This song alludes to the Hartford Circus Fire of July 6, 1944. The big top caught on fire at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut, killing 168 people as they tried to flee the blaze. Of the little girl the song probably describes, Wikipedia states, "The best-known victim of the circus fire was a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is known only as 'Little Miss 1565', named after the number assigned to her body at the city's makeshift morgue. Oddly well preserved even after her death, her face has become arguably the most well-known image of the fire."
This song alludes to the Hartford Circus Fire of July 6, 1944. The big top caught on fire at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut, killing 168 people as they tried to flee the blaze. Of the little girl the song probably describes, Wikipedia states, "The best-known victim of the circus fire was a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is known only as 'Little Miss 1565', named after the number assigned to her body at the city's makeshift morgue. Oddly well preserved even after her death, her face has become arguably the most well-known image of the fire."
For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_circus_fire http://www.circusfire1944.com/