Five of the Ringling brothers, Albert, Otto, Alfred, Charles, and John, started a backyard circus after seeing a circus being unloaded on an Iowa dock. At first, their circus was more like a vaudeville show, with the brothers singing and dancing. On May 19, 1884, the official RIngling Brothers traveling circus premiered in Baraboo, Wisconsin. By 1900, the brothers (by now, seven had joined the act), were wealthy enough to buy out the remnant of P.T. Barnum’s old show and debut under the name that is still in use, “The Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.”
