Ringlingville USA

by Jerry Apps

  A highlight of the 1915 show was the remarkable aerialist Lillian Leitzel. POSTER COLLECTION, CWM

  Barnum & Bailey, The Greatest Show on Earth, opened its 1915 season at Madison Square Garden in New York on April 1. With their two big traveling shows, the Ringlings continued to dominate the circus business. That year there were twenty-one railroad circuses on tour, most of them tiny shows compared with the Ringlings’. The Brothers’ namesake show had eighty-five rail cars; the Barnum & Bailey show had eighty-two.6 The next-largest show in 1915 was the Carl Hagenbeck-Wallace Shows, with fifty-three railcars.

  Even with the threat of the United States becoming a part of the conflagration in Europe, the Ringlings did well in 1915. They attracted large crowds, even some turn-aways, and by season’s end the Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Shows had grossed $1,347,452 ($23.3 million in 2002 dollars). The Ringling circus showed 172 days, with an average gross income per day of $7,834. The biggest days were in Washington, D.C. ($15,732); Hartford, Connecticut ($13,774); Boston ($16,359); and Dallas ($14,656). Unbelievably, they took in $10,849.50 in little Postville, Iowa, population 972, proving that their Iowa roots remained strong.7 For the matinee and evening performances in Postville on September 3, 1915, the Ringling Brothers attracted 18,000 people. A local German-language newspaper reported:

  The likes of the mass of humanity, which the Ringling Brothers Circus attracted last Friday evening, has never before seen in Postville nor is it likely to be seen again. Beginning Thursday evening every road leading to Postville was alive with traffic carrying those wishing to watch the unloading of the circus.

  The [passenger] trains were filled beyond capacity and the morning train to St. Paul, which had extra cars, had to [go] back to Monona to pick up all of those there and in Luana, for whom there was no room on the regular train and bring them to Postville.8

  The Ringling circus closed in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 1 and returned to Baraboo for another winter. The circus was an escape from the worries of the day, and the circus business had once again proven its resilience during difficult times. That winter each of the Brothers drew $55,000 in profit sharing from the business’s account ($949,000 in 2002 dollars). On January 1, 1916, the Ringlings had $93,560.26 in the bank.9

  After their threats and indecision about leaving Wisconsin earlier that decade, the Ringlings now seemed content at Ringlingville Baraboo. They even added to their holdings there, having purchased during the previous December thirteen and one-eighth acres from Theron and Lucy N. Case for $1,800.10

  But the Ringlings were shocked when Al, the oldest brother, died on January 1, 1916, at sixty-three years of age. It is impossible to say which of the original five brothers had made the greatest contribution to the Ringling Brothers’ shows. But there probably would not have been a Ringling Brothers Circus without Al Ringling’s enthusiasm and experience.

  Al Ringling (1852–1916), the oldest of the Ringling Brothers, was largely responsible for starting the Ringling Brothers Circus. PRINT COLLECTION, CWM

  Al, for many years the show’s program director, knew how to keep a circus show moving and to keep an audience interested. He was also well respected by his peers. The Show World had once written:

  The debut of the five Ringlings in the Northwest some twenty years ago marked the beginning of an evolution in the performance. The father of this evolutionary idea was Al Ringling, who today is beyond the shadow of doubt the greatest director general of circus programs ever known. He is the wonder of the age at collecting and putting together acts and stunts that hold audiences spellbound.11

  Al was the glue that held the confederation of five together. Without a written contract, the Brothers shared equally the decision making and the profits. Of all the brothers, Al seemed to enjoy living in Baraboo the most. While his brothers sought homes in other places, Al made his home in Baraboo with his wife, Lou, spending most of his winters there, looking after activities at winter quarters. After Al’s death, his sister Ida’s son, Henry Ringling North, wrote that “Al Ringling had the sweetest disposition of all the brothers; he was the one whom the circus people really loved. When the news reached Winter Quarters, clowns and cooks, hostlers and equestrians, wept for ‘Uncle Al.’”12

  Although they had lost their leader, John, Charles, Alf T., and Henry were committed to continuing their shows. They went on with planning the 1916 season and looking for new ways to attract people to their tents. In early 1916 Charles Ringling had heard about a big snake that was available for sale. “We want the big snake if it is nearly 30 feet long. I take it F. O. B. France might mean ‘before the duty is paid.’ Make sure about it as it would make a big difference in price.”13 There is no evidence that they acquired the big reptile.

