An original 3.5x5" vintage photo (NOT a modern reprint) from a series of unpublished vernacular images documenting the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus over an approximately 15-year span (mainly 1941-55) taken by and from the estate of Chicago photographer Frank R. Parker.
This photo is from a fascinating archive of never before seen personal photos taken of the Ringling Bros circus that we acquired from a major sale house. It is likely the only copy of this photo.
Photo Overview
A 1947 vernacular snapshot from the backyard of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Two performers in elaborate spectacle costumes pose in front of the canvas sidewall of the big top. The man on the left wears a turban, fur-trimmed collar and a striped, puff-sleeved robe. Between the two adults a little person in a period coat, breeches and buckled shoes is held up for the camera. The woman on the right wears a towering feathered headdress and a flowing 18th-century style gown, and holds a large curved, spiked prop that appears to be a dragon tail or fantasy-creature piece from the show.
The scalloped valance of the tent, the trampled lot and a discarded piece of canvas on the ground place the scene in the circus backyard, where performers waited between their entrances. The photo comes from a set of 1947 RBBB photos within a previously unpublished archive of personal images taken by Chicago photographer Frank R. Parker. Parker documented the Greatest Show on Earth over roughly fifteen years, mainly 1941-1955. These candid behind-the-scenes images were never distributed, and this print is very likely the only copy in existence.
Historical Notes
1947 was a turning point for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. After the 1944 Hartford fire and the legal and financial turmoil that followed, John Ringling North regained control of the circus in 1947 and set about restoring its showmanship with ever more lavish costumed spectacles. Little people, costumed showgirls and the full company paraded through these grand pageants, and the backyard behind the big top became the informal stage where photographers like Parker caught performers off guard. The show kept touring under canvas for less than a decade more. The last Ringling big top performance took place in Pittsburgh in July 1956, and after that the circus moved permanently into arenas. Candid backyard images like this one record a way of circus life that disappeared with the tents.
Browse our complete Ringling Bros Circus photograph collection.
Print analysis
This is a vintage gelatin silver snapshot print with a white border, consistent with amateur photofinishing of the late 1940s. The tonality, paper and border style fit the 1947 date given for this set. Black album paper remains on the back corners, showing the print was mounted in a personal album by the photographer soon after it was made. It is a Type 1 original photo printed at the time the image was taken.
Condition
In good to excellent vintage condition. The backside of some of the photos in this collection have remnants from having been in a cardboard album.
Please see scans of the images we have provided for the most accurate and complete state of the photo.
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