Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Bigtops to Billboards
Bigtops to Billboards
Bigtops to Billboards
Ebook308 pages2 hours

Bigtops to Billboards

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

"BIGTOPS to BILLBOARDS" follows the astonishing career of Colonel Burr Robbins beginning with rare, original letters from the Civil War frontlines and then Burr Robbins' promotion at twenty-seven to colonel in the Union Army.

The war concluded in 1865, with his love of showmanship, He opened a cabaret theater in the boom and soon bust Pennsylvania oil rush which rapidly collapsed.

Having briefly worked for the mid-west's largest traveling circus as a teenager before the war, he set his not modest goal on building a circus of his own in southern Michigan beginning with only two white hens dyed red and green and touted as "the sacred fowl of India", one talented monkey, a young local dancing bear, a mule with an unusually broad head said to tell fortunes, one hawk (also colorfully dyed) and his own talents at singing, storytelling and advertising.

Joining forces and networking with other small shows and signing on partners with major connections in the circus world, he built the Burr Robbins Circus into the third largest circus in America and changed the look of American towns and cities with his giant posters.

It was a rough life moving a large circus and menagerie about the war-torn mid-west and across the Mississippi into Indian territories, but the circus was the only entertainment, and everyone came.

By the mid-1880s Colonel Burr wanted to move on to greater projects and sold the circus to the Ringling Brothers who had not yet formed a significant show. The sale was completed in 1888.

With his belief in poster advertising, he bought up most of the advertising companies in Chicago and formed the American Billposting Company which eventually turned into the giant General Outdoor Advertising Co. and retired a very rich man with oil fields in southern Kanas and hundreds of Chicago properties.

The book is richly illustrated with "cabinet card" photos of performers, animals, wonderfully exaggerated wording in circus advertising and much good advice on how to honestly make your way in the world from seemingly hopeless beginnings to fame and fortune.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 13, 2023
ISBN9781662482533
Bigtops to Billboards

Related to Bigtops to Billboards

Related ebooks

Biography & Memoir For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Bigtops to Billboards

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Bigtops to Billboards - John Loring