  That season the Ringlings would debut a new spectacle, advertised as “Ringling Brothers Circus and Fairyland Spectacle Cinderella,” with “1250 characters, 300 dancing girls, 735 horses, 100 musicians, 108 cage zoo, 400 arenic artists, 60 clowns, 89 railroad cars. One fifty cent ticket admits all. Children under 12 half-price.”14 The performer who played Cinderella was from Europe, and the Ringlings had some difficulty in contacting her and arranging her safe transportation to the United States.

  Winter Quarters Expenses, February 1916

  A circus earned income during its show season, usually from April through November, but it spent money all year long. The Ringlings’ departure from Baraboo clearly would have a huge economic impact on that community.

  By the winter of 1915–1916 the Ringlings had to feed about five hundred horses and ponies, twenty-nine elephants, and fifteen camels, plus an additional twenty or so other hay-eaters, from antelope to zebras. In February 1916 the Brothers purchased 159 tons of hay, for $1,848.62, and eighteen bushels of carrots, for $9.40.1 They bought eight old horses from neighboring farmers ($58.00) to feed the carnivores, which included tigers, lions, leopards, and hyenas.

  As usual, preparations for spring included purchasing equipment for the coming season. That February they bought 162 sixteen-foot tamarack tent poles ($24.30), 100 twelve-foot poles ($6.50), and 55 seventeen-foot poles ($8.25). Paint for the poles cost $47.04, and new ropes cost $1,110.47. They purchased an “electric engine” for $2,375 and electric light supplies, bulbs, and the like for $322.98. In addition general hardware, lumber, and paint cost $1,017.36.

  The payroll for the approximately 120 employees for the month of February 1916 was $3,205.65 ($52,552 in 2002 dollars). Other expenses that month included flowers for Mrs. Gollmar’s funeral ($35) and for Al Ringling’s funeral ($80), the telephone bill ($59.87), the gas and electric bill ($341.05), postage ($11), and freight cost to the railroad ($31.08).2

  * * *

  NOTES

  1. Inventory, estate of Al Ringling, October 11, 1918, CWM.

  2. Winter Quarters Ledger, February 1916, Fred Pfening III, private collection, Columbus, Ohio.

  Fire once again struck the Ringling show in fall 1916. On the afternoon of October 28, in Huntsville, Alabama, a fire started in one of the baggage horse tents just before the afternoon show was to begin. Before the horses could be cut loose, more than one hundred were lost to the flames.

  The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus had just closed for the season and was back at winter quarters in West Baden, Indiana, some 375 miles north of Huntsville. The Ringlings quickly acquired one hundred Hagenbeck-Wallace horses, which joined the Ringling show at Clarksdale, Mississippi, on October 30 and stayed with the show until it closed on November 4. Even though circus people competed vigorously, in times of disaster they were quick to help each other.15

  By the end of 1916 World War I continued to pose international problems and threatened to drag America into the fray, but the Ringlings had nevertheless had another successful season. During the week of May 20, in Ohio, the Ringling show took in $76,825.60; in Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky during the week of September 30, they earned $54.567.55; and in Mississippi and Louisiana, during the final week of the season, the show took in
$61.684.87. The Ringling show’s gross earnings for 1916 were $1,613,150 ($25.6 million in 2002 dollars).16

  During the 1916 season the Ringling show was out 204 days with 177 show days. They put on 353 performances, visiting 152 towns and 23 states. And they traveled 12,974 miles, not including miles to and from winter quarters in Baraboo. They closed on November 4 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and made their way back to Ringlingville Baraboo.17

