It's a jungle out there

[Longhorn_Fan68]

Or something. This just came by about 10 minutes ago:

 

[FAST FRED]

I remember going to see all the circus animals "parade" from the railroad siding, where they parked the train, down the streets to the field, several miles away, where the big tent was erected.

That was in the late forties.

They gave out free children's tickets at the grade schools, so parents would pay admission to accompany their kids.

It was a really big shew, as Ed Sullivan used to say.

Drew big crowds when Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey paraded and later peformed for 3 or 4 days in Dallas.

Giong to the State Fair of Texas was a big deal too.

There was an Elementary Day, a Junior High Day and a HS Day.

You got out of a regular school day in Dallas and many rode the electric street cars or the new buses to Fair Park, which was still in a pretty nice neighborhood then.

Admission at the gate to the fairgrounds was free for school kids on those specific days.

When the circus came to town in Austin, the animals used to cross the Colorado River using the First Street Bridge to get from the railroad tracks to the old City Auditorium's parking lot near present Auditorum Shores, where the workmen drove iron stakes through the asphalt to anchor the tent ropes.

I took my three kids to watch.

Now they parade up Red River to the Erwin Center and hold the circus indoors.

And it's still a really big shew.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

Stupid long walk from the bus stop.

 

[Texanne]

Wish I'd been there to see the circus parade. It's a quaint custom, and I am glad RBB&B still does it.

I hope that a lot of people came out to see the animals!

 

[Dusty]

This is becoming an annual event. Not the RBB&B animals, L F68 posting pics of the RBB&B animals viewed from his “workplace” (assumed).

 

[Art Vandelay]

I saw the train pass by from my office in N. Austin today, with all the cars marked "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey." I couldn't believe how long that train was.

 

[Longhorn_Fan68]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Dusty]

Just you wait. It won’t be long when four years seems “annual” to you too. Was it that long ago? Yikes! I don’t know whether to be happy I still remember or sad that I thought it was annual.

Thanks for the pictures though. Sometimes I miss the old neighborhood.

 

[UT94Horn]

Thought this was a thread about "Monk"

 

[eugene11]

I thought it was about Jimmy Buffett

 

[BA93]

Used to work in Greenway Plaza in Houston. Remember seeing them march the RB&BB animals over 59 from the old train tracks to the open field next to the Summit. Train tracks are gone. The Summit is a church and that open field is a strip shopping center. Progress.