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Show I " . , . ; " " . . r . - , ( y : " f 'I I " ' i ( % ' 0 . tt I tXU LAIIG LAIIGl LAIIGo GH ' fJ I r7 r7p r7CLPWNi r l o . . " , - ( p , rCL CLPWNi , WNA WNAtAUGH , MYG MYGI1 CLPWNiMYG ! tAUGH\ tAUGH tAUGHh . : ! \ ' - " ' " 11 h I\1 I 1 \ \ . _ . .r r . . i . , : Nwz , , . . :0 0 " : wub wubnwx M . ) * Mt/ Mt . ; MtAW /nwx nwx / / nwxw nwxBy . : AW rii ' " wi " ' wiBy w By JOSEPH W LaBINEThree LaBINE LaBINEThree Three months ago a span spangled spangled spangled gled crop of circus perform perform- performers - ers hit the sawdust trail trailamIdst trailamidst trailamidst amIdst promises of the bIg bIggest biggest biggest gest season since smce 1929 Today Todaymany Todaymany Todaymany many of them are hoping hopmg to toget toget toget get home without selling sellmg tho the thotent thetent th tent tentThe The circus season has hIt hitrough hitrough 1 1rough rough waters in m some parts partsit , It has flopped altogether altogetherAt At Scranton Pa a few fewweeks fewweeks fewweeks weeks ago the ' Big One One"Ringlmg OneRinglmg , " Rmglmg Ringhng Brothers , Barnum Barnumand Barnumand Barnumand and Bailey Balley , folded its tent 111 in 111a ina ina headed headedback headedback headedback a sea of mud and back to winter wmter quarters atSarasota atSarasota at Sarasota Fla Strikes Stnkes , poor poorattendance poorattendance poorattendance attendance andramy andrainy and rainy ramy weather : ' ' were responsIbleThIs responsibleThis responsible responsibleThis This thing thmg wouldn't wouldnt ' have havehappened havehappened havehappened happened in m the days of old oldP oldP oldP P T Barnum or John Rmg Ring Rmglmg Ringling Ringling lmg ling peers of the CIrcus CIrcusworld circusworld circusworld world But it happened thI thin thinyear thiayear " year , for the first time bme in m 54 54seasons 54seasons 54seasons seasons , it happened in a aprofessIon aprofession aprofession professIon whose followers followerstradItIOnally followerstraditionally followerstraditionally tradItIOnally carry their ban banner banner banner ner through mud water starvatIon starvatIonand starvationand starvationand and payless paydays We recall recallsometrong recallsomething recallsomething sometrong something about ahout that old bromideThe bromideThe bromide bromideThe The show must go onMaybe onMaybe on onMaybe Maybe the performers perlormers aren t do doing doing ing their part , . , but that isn t lIkely lIkelyMaybe likelyMaybe likelyMaybe Maybe the audience is to blame for forthe forthe torthe the circus has won popular approval approvalmore approvalmore approvalmore more than half a century with the thesame thesame thesame same elephants doing domg the same sametricks sametricks trIcks and the same clowns turnmg turning turnmgthe turningthe turningthe the same somersaultsTime somersaults somersaultsTime Time Passes Customs ChangeThese ChangeThese Change ChangeThese These past 20 years have been beenfraught beenfraught beenfraught fraught with change m in the enter entertamment entertainment entertamment tamment tainment field The Perils of Paul Paulme Paulme Paulme me on the silent screen gave way wayto wayto wayto to talking talkmg pictures chautauqua ex explred expired expired plred pired as a popular past me because becausepeople becausepeople becausepeople people no longer cared for that kmd kind kmdof kindof kindof of culture the rad o 0 came along alongand alongand alongand and made provincial provmcal ! America Amenca cos cosmopolltan cosmopolitan cosmopolitan cosmopolitanThrough mopolltan mopolitan mopolltanThrough mopolitanThrough Through it all came the c rcus rcusunchanged rcusunchanged rcusunchanged unchanged Whene'l Whenel Whene\er Whene er Whenever \ ' er a progres progresawe progressive slve awe manager suggested adopt ng a anew anew anew new technique techmque there was always alwayssomeone alwayssomeone alwayssomeone someone to object because the c r rcus rcus rcus cus is one kind kmd of