The 1944 Hartford Circus Fire (Episode 81)
On July 6, 1944, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus began their Hartford, Connecticut, matinee show with an audience of 7,000 ticketholders, mostly women and children. A few minutes into the show, however, the massive Big Top, which had been waterproofed with a paraffin-and-gasoline cocktail, caught on fire. On this episode, we’re discussing circus superstitions, city inspections, and a whole lot of fire safety.
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Sources for this episode include:
“The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top” by Michael Skidgell, 2019
“Hartford Circus Holocaust” by W.Y. Kimball for National Fire Prevention Association’s The Quarterly, 1944
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