When circuses or medicine shows traveled by wagons, they would jump from town to town, balancing an intricate equilibrium of debts and sales along the way. Often times, they would receive goods from a community on loan, and it was not uncommon for the troupe to pack it up and haul out in the middle [...]
It is a serious understatement to say that Ned Kronberg has been been bitten by the circus bug. After a lifetime surrounding himself with circus culture, this enthusiast boasts the following achievements: Volunteer at Circus World Museum for over 40 years, where he’s helped restore a few wagons and been highly involved with the Great [...]
Circus wagons have always been numbered. This helped to maintain order on cluttered lots. Workers, however, developed nicknames for various wagons or train cars. For example, the cars that housed single women were commonly referred to as “virgin’s cars” and the dining car was called the “pie car.”
Water for Elephants, the movie based on Sara Gruen’s novel, is in mid-production and utilizing Baraboo’s Circus World Museum for help with the set. The movie directors are using 15 of the museum’s restored wagons to create an authentic set. The production teams also recreated old black and white photographs dating back to the 1920s [...]
Circus wagons were a primary form of transportation for circuses during the Golden Era. Even after circuses began moving by trains, wagons were still used in parades. The wagons themselves were feats of engineering and carried a hefty price tag. Only the biggest circuses could afford to commission custom wagons. After a few seasons of [...]
In Southampton, England, a mobile ticket trailer crashed into residential flats earlier this week. The trailer belonged to the Moscow State Circus. The residents were evacuated, and there are no known injuries at this time. Structural damage, however, may be severe and as many as seven flats may need serious work. Read more here. Now [...]
I have found a restored circus wagon for sale, and anyone with about $19,000 laying around might be interested in this. Circus wagons were typically highly decorated, works of art. They served to transport the circus before the days of trains, but they also served as advertising. The wagons would be featured in the free [...]