Booklet: In Grand Combination P.T. Barnum and Co's Greatest Show on Earth and the Great London Circus and Adam Forepaugh's...
Booklet entitled In Grand Combination P.T. Barnum and Co's Greatest Show on Earth and the Great London Circus and Adam Forepaugh's New and Great... Show moreBooklet entitled In Grand Combination P.T. Barnum and Co's Greatest Show on Earth and the Great London Circus and Adam Forepaugh's New and Great Show Circus, Menagerie and Hippodrome. The cover is a dark reddish-brown with elaborate lettering. Depicted in the center of the cover is a woman standing atop a team of horses, riding them in front of a circus crowd. She is flanked by two circles that show a tiger on the left and a lion on the right. Heavily featured are write ups and illustrations of Maphoon and Moung-Phoset, billed as the Hairy Family of Burma; Agnes and William Henry Beckwith swimming in an artificial lake; the display of Jumbo's hide and skeleton; and other acts that include trick horses, wild animals, clowns, acrobats, and more. The back of the program features the date of the performance, Monday March 14th at Madison Square Garden, and gives staggering stats about the number of animals, acts, rings, and other elements of the combined circus. Barnum is best known for his involvement with the circus that bore his name, but his circus ventures came about when he was in his 60s. The first show was called P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Railroads propelled the circus to success, making it easier to reach a number of locations, and the intake was significant. Barnum then opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, he encountered competition from other circuses. A merger between Barnum's show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the Barnum and London Circus. Negotiations in 1887 formed the Barnum and Bailey circus. The name remained until 1919 when it became the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It came to an end in May 2017 when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus ceased performances after 146 years. Show less