Randall Esrock, age 8, of St. Louis, Missouri, for his question:
Who was John Ringline?
Sometimes a name, just a name, makes you think of wonderful things. The name of John Ringling makes us think of ridiculous clowns and daring acrobats, of graceful bareback riders and performing seals. We remember the flaring colors, the happy music and all the merry antics of a circus. That name, just the name, makes us smile.
Nothing in the world is more exciting than a circus and nobody ever outdid the razzle dazzle circus man John Ringling. Circus people tend to brag and exaggerate, just for fun. A man named Phineas T. Barnum called his circus, "The Greatest Show on Earth." Everybody agreed that it was wonderful but nobody expected it to be the greatest. However, some 50 years ago John Ringling bought this circus and added it to his own. And many serious minded people believe that John's super circus truly was the Greatest Show on Earth the most razzle dazzle show that has ever traveled around the world.
The idea of a circus is not new. In ancient Rome thousands of people crowded to see animals and wild performances. In the 1700's, circuses with more civilized per¬formances were started in England. America copied the idea, and in the 1800's many small circuses traveled around the country. One belonged to the great Barnum. Another was started by the five Ringling brothers of Baraboo,. Wisconsin. The brothers were Albert and Otto, Alfred and Charles, and John was the youngest.
The Ringling brothers were gifted musicians and they trained themselves to be jolly jugglers and merry clowns. They loved to perform their antics before a crowd and the towns around Baraboo loved to watch them. When John was 18, the Ringling Brothers had saved enough money to buy a trained horse and a dancing bear plus a wagon to carry their little circus from town to town. Four years later they bought their very first circus elephant. When John was 24, the show was rich enough to travel by train.
It was John who managed the successful circus. He bought several small circuses to make a bigger show, and at last he bought the great Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth. About 50 years ago he merged the Ringling Brothers Circus and the Barnum and Bailey Circus in one tremendous show that the world will never forget. Everybody saw the show in the big tent and visited the sideshows and animals in their cages. Others enjoyed the free public parades of clowns and bears, elephants and horses prancing to the piercing tunes played on the piping caliope. John became one of the world's richest men but in 1929 the stock market crash left him penniless. However, his famous circus held together and nowadays it is directed by John's nephew, John Ringling North.
Next time you feel blue, just say the name John Ringling to yourself. You will think of clowns and jugglers, acrobats on the high wire and performing animals. The life of John Ringling was crowded with such merry, eye popping antics. You cannot possibly think of such happy things and stay down in the dumps for very long.