  This Ringling Hotel, on Water Street in Baraboo, opened in fall 1916. PRINT COLLECTION, CWM

  That winter the “European war” continued to rage, but the remaining Ringling Brothers stayed optimistic. They built a new hotel for their employees on Water Street in Baraboo. “The new hotel, the pride of the employees, and in the construction of which Henry Ringling had had the supervision during the summer months, is the best equipped circus hotel in the country. It has been designed and constructed for the peculiar purpose for which it is planned, and is a revelation in the circus world.”18

  The heating plant was located in the basement of the hotel, along with quarters for “colored help.” The first floor was a lobby/reading room. The second floor held dining and sleeping rooms, and the third floor was a large dormitory, designed to be used in the spring, when the circus was preparing to go on the road and employee numbers increased.

  There is no record of it, but the Ringlings likely bought horses before the start of the 1917 season to replace those killed in October in the fire. By this time they had from seven hundred to eight hundred horses, and they routinely bought and sold them in very large numbers.

  By the following spring, America was at war. President Wilson presented a war message to Congress on April 2, 1917, and it immediately passed both houses with large majorities. The federal government, through the War Industries Board, assumed control of many facets of the U.S. economy, including the railroads. There were “meatless” Mondays and “wheatless” Wednesdays. With the draft the army swelled from one hundred thousand to five million within the year.19 Able-bodied men who could work for the circus became scarce. Normally, the Barnum & Bailey show employed 250 canvasmen; when the show went under tents in 1917, it had only 80.20

  The Ringlings intended to feature the Cinderella spectacle again in 1917. But Jeanne Rae, the performer who played Cinderella, had spent the winter in Europe. Could she safely return to the United States for the show season? On April 5 a Chicago newspaper reported her safe arrival in that city:

  Cinderella flits past submarine danger zone. Cinderella does not fear the submarines. Under convoy of the very best fairies, Cinderella, otherwise Miss Jeanne Rae, care of Ringling Brothers’ circus, sailed across the danger zone and yesterday arrived in Chicago. She spent the winter doing hospital work in Belfast. Her father and two brothers are in the trenches. Irregular sailings delayed other performers, but the management had a special train to bring them from New York. All have reported and a dress rehearsal will be held tomorrow evening.21

  The 1917 show also included the Clarkonians, consisting of three Clarke brothers. Their contract specified that the act should consist of the following:

  Clarkonians Big Aerial Act by Ernest and Charles Clarke. Jockey Act (In Highland Costume) by Clarke Brothers and others to be supplied by Ringling Brothers. Principle somersault act by Percy Clarke. Principle somersault act by Ernest Clarke if required. Juggling Riding act by Charles Clarke if required. Clarke Brothers to furnish stock for above acts. All to take part in tournament or entry. Ringling Brothers to furnish state room in sleeping car.

  The Ringlings also paid the three Clarkes $325 per week.22

  With the costs of war and lack of labor, circus operating expenses soared. In 1917 there were eighteen railroad circuses on tour in the United States, down from twenty-one in 1915 and 1916 and twenty-five in 1914. The Ringling Brothers, with eighty-five railcars, and Barnum & Bailey, with eighty-four cars, were the largest.23

  Coining a Phrase

  On May 8, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson attended the Barnum & Bailey Circus in Washington, D.C. As Equestrian Director Fred Bradna escorted President Wilson across the arena to the music of “Hail to the Chief,” the president took off his hat and threw it into the middle of the center ring. The press picked up on the stunt, announcing that Wilson had “thrown his hat in the ring” for the 1916 election. The phrase, of course, continues to this day.1

  * * *

  NOTES

  1. Fred Bradna, The Big Top (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952), p. 118.

  Despite their worries people flocked to the circus in 1917. In Chicago the Brothers had turn-away audiences on April 14 and April 15 and took in more than $10,000 each day. There would be turn-away audiences throughout the season and across the country. The Ringling show was out 212 days in 1917, with 184 show dates and 356 performances in 145 towns and 28 states including the District of Columbia. The show traveled 18,115 miles.24 Gross receipts for the World’s Greatest Shows were $1,792,475, an average of $9,742 per show date.25 The Ringlings closed the 1917 season in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 5 and returned to Baraboo.

