16. The Feld Entertainment era of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey
Irvin Feld was a music entrepreneur who ran several record stores and managed various pop and rock acts in the 1950s and 1960s. He credited himself for having discovered Paul Anka, though evidence to support the assertion is slim. Nonetheless Feld Entertainment, which included his brother Israel and a partner, Roy Hofheinz, a Houston lawyer and judge, enjoyed considerable success. Meanwhile, the age of prosperity for the circus had come to an end as other forms of entertainment post-World War II, including television and motion pictures, sports events, and recreational activities stripped the circus of its audience. The growing popularity of zoos also stripped the circus of the awe its audience once expressed over its wild animals.
In 1956, in an effort to control costs, the decision was made to remove the Big Top and other tents and outdoor displays, including the sideshows, from the circus presentations. On July 16, 1956, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus performed for the last time under the Big Top in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Moving the show into indoor arenas around the country necessitated the hiring of local and regional promoters to hype the show prior to it arriving in town, replacing the circus parade which had been part of the tradition whenever the circus arrived. One of the organizations hired by John Ringling North and then circus director Arthur Concello was Feld Entertainment, brought in to promote in the circus in the Michigan and Pennsylvania regions, as well as others as scheduling dictated.