Super-Spectacle "Coronation of Mother Goose"

For the 1957 edition of the Greatest Show on Earth, more than 2,000 costumes for beautiful showgirls, dancers, aerialists, acrobats, jugglers, horsemen, animal trainers, and attendants....INHALE...as well as trappings for hundreds of elephants and horses were designed by Mr. White and executed by Mr. Weldy in his Sarasota Florida studio.  

In addition, the gorgeous floats that decorate the Super-Spectacle "Coronation of Mother Goose" originated on Mr. White's drawing board and were constructed in the Circus' own float shop in Sarasota under the supervision of Mr. Weldy.  

A few of the many costume designs in The Ringling collection in Sarasota Florida.

Designs for floats and props in the Mother Goose Spec 

In line with the nursery theme of the big spectacle, the floats seen in the production include the shoe (in which the old lady lived), a Trojan horse, a castle, schoolhouse, a huge dragon, and others.

Some of these are constructed so that they may be pulled by horses, while others are built on jeeps and use their own motive power.

Jack Horner costume in the collection at the Robert L. Parkinson Library & Research Center in Baraboo Wisconsin.  Turquoise blue velvet with off-white front and collar with gold decorative buttons both down the front and the sleeve cuffs.  Blue and white sequins spaced throughout the costume.  Snap closure down the front.  Turquoise velvet decorative string tied in bow at collar.  Jacket tails lined in white satin.  Partially illegible name written on collar appears to be 'Peggy'.  INHALE...and that is just the jacket.

Did you notice this costume is #S-61 in the design drawing above?

One costume.  This is ONE costume.  Think about the effort it took to make 2,000 items for the Spec.  And then do it again the next year/season.  Holy smokes.

Shirley Cooms (Web artist) donning her themed costume.

Antoinette Bisbini (Trapeze artist) sporting her themed costume.

Once I get back to volunteering at the Parkinson Library, I am sure to find more items from this incredible Spec!  Just looking at the designs on the www.Ringling.org website, I spotted another costume which I know is safely stored in the Library for posterity.  Nice.

-Information from 1957 Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Program