entertamment entertainment entertammentthat entertainmentthat entertainmentthat that thrives on pure sentiment It s salways salways salways always been a ballyhoo game a aloud aloud aloud loud mouthed bag of tricks which whicheveryone whicheveryone whichI everyone knows to be phoney but butenJoys butenjoys butenjoys enJoys for that very reason Its Itsnever It s snever snever never been bigger than the man m in mthe inthe inthe the checkered su t and derby hat hatwho hatwho hatwho who yells yeUs Right th s v . way ay aylout lout ' out of ofone ofone ofone one corner of his mouth the other othercorner othercorner othercorner corner being bemg preoccup ed by a c gar garstub garstub garstub garstubSo stub stubSo So maybe the aud and ence enee is to toblame toblame toblame blame for the R nglmg nghng recessIOn recessIOnMaybe recessionMaybe recessionMaybe Maybe father s gett ng tired of 01 Sit Sittmg sittang sitting afterI tmg tang on a hard bench year after afteryear afteryear year eating eatmg und and gestible peanuts peanutsand peanutsand peanutsand and watching watchmg the elephants Per Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps haps America Amenca is now revolt ng ngagamst ngagainst ngagainst agamst against the old t me c rcus just as asIt asit asit It revolted against agamst chautauqua chautauquaThey chautauquaThey chautauquaThey They Call It CollegiateBut CollegiateBut Collegiate CollegiateBut But you can t make the old t me mesawdust mesawdust mesawdust sawdust trail follol\ follol followers follolers \ ers bel eve that thatIf thatIf J ! JIf I If the B g One never hits ruts the theroad theroad theroad road again agam veteran circus men will willalways willalways willalways I always insist mSlst that it died because becauseJohn becauseJohn becauseJohn John Ringi Rmgl Ringl ng - . Isorlh r-.or1h r.or1h r .or1h or1h I\orth I orth \ tr 1r ed to mod I h I 4 > ' A5N3 A5N3R R , 4 : ' 2 2t 2r * u t L r ' { A 4A ' . rE y'krE 4 4y'k y'k yk > /4 4 / 4T 4tt . , d r Y Yx94 x94 x944 _ T tt tto4 o4 a d I I I ern zc ze the sho v th s year and there thereby thereby thereby by destroyed its charmThat charmThat charm charmThat That s a fru lru less tIess tless ( argument be because because because cause John Ringi Rmgl Ringl ng North grand grandson grandson grandson son of Old John R nglmg ngling mSlsted insisted mSlstedhe insistedhe insistedhe he was only trying trymg to regain regam a b t tof tof tof of the old Ringlmg Rmglmg Rmgling touch by ar arrangmg arranging arranging rangmg ranging new costuming costummg and hangmg hanging hangmgfor hangingfor hangingtor for the circus this yearUnder year yearUnder Under the Smaller Sma-lIer Sma lIer - TopsNorth TopsNorth Tops TopsNorth North is a Yale man and there therewere therewere therewere were mutter ngs last spring spnng that the thecircus thecircus thecircus circus was going gomg collegiate Per Perhaps Perhops Perhaps haps hops it was collegiate to import a agiant agiant agiant giant gorilla Gargantua the theGreat theGreat theGreat Great and set him up tor for exhlbl exhibi exhlblhon exhibitron exhibition hon tron m in an air conditioned cage en enclosed enclosed enclosed closed in steel bar bars and shattcr shatter shattcrproof shatterproof shatterproof , proof glass Perhaps other mmor minor mmorInnovatIons minorinnovations minorinnovations i InnovatIons were collegiate But It ItWIll itwill itwill WIll be hard tor for John Rmglmg Ringling RmglmgNorth RinglingNorth RinglmgNorth North s critics to put their waggmg wagging waggmgfingers waggingfingers waggingfingers I fingers on the exact reason why hIs hIsCIrCUS hiscircus hiscircus ' CIrCUS failed this yearMaybe yearMaybe year yearMaybe Maybe it was the entertainmentK entertainment entertamment f . y V VWt ' , -Wt Wt - WtW W , y/ y yo / < o L yL , * ' sf f T K\ K Kage \ age agev agee v fe e - g * gK < w w1 K - < \1 1 \ v vyx 'it- 'it it 'itv ' - , -v v - , 'WK WK ' "m m " } J Jl / - -l l W - f fs s & ' a y " . , ' 4 i ' - < Mrf Mrffc * 10 : yxiduodl . % yx iduodl / b ba $ a M M"eo "eo eo "eok "eot "eoM "eor "eoi "eoh " k ' , M t . > t . . f . . 