Monday, January 17, 2011

Ringling Circus Museum -Circus Wagons

At the Ringling Circus Museum (next door to the Ca D Zan mansion) there are 2 buildings. VAST buildings. One contains circus memorabilia, such as costumes, wagons, railcars and posters. The other museum is filled with a minature circus.
                                                Human Canonball truck

My brother said, 'I want a job as a human cannonball.' I said, 'I'll bet you get fired.'  author unknown


                    calliope above



Ok, so some of you may be thinking "Madsnapper is a few clowns short of a circus"
so here is the Clown Car..... sorry No Clowns. Just ME!
 'Did you hear about the dog who went to a flea circus?'



'No, what happened?'


'He stole the show



Above is Punch and Judy stage. All of these were used to move the Circus by train, and from train into town.
Coming Soon (tomorrow)
carousel animals and how they make them...

21 comments:

DawnTreader said...

Wow. What an unusual collection. And what a spectacle it must have been back in the days when people were not as spoiled with entertainment as we are today!

Dawning Inspiration said...

OH wow - when did you get to go see this? cool stuff!!

MedaM said...

What an interesting and unusual collection, indeed! I really like it. :-)
In my previous comment I forgot to say that I love your header very much.

Unknown said...

I love your header photo.
The trailers are fantastic, they are so detailed and ornamental. I wonder how old they are ? some of them have old looking wheels.
I've been to the circus but never to the parade's they used to advertise when they came to town.

Ann said...

Those are fantastic.Can you imagine seeing that traveling down the road today?
Duke says he doesn't want to go to any flea circus...lol

Madeline said...

Great pictures. I too am amazed by the detail and artistry that went into these cars.

George said...

Circus wagons are beautifully ornate. Thanks for sharing them with us. I enjoyed the clown car as well.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

The circus is a memory I cherish. It was the first live entertainment I got to experience. Love your photos.

S. Etole said...

intriguing sights ... and more smiles at your jokes

RoeH said...

My gosh the ornamental things there. Love the header. How fun!

Christine said...

Sandra those circus wagons are beautiful works of art. Great photos!

Ginny Hartzler said...

That header!!!!I had just got up, and nearly jumped through the roof when I saw it!!! Ha ha ha! Don't need any coffee now!! It is wonderful. With all the colorful circus things you could have used, yet you created something, and it's spectacular! I'm assuming you did make it and it's not a poster or something? I love the rest, the calliope is very cool, I can almost hear it playing. I knew that had to be the clown car before I even read it! How neat. Looks like it was out of reach so you couldn't pek inside and see the secret. We love Laurel and Hardy, that dancing thing is strange, I can't tell what it is, hand puppets, maybe. Love the jokes, can't wait to see the rest...and I mean the REST, I want to see it all, I don't care how many posts. Especially when you get to the building with the minatures!

Chatty Crone said...

Your pictures are AWESOME. Sandie

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

What a totally interesting and unique collection. Your pictures are just fantastic and love the funny puns! Heeehehehe!

God bless and have a marvelous day sweetie!!!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great post, Sandra.. I remember when the circus came into our town.. They did come on train ---and had to unload the animals and take the single file to the big top.... People would flock to see the train come into town and then to see the animals... I used to LOVE going to the circus... I remember all of those things you photographed from the museum. I love Calliopes...

Thanks.
Hugs,
Betsy

Remington said...

SMILING! These pics are just beautiful! I had Mike look at your blog yesterday. We went back a ways and he was REALLY impressed. He said "that lady has talent"! Just thought I would let you know!

Kilauea Poetry said...

What a cool post..really enjoy these and all the circus engravings..wow, your so lucky to visit and photograph all of it!! I loved all the Laurel & Hardy re-runs when I was young..I used to rent the flicks and watch them with my boys when they were growing up too!

Kilauea Poetry said...

Sandra..forgot to mention your header..oh so cool!! Just love it!!

SquirrelQueen said...

No wonder folks were thrilled when the circus came to town, can you imagine how it must have looked when those wagons rolled down Main street? Great shots Sandra.

srp said...

Who didn't love the circus as a child? This brings back a lot of memories. Beautiful memories from times past!

LC said...

WOW!