In the early spring of 1938 New Yorkers were seeing enormous posters with only four words “The Terror is Coming”
It was a teaser campaign for Gargantua, the fierce gorilla that John Ringling North had acquired a few months before. Gargantua, along with big game hunter Frank Buck, were two of the key attractions that John Ringling North had secured when he took control of the circus in late 1937.
This is the classic one sheet was quickly produced by Strobridge only a few weeks before the circus opened at Madison Square Garden.
On April 8, 1938, “The Terror” had arrived! On that night 83 years ago, the show’s working men went on strike and North, Buck and others physically pushed Gargantua’s glass lined cage around the hippodrome track when the usual prop men and teamsters refused to work. Although North was briefly able to achieve labor peace, by the time the show got to Scranton, Pennsylvania on June 22 the roustabouts refused to move the show. For days the show was stranded before going back to Sarasota and regrouping. By mid-July many of the Ringling features – including Gargantua and Frank Buck – were added to the Ringling-owned Al G. Barnes and Sells-Floto Circus, finishing out the season.
Although date tails were frequently torn off by collectors, I like them because they tell the story of specific performances and enhance the history of both the show and the poster. In this case we are treated to advertising for the very first performance that featured Gargantua – one of the greatest circus attractions of the 20th Century.
-C. Berry