8. The Ringling Brothers took over Barnum and Bailey’s Circus
In 1907 the remaining Ringling Brothers involved with the circus which bore their name took over Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, and continued to operate it independently of Ringling Brothers for several years. Ownership of both allowed the circuses to present shows at locations which were planned in advance to avoid competing for the same audiences and entertainment dollars. Both circuses owned and operated their own railroad stock, leasing locomotives from the appropriate railroads for travel purposes. Meanwhile Charles Ringling, who was known as Mr. Charlie to circus employees, invested in large land tracts in and around Sarasota, Florida.
His brother John was responsible for bookings, Charles for day-to-day operations, and the other three brothers gradually reduced their involvement in the first decade of the twentieth century. In addition to owning their eponymous circus and Barnum and Bailey’s, the Ringling’s also controlled smaller traveling circuses which had been operated by Bailey’s, and by 1910 the Ringling’s had what amounted to a monopoly. By 1918, deaths within the brother’s ranks (Otto in 1911, Al in 1915, and Henry in 1918) and a shortage in labor caused by the First World War caused the surviving brothers to reconsider what would in a later day be called a business model.