BARABOO : USA - WI

   Ringling Bros. Bell Wagon

*Location:

   Circus World Museum
   Water Street (WI Hwy.113),
     east of East Street
   Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA
   (precise location on grounds varies)
   LL: N 43.46681, W 89.73624

Site locator map  or 
Also see our own Map Use Hints.

*Player:

   (none)

*Contact:

   Circus World
   550 Water Street
   Baraboo, WI  53913-2578
   T: (608)356-0800
      1-866-693-1500  (toll-free)
   E: ringmaster@circusworldmuseum.com

*Schedule:

   (rarely used)
   Museum open (admission fee)
   late May to early Sep daily 9am-6pm,
   otherwise weekdays 10am-4pm.

   Originally used regularly in circus
   parades; later appeared annually in the
   Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee.

*Remarks:

   The only chime known to have been made
   by Gardiner Campbell & Sons
   Centennial Bell Foundry, Milwaukee,
   Wisconsin; hung in/on a custom-made
   horse-drawn wagon; consists of an
   octave plus a bell which was apparently
   intended as the flat 7th but actually
   duplicates natural 4th; played via
   vertical levers in a curved rack.

*Technical data:

   Chime-sized instrument with action described in Remarks above of  9 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is G# in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  8 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    NONE  
   The arrangement of tones and/or semitones
     is non-standard; see Remarks above.
   The whole instrument was installed in 1892
     by the maker cited in Remarks above
   Year of latest technical information source is unknown

*Links:

A page about Great Circus Wagons not only pictures and describes the wagon, but also offers a video clip of the wagon in parade, playing two different tunes after the narration ends.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American chimes by weight (pitch).
Ranking among all North American chimes by year of completion.

Why this chime was a milestone in North American chime history (1892).

Index to all tower bell instruments in WI.

*Status:

   This page was built from the database on 31-Oct-06
   based on textual data last updated on 2006/10/30
   and on technical data last updated on 2006/10/30

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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