After months of careful preparation, the circus abandoned its traditional big top and took up residence within the walls of the freshly built Madison Square Garden. For New York City residents, the Barnum & Bailey Circus represented a thrilling return, and the public scrambled eagerly to secure tickets to the arena. Across the country, circuses had woven themselves into the fabric of American life, offering families a form of entertainment that drew them out of their homes and into a world of spectacle. It was on March 18, 1881, that the Barnum & Bailey Circus — famously billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth" — made its grand debut at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Ask anyone who witnessed one, and they'll tell you: circus parades winding through the streets of their local towns left an indelible mark on millions of Americans. The bigger operations, such as the Barnum & Bailey Circus, would roll into town by train, then organize elaborate parades to make their way to the performance grounds, where they'd dazzle the crowds. Typically, a circus would stick around for several weeks, drawing visitors from surrounding rural communities who traveled to experience the magic beneath a big top tent. In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, there were very few — if any — legitimate entertainment venues where American families could enjoy a day out together with their children. Into that void stepped the traveling circus, which grew into a full-fledged industry as dozens of outfits, among them the Cooper and Bailey Circus, established themselves as viable entertainment businesses.
While all of this was unfolding, P.T. Barnum was rising to become the most famous man on the planet, having cracked the code for luring crowds into his wildly popular museum. Barnum seized upon another peculiar strand of American entertainment — the freak show, a controversial spectacle that put individuals with unique physical characteristics on display — and built it into an empire in the most famous American city. By merging freak show museums with circus animals, the Barnum and Bailey Circus created a grand spectacle that would ultimately serve as nothing less than Barnum's retirement project.