The Hartford Circus Fire
Added 2021-06-01 10:15:59 +0000 UTCAlthough the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were able to carry on after the disaster in this week's episode, they recently put on their final ever performance.
It was a very different show from the one people would have attended in 1944. The props and set were relatively high-tech, and there were no performing animals involved (the last elephants had been sent to a sanctuary just a few years before).
The decision to end the 146-year run of the circus was down to falling audience numbers; the circus just couldn't compete with new forms of entertainment. I've never been to the circus, but even so I found this account of the final show quite moving - I wonder if there'll ever be anything like it again.
Comments
It's an odd choice for an emergency song, I think - such an upbeat piece of music. Maybe that's the intention, of course: a positive song to calm the crowd, but in retrospect it just feels eerie.
Fascinating Horror
2021-06-04 09:40:57 +0000 UTC