1 ( : i t i iM r " ' fc . h t , M- M Mk atH at - k H " . ss a , -M M - , > . , . .te.2 te.2 te2 . iAi&Aufa-i-i iAi&Aufa iAiAufa i iAi&Aufaiii & . . . . . * , . - . . . - " . . . _ . . . " , o/ o oTHE /i i / iTHE THE TilE HARD liARD IIARD nAY % IV % AY - It s bad badenough badenough badenough enough to merely stand on a tight tightI tightwire tightwire wire but IIa Hal Ual ) SI1ers Sill SI1\ SI1 Silt \ ers veteran bIg bIgtop bigtop bifftop top aenalist aerialist chooses to Jump Jumpthrough jumpthrough jumpthroueh JumpI through a stick slick held by his two twohands twohands twohands hands It s a good constItutIonal constitutionalsays constitutionalsa constItutIonalI sa says ) s Hal Ilal - . ry . , ' ' q ' " , ' $ f / qYf yl- yl ylft qY qYyl " , - . " , / ' jt/z jt z ' < ' " jtz'rn Yba 'rn rn 'rnq ft ftr i 'rni yf . , T cYg6s ro royf r/ r r / f rf t w wBIG , | RIG BIG All AT.D ATD . . D S\I S I SILL SM1LL ' \ \LL LL \ 01 OP ' IT-TI IT TI - s 'ow ow 'owstcr ' oui -stcr stcr gster ; : - feeds his el eI funl funk . friend 50mc some friend50mc friendsome peanuts at atHutcr \Hutcr Hutcr winlor \ Quutel qu3rtess Pcru Peru Inl InlI | I 1 i maybe it 11 was the publ c maybe , It Itwas , was the managementFortunately managementFortunately management managementFortunately I managementI Fortunately the Ringi Rmgl Ringl ng reces recession reccssion , sion has not made itself felt lelt so soacutely soacutely soacutely acutely among the lesser c rcuses reuses rcusesProbably reusesProbably reusesProbably Probably it s because these smaller smallerun smallerinn un inn ts is play largely to non me met met-opohtan met opohtan ' ' 'opoh opoh opoli 'opohtan - ' opolitan tan audiences who haven t felt bad badbusmess badbusiness badbusiness busmess business cond tiona tlons tions so acutely Cer Certamly Certainly Certamly tamly tainly there s no drouth so tar far as asnumbers asnumbers asnumbers numbers are concerned the current currentseason currentseason currentseason season boasts six railroad raiIroad shows showstv.o showstwo showstv.o showstvo tv.o tvo ( ( two . . of them brand new ) and 16 to to20 20 truck shows Add to that more morethan morethan morethan than 150 carnivals and hundreds of offair offair offair fair and celebration celebrabon units and you youhave youhave youhave have a picture of the 1938 CirCUS CirCUSfield circusfield circusfield circusfieldTim field fieldTIm Tim McCoy of motion picture picturelame picturefame picturefame lame fame is reviving revlvmg the days of the 101 101Ranch 101Ranch 101Ranch Ranch and Buffalo Bill Clyde Beat Beatty Beatty Beatty ty and his cats frolic with the Cole ColeBrothers ColeBrothers ColeBrothers Brothers circus which wroch has a second secondshow secondshow secondshow show on the road under the name nameof nameof nameof of Robbms Robbins Brothers Then comes comesAl comesAI comesAl Al AI G Barnes Sells Floto circus and andthe andthe andthe the Hagenbeck Wallace WalIace show Most Mostof Mostof Mostof of these are railroad shows wIth with20 20 to 30 car tramsThis trainsThis trams trains tramsThis This year s experience in the c r rcus rcus rcus cus industry mdustry only goes to prove you youshould youshould youshould should never count chickens before beforethey beforethey beforethey they hatch Last April the boys m in mwmter inwinter inwinter wmter winter quarters said it Jt was going gomg to tobe tobe tobe be a b gger year than 199 ? ' ' wh ch chsomebody chsomebody chsomebody somebody is forever dragging draggmg out of ofthe ofthe ofthe the closet for purposes of compan compare companson compareson companson son They looked at the greatest greatestadvance greatestadvance greatestadvance advance demand for bookings bookmgs smce since smcethe sincethe sincethe the present preset ' ! crop of o1 sawdust was wasan wasan wasan an acorn and they looked back on ontwo ontwo ontwo two preceding precedmg seasons that v ere the thebest thebest