" RINGLING BROTHERS AND CIRCUS WORLD MUSEUM”
Welcome to the gem of Baraboo known as the Circus World Museum, because Baraboo was home to the Ringling Brothers. The Ringling Brothers Circus was founded here in in 1884 by five brothers: Al, Otto, Charles, John and Alf T. Ringling. Over six seasons, the circus expanded from a wagon show to a railroad show with 225 employees, touring cities across the United States each summer. Their successful circus wintered in Baraboo until 1918, the year before it merged with the Barnum & Bailey Show (which the Ringlings purchased in 1907) to become the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, the Greatest Show on Earth. The combined entity was very successful and is the largest surviving circus company in the United States.
In 1954, John M. Kelley, a former attorney for the Ringling Brothers, incorporated Circus World Museum with the intent of forming a museum of the Ringling Brothers Circus and circus history in general. By this time the popularity of circuses and other live shows was declining in favor of new media, such as television. After an initial period of organization and fundraising, the museum acquired a large site in Baraboo that included the former wintering grounds of the Ringling Brothers Circus. This site was deeded to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (now called the Wisconsin Historical Society) to be used as the museum's location, and Circus World Museum opened to the public on July 1, 1959.
Owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the museum sits on some of the land owned by the Ringlings, and includes eight of the ten remaining Ringling buildings on the grounds. Circus World Museum holds one of the largest collections of circus materials in the world, including circus wagons, posters, photography, and artifacts used by shows from all over the United States. The museum also has smaller collections of Wild West shows and carnival materials.
You will find this cache at N44 32.AAA W90 00.BCD
A = Under the big top of a large circus, how many circus rings would you expect (Hint: Use an idiom meaning “a lot of noisy or confused activity” It’s a ___ Ring Circus)?
B = How many seasons did the circus expand from a wagon show to a railroad show? Minus 4.
C = Circus World Museum opened to the public on July 1, 195C.
D = How many Ringling Brothers were involved in the Circus?