Step right this way ladies and gentleman..... you will find the one, the only, the stupendous, "The Greatest Show on Earth". Yes, as you may have deduced, we paid a visit to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. WI.
The Ringling Bros. Circus was founded in Baraboo, WI, in 1884 by five brothers: Al, Otto, Charles, John and Alf T. Ringling. Ringlingville was the name for the original Ringling Bros. Circus winter quarters in Baraboo. The buildings, standing along the north bank of the Baraboo River, date from 1897 through 1918 and are the largest surviving group of original circus structures in North America. There are also remains of a footbridge which employees took to cross the river in the winter. The world-famous circus wintered in Baraboo for 34 years until 1918, the year before it merged with the Barnum & Bailey Show (which the Ringlings purchased in 1907) to become the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.
The entire area has been declared a National Historic Landmark Site.
We arrived just in time for one of the day's main performances. So we quickly made our way to the Hippodrome to settle in for some entertainment. We missed the first act which apparently involved little Yorkie Dogs and a gentleman with a very similar coiffure. First we saw a juggling act with two twins from Mexico; pretty damn impressive. Next came a lithe young man from Belarus who was an abnormally gifted "balancer" which was shown via his standing upon a variety of rolling and tipping boards, pipes and balls. In keeping with all the spinning, the next act was performed by a Russian beauty who made some rather death defying use of ropes and fabric. The last act was a three-elephant performance with a trainer and a yet another "lovely assistant". Nothing too extraordinary except perhaps when the largest pachyderms stood upon a ball and roll/walked it with the aforementioned assistant beaming her impossibly white teeth (they out shown the sequin exploding costume) while riding on top of the mighty beast.
Later that afternoon we returned to the open arena for Illusionist, Tristan Crist. Tristan was an engaging entertainer. His act is kind of standard but well done with some very quick moves and added twists on the expected "Saw in Half" and disappear/appear tricks. Fun it was if not completely creative.
There are many buildings on the grounds; each housing different collections and displays. We saw the rather cheesy "Freak-Figures" and banners - the mannequins were especially unintentionally kitschy. There are animal areas and train cars along with related equipment. The visitor center held the expected historical data and displays but there were a few old and authentic wonders in the mix. The costumes were pretty amazing and the old photographs made R. consider thievery (easy Elaine B. and Carol D. they are not available for sale).
Perhaps the most memorable and impressive "things" we saw were the circus wagons.... Wow! The collection is appropriately the largest in the world and there is an on-site restoration garage as part of the tour. When looking at the photos below, keep in mind that what you see are wood carvings. No molds or plaster as they could not survive the required treks around the country. Many of the old artists were formerly sailing ship masthead carvers. Just the wheels of these over the big top (so to speak-- har har) vehicles are incredible.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Circus World. I think it's unavoidable to not slip blissfully back to one's youth. Circuses are all about amazement and awe. If one loses their ability to say "oooh" and "aaaahhh" then they are truly old fuddy-duddies. We are not there yet, we loved every minute -- okay the stifling heat and humidity under the big top was a bit much.... sweet P.T. Barnum the air was so thick it almost killed our 10-year-old spirits. (S. -- I don't remember ever going to the circus so my 10-year-old spirit was enchanted and loved the girl clown for her perkiness in addition to all the treats described by R. I'm glad Cirque Du Soleil has brought some of the circus magic back to all our lives.)
Love,
Your two-headed traveling freak show trekkers --
Rodney the Dog-Faced Artist
and
Susan the Mystic Quilting Yoga Queen
As the heyday of the great railroad circuses began to fade, John M. Kelley, who for 33 years had been the Ringlings' personal attorney, envisioned a place where the golden era of this stupendous entertainment medium could be preserved.
At his retirement in 1954, Kelley incorporated Circus World as a historical and educational facility. Following state-wide fundraising efforts, the Circus World was deeded, debt-free, to the state and opened to the public July 1, 1959.We arrived just in time for one of the day's main performances. So we quickly made our way to the Hippodrome to settle in for some entertainment. We missed the first act which apparently involved little Yorkie Dogs and a gentleman with a very similar coiffure. First we saw a juggling act with two twins from Mexico; pretty damn impressive. Next came a lithe young man from Belarus who was an abnormally gifted "balancer" which was shown via his standing upon a variety of rolling and tipping boards, pipes and balls. In keeping with all the spinning, the next act was performed by a Russian beauty who made some rather death defying use of ropes and fabric. The last act was a three-elephant performance with a trainer and a yet another "lovely assistant". Nothing too extraordinary except perhaps when the largest pachyderms stood upon a ball and roll/walked it with the aforementioned assistant beaming her impossibly white teeth (they out shown the sequin exploding costume) while riding on top of the mighty beast.
Later that afternoon we returned to the open arena for Illusionist, Tristan Crist. Tristan was an engaging entertainer. His act is kind of standard but well done with some very quick moves and added twists on the expected "Saw in Half" and disappear/appear tricks. Fun it was if not completely creative.
There are many buildings on the grounds; each housing different collections and displays. We saw the rather cheesy "Freak-Figures" and banners - the mannequins were especially unintentionally kitschy. There are animal areas and train cars along with related equipment. The visitor center held the expected historical data and displays but there were a few old and authentic wonders in the mix. The costumes were pretty amazing and the old photographs made R. consider thievery (easy Elaine B. and Carol D. they are not available for sale).
Perhaps the most memorable and impressive "things" we saw were the circus wagons.... Wow! The collection is appropriately the largest in the world and there is an on-site restoration garage as part of the tour. When looking at the photos below, keep in mind that what you see are wood carvings. No molds or plaster as they could not survive the required treks around the country. Many of the old artists were formerly sailing ship masthead carvers. Just the wheels of these over the big top (so to speak-- har har) vehicles are incredible.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Circus World. I think it's unavoidable to not slip blissfully back to one's youth. Circuses are all about amazement and awe. If one loses their ability to say "oooh" and "aaaahhh" then they are truly old fuddy-duddies. We are not there yet, we loved every minute -- okay the stifling heat and humidity under the big top was a bit much.... sweet P.T. Barnum the air was so thick it almost killed our 10-year-old spirits. (S. -- I don't remember ever going to the circus so my 10-year-old spirit was enchanted and loved the girl clown for her perkiness in addition to all the treats described by R. I'm glad Cirque Du Soleil has brought some of the circus magic back to all our lives.)
Love,
Your two-headed traveling freak show trekkers --
Rodney the Dog-Faced Artist
and
Susan the Mystic Quilting Yoga Queen
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