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Lore 246: The Greatest Show (ad-free)
🕑 Added 2024-01-29 05:01:01 +0000 UTCFew examples of folklore are as well-traveled as this one, complete with painful tragedy and dark echos of the past. Grab your ticket and step inside.
Narrated/produced by Aaron Mahnke and written by GennaRose Nethercott, with research by Cassandra de Alba and music by Chad Lawson.
Sources:
- “136 4th Ave.” Wisconsin Historical Society. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR1719
- “America’s Prettiest Playhouse.” Al Ringling Theatre. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.alringling.org
- “Arrest Wreck Engineer.” The Chicago Sunday Tribune. June 23, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/355263626
- “Baraboo.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Baraboo
- Barajas, Eric. “Could the Houston Zoo be haunted?” ABC 13. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://abc13.com/houston-zoo-ghosts-haunted/1054494
- “Ben Wallace.” Circuses and Sideshows. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.circusesandsideshows.com/index.html
- Benedict, Adam. “Folklore Profile: The Ghost Elephant.” Pine Barrens Institute. January 12, 2022. https://pinebarrensinstitute.com/cryptids/2021/7/21/folklore-profile-the-ghost-elephant
- Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The Hammond Train Wreck of 1918 Killed Scores of Circus Performers.” Smithsonian Magazine. June 22, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hammond-train-wreck-disaster-1918-killed-dozens-circus-performers-180969428
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- Cleary, Richard L. “National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form: Al Ringling Theatre.” United States Department of the Interior. December 19, 1975. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/106782485
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- D’Almeida, Cristina. “The History of the Ghost Light.” OnStage Blog. March 25, 2020. https://www.onstageblog.com/editorials/2020/3/25/the-history-of-the-ghost-light
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- “A Ringling Secret Remains in Baraboo, Wisconsin.” The Journal Record. December 5, 2019. https://journalrecord.com/2019/12/05/a-ringling-secret-remains-in-baraboo-wisconsin/
- Rossen, Jake. “How ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ Became the Toast of Victorian London.” Mental Floss. October 6, 2020. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/631857/peppers-ghost-optical-illusion-the-toast-of-victorian-london
- Sauk County Historical Society. Baraboo (Arcadia Publishing, 2004).
- Seely, Ron. “Authentic’s the word for circus parade.” Wisconsin State Journal. June 29, 1980. https://www.newspapers.com/image/405574652
- Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railroad Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices in the United States of America (P.R. MacMillan, 1961).
- “Showmen’s Rest.” The Showmen’s League of America. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.showmensleague.org/Showmens-Rest
- “Showmen’s Rest at Woodlawn Cemetery.” FrightFind. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://frightfind.com/showmens-rest-at-woodlawn-cemetery
- Swanson, Lorraine. “ Ghost Tour Explores Chicago's Clown Cemetery ‘Showmen’s Rest’.” Patch Chicago. May 10, 2022. https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/ghost-tour-explores-chicagos-clown-cemetery-showmens-rest
- Tobias, Ronald B. Behemoth: The History of the Elephant in America (Harper Perennial, 2013).
- Wallenfeldt, Jeff. “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.” Encyclopedia Britannica. January 11, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ringling-Bros-and-Barnum-and-Bailey-Combined-Shows
- “What Ailed The Elephants.” New York Times. August 7, 1905. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/08/07/100491242.html?pageNumber=7
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- “Zoo Animals.” Brookfield Zoo. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.czs.org/ZooAnimals
