An original 5.5x3.5" vintage photo (NOT a modern reprint) from a collection of well documented Ringling Bros circus photos. This photo originated from the personal collection of Joseph Bradbury, noted circus historian and collector.

Provenance: Joseph Bradbury was a renowned circus historian and a president of the Circus Historical Society who specialized in the documentation of circus equipment and wagons. He is widely recognized for his extensive research and photography, which preserved the history of early 20th-century shows. We acquired this from his estate at auction.

Photo Overview

This 1938 photograph captures the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus stake driver wagon in action during the show's lot setup in Washington, D.C. The mechanical stake driver - a massive, engine-powered machine mounted on a heavy wooden-wheeled wagon - is shown being pulled by a team of horses across the circus lot. Several workers stand nearby observing or tending to the machine. Additional horses and workers are visible in the background, giving a sense of the enormous logistical operation required to erect the big top.

The stake driver was one of the most critical pieces of equipment the circus carried, driving the heavy steel stakes into the ground that anchored the massive tent. This photograph offers a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the working machinery of the "Greatest Show on Earth" at a time when the circus was at or near its peak as a traveling institution.

Historical Notes

By 1938, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was operating as a fully merged entity - the two great shows had combined in 1919 - and was running one of the largest tented shows in American history. The 1938 season was particularly notable as it came just one year after the catastrophic Ringling train wreck of 1937 in Dunbar, WV, and two years before the death of John Ringling, the last of the founding brothers, in 1936. The circus continued to rely heavily on horse-drawn equipment and traditional big-top methods through the late 1930s and early 1940s, before the tragic Hartford fire of 1944 and the gradual post-war transition away from tented performances. The mechanical stake driver, like the one shown here, was eventually phased out as the circus moved to indoor arenas in the 1950s and 1960s. This image, from the Joseph Bradbury collection, documents a moment in the final great era of the traveling tented circus.

Browse our complete Ringling Bros Circus photograph collection.

Text Present

Back of photo (upper left): "1938"
Back of photo (upper center): "Washington D.C."
Back of photo (lower center): "Stake driver"
Front of photo (upper area, faint): "19" (partial notation)
Front of photo (lower right corner): "294" (catalog/collection number in blue ink)

Print analysis

This is a Type 1 original photograph. The Kodak Velox paper watermark is clearly visible on the back, confirming this is a genuine photographic print on Kodak Velox paper, consistent with amateur or semi-professional photography of the late 1930s. The handwritten annotation "1938" on the reverse, combined with the paper stock and image characteristics, indicates this print was made at or very close to the time the photograph was taken. The image exhibits tonal qualities and surface characteristics consistent with a 1938 gelatin silver print.

Condition

Please see photos for condition. In fair to good vintage condition.