Send home the clowns, “The Greatest Show on Earth”’s curtain is coming down as the show announced its last performance for good. After 146 years of entertainment, we’ll say our final farewell on May 21.
The show will stop due to the continual declining attendance, high operation costs, and public’s lack of interest towards these spectacles. Let’s not forget that the company no longer uses elephants in the shows. Even when a circus is more humane without elephants, it just can’t make the numbers without them.
Legacy coming to an end.
Founded by Phineas Barnum, the Barnum & Bailey show has it roots two decades before the U.S Civil War. The Ringling Bros. allegedly got its name from two juggling brothers, who in the early 1900s merged with Barnum & Bailey.
Odd combination pleasing the crowds.
At the time, the circus was a combination of freak show, animal exhibitions, and museum -pretty much like the American Horror Story: Freak Show. The event became a traveling show back in 1881.
The show’s staple.
In 1882, the founders integrated Jumbo, an Asian elephant, to the show. Jumbo quickly became the main attraction of the show, and subsequently, it integrated more elephants that became the show’s main attraction.
People loved the show.
Back in the days, the show was huge and attracted big crowds while traveling across the country in special cars on extra long trains. Eventually, it evolved into the modern circus and became the glamorous display of exotic animals and death-defying acrobats we know today.
Competing for children’s attention.
Since the mid 20th-century circuses have faced a competition for children’s attention, which has continued intensifying today with all these new technologies and diversions.
Trying to remain relevant.
Circuses have pretty much said goodbye to their golden days, and The Ringling Bros are not the exception. Its attendance has dropped significantly over the past 10 years. The show tried to maintain relevant by hiring its first African-American ringmaster, then its first female ringmaster, even launching its own app.
The show’s over.
Numbers simply don’t rise. On Saturday, the legendary show announced its shut down to employees. Some of the reasons to stop the show include high operating costs, declining attendance and changing public tastes.
No elephants = no show.
The company also admitted that since they removed the elephants from the shows’ the attendance dropped significantly. For years the show faced a legal battles with animal rights advocates, which ended with the removal of the animals from the shows.
Mistreating animals.
Animal rights groups argued that the company was cruel to its animals and that they spent most of its lives chained up. In 2011, Ringling Bros. faced a $270,000 fine fro the US Department of Agriculture, based on the company’s treatment of its animals.
The final show.
The long known “Out Of This World” show will have its final performance at the Nassau Veterans Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on May 21.
Thanks for the memories buddies!