The Greatest Show on Earth!

As any longtime MPB reader knows, I love the circus.  Maybe it's the elephants, maybe it's the midget clowns on tricycles, maybe it's all those men in tights, I don't know, it just excites me. 

Mind you, I haven't actually been to a circus in decades, but no matter.   It isn't so much the actual circus I love, it's circus kitsch, which is something quite separate from the real thing.

It's Bozo and Red Skelton on TV, it's movies like "The Greatest Show on Earth," "Jumbo," and of course, Joan Crawford in "Beserk!" 

Perhaps you read my popular clown pattern blog entry or more recently stumbled upon this cute-if-highly-derivative effort.  Big Top culture is here to stay!

We all remember Circus Day on the Mickey Mouse Club (Thursdays!) and while I'm not quite old enough to have caught the original broadcasts, I did enjoy them greatly in reruns even if I was a little long in the tooth for Cubby and Karen and the gang by age fourteen. 

Anyone who was watching TV in the Eighties has a special place in their heart reserved for the  popular "Circus of the Stars," where we got to see glamorous celebrities like Deidre Hall ride an elephant and teen Brooke Shields walk barefoot on broken glass.  It seemed like the nadir of television broadcasting at the time but by today's standards it was "Masterpiece Theater."

So friends, imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this yesterday at my own little Budget Bergdorfs, the Salvation Army:



It's a vintage linen curtain panel, presumably meant for a child (or the child-like), in fantastic condition.  Just look at these details:











There's not a whole lot of it -- it's roughly 42"x 42" -- but there's definitely enough for a tote bag, shorts, or maybe a cute little sleeveless sundress.



Wise readers with excellent taste, I ask you: What would you do with fabric like this?    (No snark now, I'm serious.)

Do you think a middle-aged man is too old for circus-themed clam diggers?  Would a woman want to wear an elephant on her chest?  The truth.

Btw, I'm still sitting on this...not literally, of course.



For you Joan Crawford fans....



P.S. -- What's your favorite circus movie (or memory)?