Circus Parades

We spent a quiet "rest-up" day at home today, so I thought I'd share some more of the pictures I took at the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota. These are all pictures of the very detailed models of the circus parades. This one is one of the band wagons -- the ladies on their wagon are a bit risque'. I wonder if anyone was even looking at the players in the band. (The models are displayed behind glass with a mirrored wall behind them, so it looks as though they are all doubled...)

This is another fanciful band wagon. Unfortunately you can also see me in the mirror...

The costumes for both humans and animals were very elaborate. We saw a life-size brocade elephant cover similar to these that was on display. It was very big -- and heavy!

These beautiful matched horses were costumed as winged creatures pulling a wagon. Can you imagine how much work it must have been to make those costumes, then pack them up almost daily to get ready for another show in another town?

Having watched the chaos of attempted ostrich racing in Arizona last year, I marvel that these birds were actually trained to pull a wagon as well as being ridden.

This is another band wagon pulled by matched dapple grays --

I had to use a pretty wide lens to get a picture of this entire hitch of a dozen matched white horses pulling yet another band wagon --

It is my understanding that all of these models -- and this is just a sampling -- were actual replicas of circus parades. I think the era of the parade from the train station to the circus grounds must have been something else again. I was grateful that these model builders at least gave me a glimpse of what it must have been like.