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18-575: The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus was a circus that traveled across America in the early part of the 20th century. At its peak, it was the second-largest circus in America next to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was based in Peru, Indiana . Al G. Barnes Circus was an American circus run by Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse . The Sells Floto Circus was a combination of the Floto Dog and Pony Show and

36-741: A long list of circuses they owned, including Sells-Floto Circus and John Robinson Shows . Mugivan was the chief operations man. A year later, Mugivan and Bowers asked Ballard to join them and the trio formed the American Circus Company . The successor company of the American Circus Corporation was sold by Jeremiah Mugivan , Bert Bowers and Ed Ballard to John Nicholas Ringling of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey in 1929 for $ 1.7 million (US$ 30,200,000 in 2024), along with Al G. Barnes Circus , Sells-Floto Circus , John Robinson Shows , and Sparks Circus . The circus

54-516: A stable owner from Peru, Indiana , and his business partner, James Anderson, bought a circus in 1884 and created "The Great Wallace Show". The show gained some prominence when their copyright for advertising posters was upheld by the Supreme Court in Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Company . Wallace bought out his partner in 1890 and formed the "B. E. Wallace Circus". In 1907, Wallace purchased

72-672: The American Circus Corporation which consisted of Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus , the John Robinson Circus , the Sparks Circus , and the Al G. Barnes Circus . John Nicholas Ringling then bought American Circus Corporation for $ 1.7-million creating a monopoly of traveling circus in America. On April 17, 1908, the Sells-Floto circus appeared in Riverside CA . When the animals were ushered off

90-574: The Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States during the early 1900s. The John Robinson Circus was founded by John Robinson and Joseph Foster . Sparks Circus as established by John H. Wiseman (1863-1903). He used the name of Sparks on all of his entertainment shows and legally changed his name to John H. Sparks. He died on January 29, 1903. Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus The Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus

108-577: The Carl Hagenbeck Circus and merged it with his circus. The circus became known as the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus at that time, even though Carl Hagenbeck protested. He sued to prohibit the use of his name but lost in court. In March 1913, the circus lost 8 elephants , 21 lions and tigers and 8 performing horses in the Great Flood of 1913 . That same year, Wallace sold his interest in

126-878: The Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus. The play was written by Jay Torrence and directed by Torrence and Kristie Koehler. The show was remounted by the Neo-Futurists in the summer of 2007 at the Chicago Park District 's Theater on the Lake. In 2013, a production of the play was presented by Concordia University Chicago . This was followed in 2016 by a production at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire , directed by theatre faculty member Arthur Grothe. [REDACTED] Media related to Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus at Wikimedia Commons Sells-Floto Circus The Sells Floto Circus

144-530: The Ringling empire to falter. In 1935, the circus split from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey and became the Hagenbeck-Wallace and Forepaugh-Sells Bros. Circus. It finally ceased operations in 1938, seventy-nine years before Ringling itself closed. The complex near Peru that formerly housed the winter home of Hagenbeck-Wallace now serves as the home of the Circus Hall of Fame . The Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus

162-535: The Sells Brothers Circus, it was also a "combined" show. It later became the concessions department of Ringling Brothers Circus , along with Haggenback Wallace, who made the floats and other equipment. The circus had four elephant births, three born to "Alice" and one to "Mama Mary." The sire of all four was "Snyder." None survived longer than five months. By 1929, the Sells Floto Circus was part of

180-518: The books travel around the world to hunt animals for Hagenbeck's circus. Hagenbeck is also mentioned in the story " First Love " by Samuel Beckett , where the protagonist reminisces about a visit to Ohlsdorf Cemetery . He is also briefly mentioned in the novel, Water for Elephants . by Sara Gruen . In the fall of 2006 The Neo-Futurists theater company of Chicago mounted an original production entitled Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck! based on

198-480: The circus to Ed Ballard of French Lick, Indiana . Another tragedy struck the circus before 4:00 a.m. on June 22, 1918, in the Hammond Circus Train Wreck when the engineer of an empty troop train fell asleep, and collided into the rear of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus train near Hammond, Indiana . A fire broke out from the kerosene lamps , which were used for lighting in the sleeping cars of

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216-565: The circus train. The fire quickly spread through the wood-constructed cars. As a result of the collision and subsequent fire, 86 persons died and more than 100 were injured. Many victims were burned beyond recognition. Most are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois in a section set aside as Showmen's Rest . Only five victims had marked graves; the rest were burned too badly to be identified and buried in unmarked graves. In

234-526: The spirit of "the show must go on", several competing circuses, including Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey , lent equipment and performers to Hagenbeck-Wallace so that only two performances were canceled as a result of the tragedy, the one in Hammond and the next stop in Monroe, Wisconsin . After the tragedy, circus entrepreneurs Jeremiah Mugivan and Bert Bowers acquired Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus, adding it to

252-524: The train, a vapor flashback explosion occurred at the adjacent oil storage tank. This frightened the animals, and led to an elephant stampede into downtown Riverside, leaving one person dead and six others injured. Feld Entertainment later used the Sells-Floto name for their supply division, located in Laurel, MD, that provided logistical support for all of the Feld shows for supplies and merchandise, including not only

270-536: Was a circus that traveled across America in the early part of the 20th century. At its peak, it was the second-largest circus in America next to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus . It was based in Peru, Indiana . The circus began as the “Carl Hagenbeck Trained Animal Show” by Carl Hagenbeck (1844–1913). Hagenbeck was an animal trainer who pioneered the use of rewards-based animal training as opposed to fear-based training. Meanwhile, Benjamin Wallace ,

288-528: Was a combination of the Floto Dog & Pony Show and the Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States and Canada during the early 1900s. Frederick Gilmer Bonfils and Harry Heye Tammen owned the first outfit as well as the Denver Post , and the "Floto" name came from the Post's one-time sportswriter, Otto Floto . The Sells Floto circus absorbed Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows, and

306-566: Was leased in 1938 and spent its winter just outside Baldwin Park, California . There, on 35 acres of land, the circus stayed with its huge parade wagons parked alongside a railroad spur. The elephants spent time hauling refuse wagons, shunting railroad cars and piling baled hay. A tent at the eastern edge of the grounds was used by aerialists to practice trapeze and high-wire acts. The circus usually remained there from late November to early spring. The Great Depression and Ringling's ill health caused

324-495: Was the inspiration for the novel The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day . The book is about the fictional "Great Porter Circus", which made its winter home in "Lima, Indiana", which stood in for the author's home town of Peru, Indiana. The author is the great-niece of an elephant trainer of the Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus. Hagenbeck's name also appears in a series of Polish books for teenagers by Alfred Szklarski . The main characters from

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