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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 3436920, member: 101855&quot;]After those setbacks it appeared that Barnum&#039;s days as an entertainer were over. He agreed to lend his name to another Manhattan museum that was operated by businessman, George Wood. In 1870 a circus entrepreneur, W.C. Coup, and a professional clown, Dan Castello, approached Barnum about starting a traveling show. Their intent was to use Barnum&#039;s name to front the organization, but Barnum was intrigued by the idea and dove into the development of the project completely.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;P.T. Barnum&#039;s Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome&quot; opened on April 10, 1871 in Brooklyn, New York. For many years the standard schedule for the circus was to open in the early spring in New York City at a fixed venue, like Madison Square Garden. During the warm weather months the shows moved every night from town to town and were performed under a large tent.</p><p><br /></p><p>When the show went on the road, it required 100 wagons, 250 horses and 275 teamsters to move it. In 1872 Coup developed the idea of moving the show on a railroad train. The new main tent could seat 12,000 people and second ring was added to entertain the crowd. For the first time, the circus was labeled, &quot;The greatest show on earth,&quot; was also billed as &quot;A traveling world&#039;s fair.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Another fire destroyed a large portion of the show at the end of 1872, but it hardly deterred Barnum. By the spring of 1873, &quot;The greatest show on earth,&quot; was back up and running again better than ever with an even larger &quot;big top&quot; that could seat 13,000. The show included live and stuffed animals, &quot;Human Curiosities&quot; and large array of circus acts. Patrons could see everything for a 50 cent ticket. Children were admitted for a quarter and reserved seats were 75 cents. Gross receipts soared from an amazing $1 million in 1872 to an incredible $5 million in 1873 when Barnum and his partners shared $750,000 in profits.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Panic of 1873, which was a major 19th economic downturn, did not immediately effect Barnum&#039;s receipts, but as the depression continued, it cut into his receipts and profits. In April 1874 Barnum opened a new, larger show, &quot;P.T. Barnum&#039;s Great Roman Hippodrome.&quot; He staged it at the former site of the Harlem Railway buildings. The venue was surrounded by brick walls and covered with an 80 foot stretch of canvas that protected an oval track that measured about a fifth of mile. Numerous attractions including exotic animals, foreign people in native costumes and circus act performers paraded around the oval.</p><p><br /></p><p>This production was not a financial success when it opened in New York, and it did no better when Barnum took it on the road.&nbsp; The receipts and net income were disappointing. The show&#039;s failure led to a less than civil parting of ways between Barnum and W.C. Coup. From the mid 1870s until 1880, Barnum teamed with other investors.</p><p><br /></p><p>The success of Barnum&#039;s &quot;railroad circus&quot; prompted competitors to emulate his operation. One of the most successful of those rival operations was the Great London Show, which was run by James Bailey. The two combined their operations to form a single circus that was called &quot;Barnum and London&quot; from 1881 to &#039;86 and then &quot;Barnum and Bailey&quot; from 1887 to 1919. Bailey, who was a meticulous business manager, took charge of the day to day operations. He introduced electric lighting to the show, the third ring of entertainment and found innovative ways move the operation from place to place. Barnum was in charge of advertising and supplied much of the capital.</p><p><br /></p><p>Jumbo the elephant was Barnum&#039;s most spectacular attraction during his circus years. Jumbo stood over 12 feet tall and weighed over six tons. He was 24 years old when Barnum acquired him from the Royal Zoological Society in London for $10,000. The British people objected to the sale, but Barnum was able to complete the deal.</p><p><br /></p><p>Jumbo was an African elephant which made him less predictable and harder than handle than his Asian counterparts. For that reason he came with his own handler, Mathew Scott, and could not be led down the streets of New York during the annual circus parade like most Barnum elephants. Instead he was caged and pulled by a team of horses and elephants. Nevertheless his immense size made Jumbo an immediate sensation, and audiences clamored to see him. Newspapers claimed that circus customers were in the enthrallment of &quot;Jumbomania.&quot; Jumbo&#039;s career was cut short in 1885 when he was killed in a railroad accident. Yet Barnum was able to salvage one more year out of his investment by displaying the Jumbo&#039;s skeleton and hide for a paid admission.</p><p><br /></p><p>Barnum suffered a stroke in 1890 and died the following year. After his death James Bailey continued to operate the circus until his death in 1906. The Ringling Brothers bought the show in 1907 and ran it as separate operation from their Ringling Brothers Circus until 1919. That year the surviving brothers merged the two shows to form the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus which has continued as a traveling show, later under new ownership. Earlier this year it was announced that the show will close in May thus ending a traveling show that toured for over 145 years.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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