Saving Circus World

The mystery-laden offices of Baraboo’s fabulous Ringling Bros. Circus just won $500,000 for restoration and preservation. That’s the good news.

The bad news, and first of several mysteries: Why does a modest, house-like structure — a National Historic Landmark — require the lofty sum of $500,000 for repair? Its interior is only 1,680 square feet, not counting the porch, cellar or — another mystery — the circus’ attached 240-square-foot vault.

“To save the 1901 Ringling Bros. Office from irreparable damage, efforts are needed to stabilize its rapidly deteriorating foundation and to rectify significant structural damage caused by water, mold, and age,” according to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s recent announcement of its Save America’s Treasures Grant, administered by the U.S. National Park Service. 

“Without swift action to save one of Circus World’s most historically significant buildings, a piece of circus history will be lost,” announced Angela Titus, assistant deputy director and chief program officer for the Wisconsin Historical Society, which owns and operates the 60-acre museum. 

The site was headquarters and winter home to “The World’s Greatest Shows” starting in 1887. Locals nicknamed the self-contained community “Ringlingville.” In 1918 the circus merged and moved in with its top competitor, Barnum & Bailey’s, based in Bridgeport, Conn. (In 1927 headquarters were moved to Sarasota, Fla., where the circus suspended operation in 2017. Rumors of its return were first reported by The Wisconsin Examiner in 2021.)

The entire project, matched by state contributions and private donations, is expected to cost $1.5 million, including an historic structures report, documenting every aspect of the seven surviving winter quarters buildings. 

But there are perhaps even more urgent concerns.

During a recent tour, The Wisconsin Examiner documented what appeared to be more than a dozen fire-safety concerns, including open electrical junction boxes, dangling wires, extension cords plugged into inaccessible outlets, an uncapped container of gasoline, and a fire-alarm pull that was blocked. All were in the museum’s 1969 W.W.Deppe Pavillion, potentially threatening at least 50 historic circus wagons displayed there.

On Tuesday Baraboo Fire Chief Kevin Stieve responded to an inquiry by the Examiner, stating  that, following investigation of the Deppe Pavilion, he found “the violations were unfounded and/or in the process of being corrected.” (Circus World director Scott O’Donnell earlier said he was aware of the problems, that the building passed its May 15 fire inspection, and that fixes were being made. In August plans for a $1.6 million sprinkler system and mold abatement program were unveiled.)

“It’s an exciting time and a frustrating time,” says O’Donnell, director of the museum since 2013.  He arrived just as Gov. Scott Walker, the legislature and its Joint Finance Committee engaged in a three-way fight over Circus World funding, operation and the facility’s placement on, essentially, the Wisconsin Historical Society’s organizational chart. 

It all worked out to the great benefit of Circus World, thanks to a last-minute “or else” from Walker to Joint Finance, says O’Donnell. But lean years followed. Even today Circus World has only seven full-time employees.

 There’s no question that maintenance has been deferred. Much of it, as in the case of the Ringling office, occurred under other owners; Circus World didn’t acquire the building until 1991. Headway was being made thanks to reorganization and a closer relationship with the Historical Society. Then came COVID-19 and the economic downturn.  The seasonal museum’s attendance – and revenue – dropped by 97%.

But this summer’s daily attendance topped pre-pandemic levels. Besides the historic structures report, an aggressive master plan is being developed. “Both of these documents will help us with future capital projects and to secure funding from the state, federal and private donors,” says Titus. “We also anticipate sponsorship opportunities down the road.”

Planning already calls for half of Ringlingville, used for storage never opened to the public, to finally blossom with interactive displays and live, interpretive performances. And the big grant is the best news yet. 

“There’ve been so many challenges to get through the year, but it really feels like we’re on the precipice of substantial investment, growth and rejuvenation of — not just this institution, but, by proxy, the art form that it wrought,” says O’Donnell, speaking not unlike a Ringling circus poster. 

 “We’re talking about a return to a youth circus program, engaging young people with all the circus arts. That’s exciting,” says O’Donnell. “When we talk about a reimagined and reactivated Ringlingville, with interactive activities, that’s also exciting. When we talk about a future year ’round performance building, that’s exciting.”

But it all starts with historic Ringlingville. “Without a doubt,” O’Donell says. “I mean, it’s why Circus World is here. It’s because of those buildings. They’re the only remaining assemblage of purpose-built buildings that created The Greatest Show on Earth, and really helped this art form become the predominant American entertainment form of its time.”

For more information about the history of the Ringling’s Baraboo winterquarters, see “Ringlingville USA,” by Jerry Apps, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

CAN YOU SOLVE THE RINGLING MYSTERY?

It looks like a haunted house. And for all we know, the interior of the Ringling Bros. office has never looked any other way. 

That’s because no one has any idea at all of what the inside of this modest Queen Anne-style building, built in 1901, did look like. Yet it was the heart of a massive entertainment empire.

“We have photos of the outside, but none of the inside,” says Scott O’Donnell, director of Circus World Museum in Baraboo.

Today broken plaster litters the floors, and ceilings are boosted with 2x4s. Lathe peeks out between torn wallpaper. Stairs creak creepily – scary not because they sound like ghosts but because of their obvious weakness. The massive safe now resembles a garage – which in fact it was converted into sometime after 1927. Granted, cars were smaller back then, but a safe so large you can park in it?

“Over a billion dollars went through this building,” says O’Donnell, “a nickel at a time.”

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You might think that “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey” is a mouthful, but before it left Baraboo to merge operations and names with its leading competitor, it was officially, “Ringling Bros. United Monster Shows, Great Double Circus, Royal European Menagerie, Museum, Caravan, and Congress of Trained Animals.”

Was that bragging? Perhaps not entirely. From the frame house’s few small rooms, in 1913 the seven brothers sent out their circus on 82 railroad cars. Humans and animals, tents and equipment, had to be divided into four separate trains. To communicate with road management of their 1,200 employees, the Ringlings favored the internet of their day: very, very long telegrams.

“The scale of logistics that came out of here has no modern day comparable,” says O’Donnell.

What must it have looked like, to coordinate all that? Circus World wants your help to find out. 

The building will undergo a $500,000 restoration to return it to its appearance in 1915. Whatever that was. Somewhere, in some Wisconsin attic, might be the trunk of a family ancestor and Ringling employee. Perhaps she was a seamstress who made costumes. Perhaps he swept the ring barn. Maybe one of them stopped by the office on payday and posed for a visitor’s camera. Circus World needs such photos – if they exist.

One photographer who worked with the Ringlings was Ephraim Burt Trimpey, of Baraboo. He took the brothers’ portraits, and his photo sets of circus wagons are favorites among circus buffs.

We found two unlabelled Baraboo photos of Trimpey’s in the Wisconsin Historical Society collection. They appear to portray a room exactly suited to the Ringling operation: four desks, two typewriters, organized but jam-packed, with lots of framed photos of entertainers on the walls. The lone electrical cord is plugged into a ceiling socket. A model train sits on the mantel.

The Ringling offices must have looked something like this. But we may never know – unless you can help. If you have an old photo, drawing or even a verbal description, please contact us.