The circus no longer comes to town — and gone with it is the Ringling family fortune that helped build "The Greatest Show on Earth."
The rise and fall of the Ringling empire follows seven brothers and one sister through the heyday of the Roaring Twenties to financial downfall during the Great Depression. 'Circus King' John Ringling — formerly ranked among the wealthiest people in the world — died with just $311 in his bank account. His estate, including a Venetian palazzo and expansive art collection, was appraised at $23.5 million.
Once one of the richest families in America, the Ringling Brothers — Albert, Augustus, Otto, Alfred, Charles, John, and Henry — started their circus as a five-cent show in rural Iowa. This soon became a traveling railroad production, and merged with Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1909. The only Ringling sister's children helped restore much of the family's wealth before they sold the company to the Feld family in 1967 for $22.8 million. After many more decades of performances, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed on May 21, 2017.
Read Full Article »