    ! cbook_preview_excerpt.html[mnIrJH@W$ H%Ԭ0kFvUvw*k+5wG5|9ߋhI3k`CugeENj/bmYwz/냗~e>:6S_`<w}4&,ќR?>S߆ueޅWa,Ư֭1NȢh]s׾9}Cx}\xPUvyg\nW|ebknQk[smW\'JLO^ޞ7ώ<={bԋxt۵$UaеyhQ޲&[j"Xww±¦f/.ٛeWb!B08e}rZ:8mDf}nr @EQБӦD ngo1`üE֬cf!Z5n7Bt"?c⟋ H)o\w+̇}.|응g˰yaDOq!N->b`"tN'"klA*󃭢4+{h=(GSvx еv}(½" [>@(qщsUkp=ކ0(H/"wN8'h(5}+{XV}Uٌ DWVpY#Ώ+L ]0 , Aon*dFT%ؕ/EU/7ؑV"9XV ok1Cssv]V; gʶ-/ 2dY}#B6 &^*uU8tqvlSIJ?[ͺ𩪎 +0MCglpd,C:pd8/O+/ÃeIcWhʈ,C!cԄ&lU[Fu\FOP塉y@z@@-yG,λ*vMm|nNq5Kĸp!_oZPp5ƙO3hGtt'0s{u RHϑkǜ @l\Jhrxf]t#|\^W]; -g0koOӇZNr۸e6*kW\[‚ :6U+ $dUBn3${oeY8mA|aX9Jvi14sh\Jz%yRMS+qVV`<ã[IWa'.ևmCe1Ps[Bҝ5ȌnCfA赯P֖_+[bo5|P8ff ]C@@ 3wcyw!*2-:b@Ra_>&@g FIc=Ջs9ʹ6^/kda2giW_4Fb}6#mY +TMS ޺U_;bXWπ@@֌لkÙ/_Va/dCȵRxHH 2 W* S+m]K#Kn#8fxk}EDBf:/\3āiB.>L@(Q#IH@/qBI)"X+i_^Ď-ZULT0Lw)8EWISfNK5]ObeW>@)[g Y蘒3VN(C* wӣAO-t Q%VS`8n-0܃VOm^05ZβԳJvK*wO VRe 0qݐ"C%|BgDz.ӗQsB-ٛЀaWy%cǂwITo7>WȞRZPMrh7 y  +\9dK*^ &0]=)DZނ7~qZ+r'@Iok{H5x:8ZK Pn^Y@욽/;f ~$ vqy>;>9;/VӝL[",Y.@ N2'[YA\R CѠɚ>HE֜1)|Lxl! nL O.݀mB'KA|J2P#  )k ψVj%Dc/,dj#)TkxM#ӈ^p6H~EvEI+ayi."b<1Oy;x乼'>DG?zB+JfƩxk/8on.Jh RrpLf? .R+P_uVXLιS'bL 'A*e~ի[ywyz~'M?­+A^ P}Hi;v'g9wqΖ܃c C:wi\"ƃjs+6ȉ ʀUh_*4Z,X ]^8G YvR^ f6W̽+VbIT+VxN*AJ&pҔ}IlvGbnZM }$axSS蘙]8>+l54M1րtѣX!fidf>ۼu5< n͘=(3X|ZDiVRעS`)/q-YHIA&:Tה!wȄ2;T$cdyƝH}&/G5϶$Zhe k cQt!hH.}dw pe1B#:Źyss~\ܜ:;4 iY%52h )(p MQ  ie{!%`ox3͡dα\V Zqi2hK|H-R5jV} W؁#qSdGh(&>d/=~g#T6p8bw;Gu9܉8l]YҤBJ*@CV~HEs5}Q #l%u. D-2;{vՇSeP]nfM#s NA 6Ys$,;8LreBa+!85;BT%*)QʕP)ا&l qn%|+zޗS޴LS4-'sG>آ4"aE&&CGޫp{iegq6MpEi`D"0&ShS/^x2 2"Lar RRNOsxܭKP)Ny2(pigɕ5εrR ]yp׋)c]I-9h6ҩŊәLE'V8 HWXG=MV{8ͻжq-E5t|z./[;nz'\vI[4)ݞ{6H2T޻V;/rYR]qDxH# T9NݶЅJ7xT=w3x9`zqss3P̤&Tzn.P[>ns$vKNp)j/"y`%%+r"ġ,{^oVsBus$c#w@Gw)Md#dm"bu–oo|a,~nIko-(NY}JNWCHI#qtoynU؂S&zS)w*UDP>O];kpk]~c= bÝ]Rɣ'v˯onŐL|!"LlY-/jgї^אaNUD3///C!WvYe"o9acLF)rIuDxzg?][m45= uoxcճ91PAv@a7{N-+FJ? >q|Y I&JM} 03\jmsB y!,"jCB}K2)Ƈt:VEZrDQ2ڃrC&^Iɔ%Ax ާiЦT 13哛C.ռ﵃W\]bbA&]Bit'"oox_*,b E{05yýk^RF.LD Z9H dk&7"_toiڇ;=p^N!}}gKvBmܯz?6/SXzt?{2^^<D|Vއ2^yP" D^ԋsFLѮoJ6J\#\得o^i1+ 7?Y4jӖd>6d20\QZ"[`k_8 Y*`x~DƮ+*Hw'7_w'~b u7@iм"up꯽SΨqw3B _O??xH-DiHBR0oȩc;%4<,}')8!Y^ЙnQέ*ir=l%D,_(hˎɶM:m{lF)*kXB):6jU~ vӠְC⓾x *VG~b+dA2h§s?$e?g I]ϝA_}&?30~8: *?m zg>rN'.o~5'̟_Yޞܜ|ၔY~dLn EO~0`;}t׮il'~pαCN%`zFo}vhB*b ztP:-d:wk~%h;>ߝ2+ʭ:Z;
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1