Ringling Bros. Ending Elephant Acts in 3 Years

After 145 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is ending its elephant acts by 2018, among the concerns over animal treatment.

The circus currently has 13 elephants traveling with its tour units. They will be relocated to the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Florida once their acts end. More than 40 other elephants are already at the Center. However, other exotic animals such as lions and tigers will continue performing.

It's a victory for the animal rights groups such as PETA and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who have been claiming mistreatment of circus animals for a long time. While the parent company of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was able to won a nearly $16 million settlement from a number of animal-rights groups including the Humane Society of the United States, ending a 14-year legal battle, it was the shifting consumer perceptions done the elephant acts in.

The stamped card features one of the eight USPS Vintage Circus Posters Commemorative stamps which uses a reproduction of a 1926 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey poster made by the Strobridge Lithographing Company, showing an ornately costumed elephant. The vintage poster used a bragging tag line “5 Big Herds of Performing Elephants in 5 Circus Rings at One Time” to advertise the Greatest Show on Earth. The card has a pictorial first-day-of-issue postmark on May 5, 2014 from Sarasota, FL 34230.

Greatest Show on Earth

Fifty eight years ago, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 16, 1956. According to Wikipedia, after World War II, the audience, whose tastes were influenced by movies and televisions, moved away from the circus performances. On the other hand, while crowds dwindled, the production costs had increased, which resulted in what an article in Life magazine observed "a magical era had passed forever." All subsequent circus shows have been held indoor and performed at arenas .

Featured postcard was made from replica of a vintage poster "The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth," c. 1899, billed as the world's largest, grandest, best amusement institution. It offers a general view of the twelve colossal water proof canvas pavilions. Credit to Library of Congress.

The U.S. Postal Service issued Vintage Circus Posters Commemorative stamps early this year on May 5, 2014,

The Circus Is In Town

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town yesterday, with elephants and performers of the circus posing for pictures in front of the fabulous Welcome Sign. It will perform LEGENDS from their all-new Blue Tour at the Thomas and Mack Center from Thursday June 19 to Sunday June 22, 2014.

Photo: Steve Marcus via @LasVegasSun

Outgoing postcard US-2813947 to Taiwan, with the Vintage Circus Poster stamps, shows the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train in Safety Harbor, Florida in January, 1992. Photo credit: © James G. Howes 1992.

Vintage Circus Poster

The U.S. Postal Service just issued Vintage Circus Posters Commemorative stamps on May 5, 2014,
featuring eight designs of early 20th-century circus poster art that showcased eye-catching imagery of stunts, performers, and animals. However, the unveiling ceremony of stamps had drawn protests from PETA and other animal welfare organizations, marking the change of times.

Unfortunately a day before on Sunday, May 4, 2014, an accident occurred during the aerial performance at the 11 a.m. Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus show in Providence, Rhode Island, resulting serious injures to 11 performers. The initial assessment indicated that failure from a single piece of equipment - failed clamp - caused the incident. It is troubling to learn no redundancy of safety measure was built in. While we accept the inherited risks from those circus acts and appreciate the dedications from the circus performers, there are lessons to be learned so that the similar failures would not happen again, with the highlight of other recent circus accidents.

Outgoing postcard US-2776555 to Germany shows a vintage circus poster for the Greatest Shows on Earth by Barnum and Bailey Circus, featuring a trapees act. Credit to Library of Congress. The postcard was purchased from Zazzle.com.