment of animals over the years, saying that using them to perform is cruel and unnecessary.
In 2004, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was investigated following the death of a lion who died from heat and lack of water while the circus train was traveling through the Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
. In 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
filed charges against Ringling Bros. for forcing a sick elephant to perform. Ringling paid a $20,000 fine.
In 2000, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective me ...
(ASPCA) and other animal groups sued the circus, alleging that it violated the Endangered Species Act by its treatment of Asian elephants in its circus.[ These allegations were based primarily on the testimony of a circus barn worker. After years of litigation and a six-week non-jury trial, the Court dismissed the suit in a written decision in 2009, finding that the barn worker did not have standing to file suit. (ASPCA v. Feld Entm’t, Inc., 677 F. Supp. 2d 55 (D.D.C. 2009)).] Meanwhile, the circus learned during the trial that the animal rights groups had paid the barn worker $190,000 to be a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The circus then sued the animal rights groups under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was en ...
in 2007, accusing the groups of conspiracy to harm its business and other illegal acts. In December 2012, the ASPCA agreed to pay the circus $9.2 million to settle its part of the lawsuit. The 14-year course of litigation came to an end in May 2014 when The Humane Society of the United States and a number of other animal rights groups paid a $16 million settlement to the circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment
Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the now-defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus then expanded into additional live events, including Dis ...
.
From 2007 to 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
conducted inspections of the circus's animals, facilities, and records, finding non-compliance with the agency's regulations. The allegations, as brought forth by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) included videotapes of the head elephant trainer and the animal superintendent backstage repeatedly hitting elephants with bullhook
The elephant goad, bullhook, or ankus (from Sanskrit ' or ''ankusha'') is a tool employed by mahout in the handling and training of elephants. It consists of a hook (usually bronze or steel) which is attached to a handle, ending in a tapered ...
s just before the animals would enter the arena for performances. A tiger trainer was videotaped beating tigers during dress rehearsals. An inspection report alleged that a female Asian elephant, Banko, was forced to perform at a show in Los Angeles despite a diagnosis of sand colic and observations that she appeared to be suffering abdominal discomfort. The inspection reports also cited splintered floors and rusted cages. Following these inspections and complaints filed with the USDA by PETA, the company agreed to pay a $270,000 fine, the largest civil penalty ever assessed against an animal exhibitor under the Animal Welfare Act.
In March 2015, Feld Entertainment announced it would stop using elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s in its shows by 2018, stating that the 13 elephants that were part of its shows would be sent to the circus's Center for Elephant Conservation, which at that time housed over 40 elephants. Feld stated that this action was not a result of the allegations by animal rights groups, but rather due to the patchwork of local laws regarding whether elephants could be used in entertainment shows. Some of those local laws referred to were bans against the use of bullhooks. Subsequently, the retirement was moved up to 2016.
Seven tigers, six lions and one leopard were part of a convoy to temporarily move the animals out of Florida ahead of Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
on September 5, 2017. One of them, a 6-year-old Siberian tiger
The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies '' Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inh ...
named Suzy who had previously starred in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, escaped from a convoy of trucks transporting her from Florida to Memphis International Airport and was fatally shot by police after attacking a nearby dog.
Film
In 1952, Paramount Pictures released the Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...
production '' The Greatest Show on Earth'', which traced the traveling show through the setup and breakdown of performances during the 1951 season, the show's 81st Edition since 1871. The film starred Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007)
was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer.
Early life and education
Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 2 ...
, James Stewart, and Emmett Kelly
Emmett Leo Kelly (December 9, 1898March 28, 1979) was an American circus performer, who created the clown figure "Weary Willie," based on the hobos of the Great Depression in the 1930s. According to Charles W. Carey, Jr.:
:Kelly’s creation of ...
. After its 1952 release, the film was awarded two Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. A television series of the same title, was inspired by the film, with Jack Palance
Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...
in the role of Charlton Heston's character. Produced by Desilu Studios, the program ran on Tuesday evenings for thirty episodes on ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
during the 1963–1964 season.
On August 17, 2011, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
announced that a biographical musical drama film entitled ''The Greatest Showman
''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American biographical musical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, ...
'' was in development. Michael Gracey was set to direct, with Jenny Bicks
Jenny Bicks is an American television producer and screenwriter, most notable for her work as a television writer on the HBO series, ''Sex and the City'' and the creator and writer of the ABC series, ''Men in Trees''. Her production company is ...
and Bill Condon as writers. Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
plays P.T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
, and produced the film, with Michelle Williams portraying Barnum's wife, Charity. Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in November 2016, and the film was released on December 20, 2017.
Relaunch
In early 2022, the circus began auditioning artists for a retooled circus. More than 1,000 acts applied and auditions were held in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
. On May 18, 2022, Feld Entertainment announced that the circus would resume operation in the fall of 2023 with a tour of 50 cities. The circus said the new show would debut as a “multi-platform entertainment franchise.” In his announcement, President and CEO Kenneth Feld said, “As passionate stewards of Ringling, we are committed to creating a lifestyle brand that connects with families and sparks real fun 365 days a year through live performances, digital content, consumer products, school curricula, youth circus arts programs and more.” Feld said that the innovation and modernization was designed to create family entertainment that would "last for another 150 years.”
See also
* Barnum's Kaleidoscape
''Barnum's Kaleidoscape'' was an American circus staged by Feld Entertainment, the owners of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, at a start-up cost of $10 million. It ran for one season, 1999–2000.
Inspired by both European traditions ...
* William Washington Cole, a Barnum and Bailey business partner
* Barnum and Bailey's Favorite "Barnum and Bailey's Favorite" is a circus march written by Karl King for the circus of the same name in 1913.
Composition of the march
"Barnum and Bailey's Favorite", often referred to as "The Granddaddy of Circus Marches", was composed by Karl K ...
* John Robinson Circus
John H. Robinson created the John Robinson Circus, whose winter quarters were in Terrace Park, Ohio.
Famous elephants Chief
"Chief", an elephant from John Robinson's circus, killed his trainer in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tillie
Tillie the ...
Notes
External links
*
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1948)
Texas Archive of the Moving Image
The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film h ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ringling Bros. And Barnum and Bailey Circus
Circuses
Feld Entertainment
Recurring events established in 1871
Recurring events disestablished in 2017
Entertainment companies established in 1871
Entertainment companies disestablished in 2017
Re-established companies
Former Mattel subsidiaries