Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 24

Decatur, Blinoi, Sunday, February 28, 1951 24 DECATUR SUNDAY HERALD AND REVIEW rWf Vr jj PniT fv VJ. 5 Three elephants pull a tableau rade. The tableau wagons were: one time but have disappeared 5w-j- jmm I1 ''-x i vagon in a Ringling circus pa- an important part of 'parades at fromuse. vvVij-j i -r-vAv iirT4 11 111 -rsr-v I Elephants were a big attraction only visit to Decatur in 1898. In that now houses Greider's Cafe- rice for American circus themselves in ordinary chairs on in the Adam Eorspaugh Sells this picture it is moving up North teria.

The elephant riders are' on Two of the riders are balancing top of the platforms. Brothers circus, which made its Main Street, past the building howdahs, a fairly unusual prac- Old Pictures Show Circuses That Visited Early Decatur iiriimmimii iimt. nim This bell wagon still exists in Hagenbeck-Wallace circus in by Ringling Brothers-Barnum James K. Stafford, who faithfully 30 circus parade pictures talsen the circus museum at Sarasota, 1934. It was used as late as 1950 Bailey.

recorded daily events in Decatur by Stattord. lhey were included Ea. It last paraded here with the 1 .1 among the collection of negatives rescued from the attic of the old about 1900, was an enthusiastic I circus-goer, if the number of glass photographic negatives in his collec Statlord house and preserved by Mr. and. Mrs.

Jack French of Cerro Gordo. tion is any indication. The pictures were selected from If. 5 VVv "4 -3qfr5- iMiri The calliope was the last wagon Bamum Bailey and was in De-in all traditional parades. This catur in 1908.

one belongs to Ringling Brothers- Usually almost all animals ex- circus wagons, but the Ring- camel hitch and tableau cept camels could be seen pulling ling circus in 1908 had this 16- The No. 1 bandwagon of the 20-horse hitch. There were usual- parade, with, some circuses having Forepaugh-Sells circus featured a Iy three or four bands in every mounted bands. Persons" familiar with circus this was the custom in and follow to the grounds for the parade lore point to the carriages the days when circuses still pa- show. Seated comfortebly onthe lawn pass in the Ringling circus parade ago when cities started putting in on the wagons.

There wUl be a this summer, with pneumatic tire of the public library, Decatur resi- of about 1911. Circuses began to asphalt streets, which were cut by couple of circuses parading again overcoming the dries' objections. ilsnK ujjtrhM this snake tnvp im mnmn in 1 a dents watched this snake wagon parading 10 15 give up or years the big, narrow-rimmed wheels following behmd tne calliope in raded tor people to rail in berund i.