Front:
30
Centervill
ast MWANEE
SAVINGS AND LO
KEEP
NIGHT
Schlitz 40-Horse Hitch
Back:
SCHLITZ 40-HORSE HITCH
The famous Schlitz 40-Horse Hitch, America's greatest parade spectacle, shows how history repeats itself. The
huge team, organized for the Schlitz Circus Parade in Milwaukee, Wis. (home of its sponsor, the Jos. Schlitz Brewing
Company), is a faithful re-creation of the old-time circus parade blockbuster.
The Schlitz Forty is driven by one man, Dick Sparrow, a Zearing, Iowa, farmer and horse breeder. He was chosen
by Schlitz's chairman and president, Robert A. Uihlein, Jr., to do the job.
All the Belgian draft horses, averaging one ton each, are color matched (sorrel) with white faces and blond manes
and tails, which are left unbraided in the old circus tradition. The horses are harnessed four abreast, ten deep.
Horses and wagon stretch out 135 feet. Sparrow and his men, including outriders, wear circus-type uniforms.
Between 1857 and 1904, a few major American circuses featured 40-horse hitches in their free street parades as the
ultimate display of horsemanship. Barnum & Bailey Circus disbanded its 40-horse hitch in 1904, and another was not
seen until the Schlitz Forty made its debut in Milwaukee's Circus Parade in 1972.
The parade, staged annually on the Fourth of July by Schlitz in cooperation with the State Historical Society of
Wisconsin's Circus World Museum at Baraboo, Wis., includes more than 65 historic circus wagons, dozens of bands,
wild animals, clowns and nearly 800 horses.
Five semi-trailer trucks are used to haul the Forty around the country to major events. Four of them carry horses,
the 40 plus three or four spare Belgians, and several saddle horses used by outriders. The fifth semi carries the
Schlitz Circus Bandwagon and harness.
Copyright, Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wis.
SCHLITZ CIRCUS BANDWAGON
The beautiful Schlitz Circus Bandwagon is the first circus wagon of its scope built in well over half a century. It
was constructed especially for the Schlitz 40-Horse Hitch.
The wagon is 22 feet long and weighs five tons, empty. Its foldup “skyboārds” raise the wagon's height to over 12
feet. The wagon's massive,steel-tired and wood-spoked wheels are colorfully painted in circus style.
Construction began at the Wilbur Deppe Company, Baraboo, Wis., in the fall of 1972. Finishing touches were ap-
plied just before the wagon's debut in the nationally televised 1973 Schlitz Circus Parade in Milwaukee, Wis., on the
Fourth of July.
William Thallmayer of Waukesha, Wis., carved the intricate wood decorations depicting the Schlitz Globe plus
barley and hops, used in brewing Schlitz products. The white and gold wagon was built from the original design of
H. Russell Zimmermann, Milwaukee. The carvings are covered with 23 karat gold leaf.
When the Schlitz Forty appears at major events, the bandwagon carries 12 to 15-piece bands tootling away with
brassy circus tunes. In addition to driver Dick Sparrow, the wagon also carries a brakeman, a backup driver and a
man sitting behind the driver to keep the long leather lines (reins) from tangling.
The Schlitz Forty and its circus bandwagon have appeared at major U.S. events such as the parades of the Tourna-
ment of Roses, Cotton Bowl, Kentucky Derby Festival, Indianapolis "500" Festival, Minneapolis Aquatennial, and
Cheyenne Frontier Days, several state fairs and theme parks, and Milwaukee's Schlitz Circus Parade.
85775