  The year 1918 would be one of transition for the Ringlings. The war continued in Europe. Labor shortages were rampant. Business expenses were rising to unbelievable levels, and certain essential supplies needed for circus operations were simply not available. In a July 1917 letter, Charles Ringling wrote:

  With reference to next year, we have been rather uncertain as to what we might expect after the control of foodstuffs is established. I am afraid that we will not be allowed to use flour for paste. Starch is a poor substitute for our use as it can not be carried thick for country use and thinned as used. Starch, too, may be subject to regulations for food conservation.

  We might be obliged, if this war continues, to resort to advertising matter that can be tacked up—cloth, cardboard, etc.—and window work to a far greater extent than in the past and so not be able to post the quality of wall work we do at present. … [C]osts are way beyond anything ever experienced before and difficulties of transportation are serious. We would be satisfied for the present year and the next to be able to keep our business running on the same plane as in past years without anticipating any very large profits.26

  Nevertheless, while the world’s major powers battled in Europe in March 1918, peace and tranquility seemed to prevail at Ringlingville Baraboo. A reporter for Billboard wrote:

  The snow lies deep among the Wisconsin hills and the rivers are choked with ice, but at Ringling Brothers Circus winter quarters in Baraboo there is such activity and many signs of the approaching spring opening. All talk of war and rumors to the contrary have not retarded the work nor delayed the preparations for the coming season. The world’s “greatest shows”—the “biggest thing that moves”—will go out this season bigger, better and grander than ever. The big show will carry a message of cheer and brighter things to every point the itinerary touches, taking the people’s thoughts from serious subjects and relieving the nervous tension occasioned by troublesome times. Along the muddy streets of “Ringlingville,” that portion of Baraboo that lies near the river bank and has been so designated by the show folks as well as natives, there are many indications that the show is about to start.27

  By the 1918 show season, only thirteen railroad circuses were on tour. The Ringling Brothers’ show and Barnum & Bailey were clearly the largest, with eighty-five railcars each.28 European acts were now impossible to acquire, and wages were soaring, making it difficult for the Ringlings to keep help. That year the Brothers presented the spectacle “In Days of Old,” a show written by Charles Ringling that depicted times of “Romance and Chivalry” and featured ballet dancers. The Ringlings increased the price of general admission tickets to 60 cents ($8.12 in 2002 dollars), which included a war tax.29

  The Ringlings’ spectacles, such as 1916’s “In Days of Old,” featured dozens of ballet dancers. PRINT COLLECTION, CWM

  Then, just before the Ringlings left winter quarters in April 1918, a force nearly
as deadly as the war began taking shape. An army private at Fort Riley, Kansas, went on sick call on March 11 with a sore throat, fever, and headache. By noon of that day, one hundred soldiers had come down with the flu; by the end of the week the number had soared to five hundred.30 By summer the great flu epidemic of 1918 was sweeping the country, killing people by the thousands.

  The Ringlings opened their 1918 season in Chicago and moved east to Pennsylvania, New York, and then back to the Midwest, where they played most of the summer. Daily receipts were modest, especially during the rainy early season. By midsummer attendance improved; they took in $16,684.47 on July 9 in Milwaukee, one of their biggest days ever. The crowds in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 23 were enormous, producing daily receipts of $21,298.28. Still, the deadly flu (known as the Spanish influenza because it had devastated Spain) swept across the United States like a Great Plains windstorm. By fall cities were canceling events, including parades, sporting events, and church services. On a single day in October, 851 persons died in New York City. All told, the pandemic killed an estimated 20 million persons worldwide, with the U.S. death toll at 548,000.31