thebest best m yearsFrom yearsFrom years yearsFrom From George A Hamid of New NewYork NewYork NewYork York one of the biggest eastern easternbookers easternbookers easternhookers bookers of 01 acts for lor circuses laIrs fairs laIrscarnIvals fairscarnivals fairscarnivals carnIvals and celebrat ons came re reports reports reports ports that the demand for new and andunusual andunusual andunusual unusual acts far exceeded the sup supply supply supply supplyWe ply plyWe plyWe We could book hundreds more I if ! ifwe itwe we could find them he said The Thedemand Thedemand Thedemand demand for acts for celebratIons celebratIonssuch celebrationssuch celebrationssuch such as those around the Fourth of ofJuly ofJuly ofJuly July is three timeshat times \ what \\hat hat \ it was last lastyear lastyear lastyear lastyearCircus year yearCIrcus yearCircus Circus in RetrospectOld RetrospectOld Retrospect RetrospectOld Old P T Barnum were he al a1 ve ye vetoda yetoday vetodaj toda today : > . m ght say the industry mdustry has hasbecome hasbecome hasbecome become so big beg and complex that it s scollapsmg scollapsing scollapsing collapsmg collapsing The man who started startedout startedout startedout out many years ago with a com corn comb cornb cornb b ned museum menagerie c rcus rcusmIght rcusmight rcusmight mIght scot scoff ! at the hage huge mshtutlOn institution mshtutlOnhIs institutionhis institutionhis hIs successors now tote aroundCertainly around aroundCertainly Certainly Certamly it Jt s a far lar cry back to the themght thenight thenight mght night of April Apnl 22 1793 when George George\\ George Georgeashmgton \ % \ \ ashmgton ashington watched John Bill Rick Ricketts Ricketts etts leap through tl1rough a hoop from the theback theback theback back of his galloping gallopmg horse regam regain regamhIs regainhis regainhis hIs footing footmg and do a dance on the thesaddle thesaddle thesaddle saddle That was one ol of o1 the simple simpleJO simplejoys simplejoss JO joys ) s of a simple people yet cIrcus cIrcusshowmansh circusshowmansh circusshowmansh showmansh p today is substant ally allythe allythe allythe the same merely augmented augmentedIt It can be recalled that even In Inthe inthe intho the earl carl or er days the circus was a ahumbug ahumbug ahumbug humbug propos proposit It on P T Barnum Barnuman an old man \ when \ hen he reached the theprime theprune theprune prime prune of circus life chortled wIth wIthin withinward within-ftard within ftard in inward " - ard glee glce at be ng called thegreatest thegreatest the thegreatest greatest humbug of 01 his time He Heknew Heknew Heknew knew the value of advert s ng and andwas andwas andwas was a genius gcmus at gett ng his name m in mthe inthe inthe the paper , It Its s interest mterest ng rig to speculatehat speculate \\hat hat what whatwill \ whatwill hatwIll wIll become of the dainty damty I'rench Irench french I'renchequestrIenne frenchequestrienne ' Frenchequestrienne equestrIenne and the almond eyed eyedmaid eyedmaid eyedmaid maid from Tokyo the Hindu Hmdu mys rays mystic mysbc raystic bc tic and the rosy cheeked Engl1sh English Engl1shathlete Englishathlete Englishathlete athlete all of them members memhers of the Rmgl Ringl theRing theRmgl theRingl ! ng circus all of 01 them tempo temporar1ly temporarily temporarily rar1ly rarily out of a job now that the Big theBig One has closed shop for the theyear theyear theyear theyearFor year yearFor roadthis For old foUoers follow foUo\ foUo \ , ers of 01 the open road roadthis willbe thiS thiS111 mil \\111 111 twill \ be a catastrophe It wIll be summer with no circus tent to tomove tomove move night Dlght after n ght no blaring mld\\ mld mlday midway blaringmidway blaringmld \ Just ay summer with . green greengrass greengrass greengrass grass b rds and fl tiee fiee ee air a phe phenomenon phenomenon phenomenon nomenon many of them have never before neverbefore seenThIs seenThis seen This summer J y } ou oure re apt to find findsome findsome |