And it was.
When the Barnum and Bailey and Ringling Bros. circus came to town, it was the Greatest Show on Earth, and an event that every Boomer child looked forward to seeing.
It all started when the Ringling brothers traveled to New England to see the established Barnum and Bailey Circus. The two circuses then agreed to divide the U.S. rather than compete head-to-head. The Ringling’s established their headquarters in Chicago while Barnum and Bailey stayed in New York. Neither would intrude on the other’s region.
In 1907, they would combine. Soon the Ringling circus featured more than 1,000 employees, 335 horses, 26 elephants, 16 camels and other assorted animals that traveled on 92 railcars and in 1950 they rolled into town.
Well, I remember my first circus in Beckley, WV. There was a parade of clowns and elephants downtown and I begged Daddy to take me. Mom stayed home with my baby brother, Pat, and Daddy and I went one night to see the circus. It was set up just outside the city limits, I think it was in Shady Springs, but a huge tent lay on the horizon with Ferris Wheels spinning among the bright lights.
We took in the whole show. There were cages of tigers and lions, monkeys, and giraffes. We saw the booths of featuring tattooed ladies and sword swallowers and even one for the smallest man on earth.
But the show that dazzled was the Three Ring Circus under the Big Top. Trapeze artists were the first to arrive and it frightened me just to see them ascend to the heights on a single strand of rope. Then, they flew through the air grasping hands as they connected to the gasps below of the packed crowd. No one fell, thank goodness. Then a man holding a long bar tip tiptoed across a rope, seemingly ready to tumble down with each step. The clowns were next, a half dozen bursting from a tiny car where they had squeezed in. They were funny and we laughed. The lion tamer followed, then the trained elephants standing on their haunches. It was all spectacular. On the way back to the car we bought some cotton candy which I proceeded to get all over my face.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017, in Uniondale, New York. But on a dark, summer night many years ago, I went to bed with all the dazzling sights etched into my mind, and to this day I vividly remember seeing the Greatest Show on Earth.