Five Graces Bandwagon

Artist Fielding Bros. Company (19th century)

Date1878

CultureAmerican

MediumWood and iron

ClassificationTransportation Vehicles

Provenancemade for Adam Forepaugh Circus, 1878; used by Barnum & Bailey Circus - European Tour, 1898-1902; used in Ringling Circus "Alice in Wonderland" spec, 1945

Credit Line?, 1979

Object numberSN1860

This grand bandwagon was built by the Fielding Bros Company for the Adam Forepaugh Circus. It is one of the oldest and most widely traveled of all circus wagons. It was used by the Barnum & Bailey Circus as the number one bandwagon during the European Tour, 1898 to 1902. The ten ton wagon was pulled by forty matching black horses -- a forty horse hitch. The five carved figures which represent Columbia flanked by the Four Seasons; however, it was dubbed the Five Graces by circus workers which is the name it has always been known by. It was last used on the Ringling Show in 1945 in the spec “Alice in Wonderland.”

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