Circus wagons, such as the one depicted in this stamp design, are now relegated to museums. They had been in regular use at the time when circuses traveled by rail, or even by wagons themselves, from city to city. The decorative wagons were part of the pre-performance attraction. The five Ringling brothers began with just a wagon-based show. Within a few years of their start, they were traveling by railroad across most of the United States and Canada.