May 2, 1946: On its annual visit to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus drew record-breaking crowds — a “throng of 6,000, including outgoing patients, and more than a generous sprinkling of neighborhood youngsters” The Times reported. “For many, it was their first circus,” The Times explained, “such as tiny Oscar Turner, 5, wrapped in a pink bathrobe several sizes too large, who gave his nurse a most busy time. Oscar kept up a frequent charge to the red arena. He dared the elephants, he challenged the clowns, he laughed and pranced. ‘Great medicine,’ said Pat Valdo, the Big Show’s Ringmaster.”
