Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My...
and the Carnivals too

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Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey last played Anderson on July 18, 1955 just a year before they retired their Big Top and went off of the road on July 16, 1956 and began the schedule that they currently use. The show was not well attended. That is all the more remarkable when considering that the Cole Bros. show playing Athletic Park a year or so later was a sell out, but the era of the Circus Train visits to smaller communities had come to an end and would be relegated to history and memory.

It's 1946 and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has come to town. Sections one and two are in position to begin unloading.

And this is the setup for the circus exhibit at the Madison County Historical Society, Inc. It was created by Robert Trueblood (deceased 2017). I had a terrible time getting him to give the layout to the Museum of Madison County History. He had it stored in the attic of his garage (not good). I had talked him into an exhibit earlier and I worked on him on and off about presenting it to us. He finally said he might but he wanted to do another exhibit with it first. We set it up in parts for display in the lower level and he sat by it all throught the Christmas display. When it was over, he said, "I'll sign it over to you." We immediately moved things around and put in into a permanent place where it is now. Bob died last year (2017) but he and others were in a few weeks before he died and he was busy showing them the details of his layout. His memory was fantastic.