"Dr." Gilbert Reynolds Spalding, sometimes spelled Spaulding, was an American showman, circus owner and innovator, being the first to own his own showboat, constructed the first showboat to contain an entire circus and in 1856 the first to send an entire circus on tour in its own railroad cars.
Ad for Spalding's North American Circus (1847)
The clown Dan Rice regularly performed for Spalding between 1844 and 1849
The Appollonicon drawn by 40 horses - depicted on a postally used envelope (1856)
'Spalding & Rodgers North American Circus: The Stupendous Apollonicon or Great Musical Chariot' (1849)
A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the river frontiers. This special type of riverboat was designed to carry passengers rather than cargo, and they had to be pushed by a small pusher or towboat attached to it. Showboats were rarely steam-powered because the steam engine had to be placed right in the auditorium for logistical reasons, therefore making it difficult to have a large theater.
The Showboat Branson Belle was on Table Rock Lake, Branson, Missouri.
Gilbert R. Spalding's showboat The Floating Palace was on the Mississippi River in the Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion (1853).
This poster is for a Bryant's Show Boat live production of Tess of the Storm Country in Fayette City, Pennsylvania.
