20. The end of the Greatest Show on Earth
By the beginning of the 21st century Ringling Brothers was being beaten in attendance by, of all things, another circus, more upscale in presentation and drawing a more upscale audience – Cirque de Soleil. Ringling Brothers attempted to compete with a new show it called Barnum’s Kaleidoscope, but was unsuccessful. The circus was also by then absorbing legal expenditures over lawsuits regarding its abuses of animals, especially elephants, and other issues. In 2014 the circus won a countersuit and a judgment of over $25 million, but the following year succumbed to the continuing pressure and announced the elephants would be retired. The elephants were moved to the Center for Elephant Conservation, founded by Ringling Brothers in Florida in 1995.
In January 2017, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, the Greatest Show on Earth, announced its schedule for the year would include 30 performances, with differing shows depending on location, and that the May 21, 2017 performance at Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum would be its last. The Greatest Show on Earth succumbed to heavy operating expenses, increased competition from other forms of entertainment, pressure from groups protesting what they perceived as animal cruelty, and most of all, an increasingly indifferent audience, no longer struck with awe at the sight of the tattooed man, the bearded lady, the lion tamer, and the trained elephant. The world simply outgrew the Greatest Show on Earth.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Elephant Story: Jumbo and P. T. Barnum Under the Big Top”. Les Harding. 2000
“Very Special People”. Frederick Dimmer. 1973
“Arthur Concello”. Obituary, The Telegraph. July 12, 2001
“The Greatest Show on Earth: Notes”. Turner Classic Movies. Online
“The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy”. Stewart O’Nan. 2001
“Emmett Kelly”. Entry, Kansapedia, Kansas Historical Society. Online
“Wallenda: A Biography of Karl Wallenda”. R. Morris. 1976
“Think Your Office is a Circus?” Joan Tupponce, Virginia Business Magazine. July 29, 2009