The Last Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus
Circa 2017
After a 6-year hiatus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus returned to the road in September 2023. The first show appeared in Bossier City, Louisiana and visited more than 50 cities in North America. This circus features a human-only lineup, with no animal acts. The new show features a variety of human performers including acrobats, clowns and other skilled athletes.
Howard Tibbals
(1936-2022)
Howard Tibbals longtime philanthropist and creator of the Howard Bros. Circus Model, was born on August 10, 1936. In honor of Howard's amazing legacy of circus history stewardship, here are some facts you may not know about this 3,800 square foot model circus, on view in the Tibbals Learning Center.
Over 3 million people have seen the Howard Bros. Circus Model at The Ringling. Before it became part of The Ringling's permanent collection, the model toured the United States, charming audiences all over the country, including including The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan; the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC; the Museum of Science and Industry in Rochester, New York and even the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN.
The model includes over 42,000 pieces. Howard continued to add to the model throughout his life. Museum visitors would occasionally see him popping up through the access hatches inside the glass case, making additions or adjustments.
There is an extensive electrical, lighting and audio/visual network underneath the model. This "basement" under the Big Top", invisible to visitors, is about 8 feet high and allows staff to undate and repair the model's lights, sounds and videos as needed.
The construction of the Howard Bros. Model Circus officially began in 1956 when Howard was a freshman in college although he'd fallen in love with the circus years before as a young child. For more than sixty years after he first began, Howard devoted many hours every week to building pieces for the model. The last wagon was added on April of 2021. Howard passed in March of 2022.
The model is historically accurate. It is 3/4" scale and represents the tented Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus of the early 20th century. Howard definitely did his research while creating the model! He began collecting material documenting circus history. Today, the Tibbals Circus Collection includes photographs, posters, advertising materials, programs, scrapbooks, correspondence, design drawings, costumes and prop as well as more than two thousand books related to the circus. Thousands of pieces in the Tibbals Circus Collection have been digitized and can be viewed online at emuseum.ringling.org
No details were overlooked even though the average visitor may never see them. The model of the ticket wagon, where circus attendees would purchase their tickets, has doors and windowsthat actually open. Inside the wagon,there is a safe with rolls of cash and cabinets that open to reveal books. Every piece, no matter how tiny, is documented and carefully tracked by the museum's staff.
The Howard Bros. Circus Model celebrates the magic of the American circus and shares that magic with visitors from all over the world. The museum is grateful for Howard Tibbal's lifelong dedication to this project and for how it continues to inspire collective imaginations.
If you have never been to see this remarkable lifetime achievement, I urge you to visit Sarasota the next time you are in the State of Florida. When you go, see if you can find these marvelous minature details during your visit.
..a tumble off a bicycle..
..a performer washing her hair..
..a runaway elephant..
..a daring dive inside the big top..
Howard named the circus after himself though that wasn't his original plan! As a young man, Howard wrote to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus asking their permission to use their logos and names on his model. Permission was denied, so he named the circus Howard Bros. instead!
Thank you, Howard
Job Well Done
RIP
No comments:
Post a Comment