Zanesville was all abuzz for the circus that didn't comes to town

Although only 5-years-old, I was excited to hear in July 1956, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” the famous Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, was coming to our town. Hopefully, since we lived just one block from the fairgrounds, Dad would take my siblings and me to this great event.

This was no run of the mill organization. The Ringling Circus had its start in 1884 as a small wagon show. By joining with Barnum & Bailey in 1919, it became the world's largest circus.

A few days before the circus' planned arrival, advance men came to Zanesville to stir up interest. In the July 13, 1956, edition of the Zanesville Signal, there was a picture of a baby elephant with the following caption: “Little Mo, baby of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circuses, greeted Janet Ingram when her trainer, Ed Healey, took her to the Avondale Children's Home. Healey put Little Mo through her paces for the children. The circus will show at the fairgrounds Wednesday afternoon and night.”

On July 15, the Signal featured photographs of a leopard, a giraffe and a lion from the circus: “Here are some outstanding 'citizens' of the animal world which will form an important part of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus... At left is the leopard Kilimanjaro, reputed to have been a member of the cast of 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro.' In the center, the towering giraffe, Tanganyika, finds it an easy chore to accept a sweet morsel from the fingers of lovely Viola Sarasota.”

At the age of 5, I was much more interested in the animals than I was in the decidedly beautiful Miss Sarasota. The picture on the right was a huge lion allegedly presented to the circus by Haile Selassi, the Emperor of Ethiopia.

On July 16 the Signal had a photograph of three men accompanied by the following paragraph: “William J. Lester … of Roseville, retired circus press agent, discusses publicity layout with Howard Y. Bary, …, advance man for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey show which is scheduled to play here Wednesday. Lester's son, Allen Lester, …, also of Roseville, has been a circus publicity man for 20 years. They got together the other day for lunch at Hotel Zane.”

Even the children at the school playgrounds were catching the “circus fever.” For instance, in the July 15 edition of the Signal, the readers learned “It's Circus Week, but the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey show at the fairgrounds on Wednesday won't be the only event to attract the attention of the city's youngsters.

“The Lincoln playground will stage a circus on Thursday night. The highlight will be a stuffed-animal parade. Lots of other big events, ranging from bubble blowing contests to bike parades are on the week's schedule at the various playgrounds.”

The next day hundreds of people were saddened, and perhaps even angered, by the headline in the Signal: “ Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, long billed as 'The Greatest Show on Earth,' announced today it is folding its circus tent tonight and returning to winter quarters at Sarasota, Florida.”

Furthermore, “As a result of today's announcement in Pittsburgh, Ringling's circus will not appear here Wednesday. The circus had planned for afternoon and evening shows at the fairgrounds. Tickets purchased in advance for the show at the Gallaher Drug Store will be redeemed for cash Tuesday and Wednesday, it was announced this afternoon by Frank Pietras, ticket sales agent for the Ringling show.”

John Ringling North, the board chairman and head of the circus, made the following statement: “The tented circus as it now exists is, in my opinion, a thing of the past. We are considering plans for the future which may involve an almost completely mechanically controlled exhibition.”

He continued: “(An) all new 87 ^th presentation of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows will open as usual on April 3, 1957, at Madison Square Garden in New York and will play the 1957 season in other air-conditioned arenas all over the United States.”

According to a Wikipedia article, John Ringling North was the president of the circus from 1937 to 1943 and then served in that position once more from 1947 to 1967. He died at the age of 81 in Brussels, Belgium. The family sold the circus in 1967, ending 80 years of Ringling control.

On July 17, the Signal questioned the fate of the circus performers and other employees: “North could not be reached for comment and nobody else in authority with the circus would say what will become of the 800 to 1,000 persons on the payroll. Miss Pinito del Oro, a headline aerialist from Spain, said she doesn't know what she'll do. 'There are a lot of people with the circus from Europe,' she said. 'I don't know how they'll get enough money to get back home.'”

At least one person criticized the circus's management: “Jackie Bright, national administrative secretary of the American Guild of Variety Artists, said North 'lost faith with the public' and 'did not revitalize the circus as it should be but developed a glorified night club routine.'”

The Signal, again on July 17, stated: “Labor trouble, bad weather, rising costs, and other factors such as television, which cut into attendance, put an end to the tent show. Gone will be the big top, the sideshows, and the midway, where wide-eyed youngsters strolled with their parents and enjoyed peanuts, cotton candy, and bright-hued dolls and other trinkets.”

That same day, the Signal's sister paper, the Times Recorder, added: “Closing of the Big Top apparently meant the end of an era in American entertainment-an era that began in the late 19th century.”

Lewis LeMaster is a retired teacher of the Zanesville area.

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Zanesville was all abuzz for the circus that didn't comes to town