Barnum and Bailey Ringling Brothers Circus in York-
share your memories--
How many times did the Barnum and Bailey Circus come to York? JimmyBear
24-June 09 from:www. inyork.com
24-June 09 from:www. inyork.com
I just visited the Circus model builders' display at the 2010 York Fair.
Everyone should see this display in Memorial Hall. It is terrific! The models of the big top and circus trains bring back many memories of attending circuses as a kid. Around 1953-1954 Barnum and Bailey"s Circus came to York. It did not set up on the York Fairgrounds. One of the reasons was that in those days it was very difficult to get approval to use the Fair Ground for any purpose other than Fair Week. It was also too expensive to rent. So, the Greatest Show on Earth set up in the field west of the fairgrounds in what is part of the West York high School campus today.
I will always remember that day because my mother took me there to watch the workers set up the big top. I was fascinated as I watched the elephants holding poles that supported the canvas for the big top. It was quite entertaining to see the workers drive the tent stakes into the ground. Three workers would stand around a tent stake and in perfect harmony would hit the stake like a piece of well oiled machinery -1-2-3 and it was in the ground and they would move onto the next stake and drive it in the ground.
I remember seeing baby lion cubs in wagon cages and a man wanted to stick his arm and hand in the cage to play with them and the circus trainer warned him, saying that just the week before they tore off the arm of a man who did the same. I still remember the colorful circus parade which proceeded around the outside of the of the three rings. The pretty girls riding on top of painted elephants with matching colored dresses and dyed hair. While the show went on I couldn't concentrate because under the bleachers at the base of the the big top were these lions guarding the big top lest someone would sneak in the circus under the canvas wall of the tent without paying. I looked at them and was frightened. I told my mom about the lions and then she said they weren't lions but fawn colored Great Danes guarding to make sure no one sneaked into the circus without paying.
As a little boy I was fascinated by high flying trapeze artists. and the man shot out of the cannon. I also remember seeing the ticket lady who was a midget, suffering from the heat. She had a huge chunk of ice ( probably 8 -12 inches long) which she would rub on her forehead occasionally to keep cool.
Does anyone else have memories of the Barnum and Bailey's Circus or other circuses that came to York? Please share them. Does anyone know the last time Ringling Brothers Barnum Bailey Circus came to York? What was the last year Ringling Brothers Circus came to York?
I will always remember that day because my mother took me there to watch the workers set up the big top. I was fascinated as I watched the elephants holding poles that supported the canvas for the big top. It was quite entertaining to see the workers drive the tent stakes into the ground. Three workers would stand around a tent stake and in perfect harmony would hit the stake like a piece of well oiled machinery -1-2-3 and it was in the ground and they would move onto the next stake and drive it in the ground.
I remember seeing baby lion cubs in wagon cages and a man wanted to stick his arm and hand in the cage to play with them and the circus trainer warned him, saying that just the week before they tore off the arm of a man who did the same. I still remember the colorful circus parade which proceeded around the outside of the of the three rings. The pretty girls riding on top of painted elephants with matching colored dresses and dyed hair. While the show went on I couldn't concentrate because under the bleachers at the base of the the big top were these lions guarding the big top lest someone would sneak in the circus under the canvas wall of the tent without paying. I looked at them and was frightened. I told my mom about the lions and then she said they weren't lions but fawn colored Great Danes guarding to make sure no one sneaked into the circus without paying.
As a little boy I was fascinated by high flying trapeze artists. and the man shot out of the cannon. I also remember seeing the ticket lady who was a midget, suffering from the heat. She had a huge chunk of ice ( probably 8 -12 inches long) which she would rub on her forehead occasionally to keep cool.
Does anyone else have memories of the Barnum and Bailey's Circus or other circuses that came to York? Please share them. Does anyone know the last time Ringling Brothers Barnum Bailey Circus came to York? What was the last year Ringling Brothers Circus came to York?
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