This story is World War 11 in early 1943, when Hitler was fighting on all fronts, winning some, and losing more often. The German U-boats had won a battle in the Atlantic by sinking 27 of our merchant ships. North Africa was a hot bed of war between our 1st Armored Division and German Panzer Troops. On May 13, 1943, German and Italian troops surrendered in North Africa, but France had been taken by the Germans, and Paris was now under an armistice with the Nazis. Denmark, Norway, France, Belgilum, Luxembourg and the Netherlands all had been defeated by the German Nazis' war machine and the Germans were now bombing England. All of Europe, along with Russia, was into the fighting and bombing. At the same time, the USA was fighting a war with Japan that was brought to our shores on December 7, 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The world had been turned into a living hell, and cities were burning and people were dying everywhere. Up to that time, the only area of the United States hit by bombs had been Pearl Harbor and we meant for it to stop there.
Betty and I talked about the situation the world was finding itself in. We agreed unless everyone put forth 100% effort, we very well could be living under German Nazi Military rule. With my going into the army, Betty felt it would be better for her to stay with the circus until I was in place at whatever location the Army would send me for training. Then she would join me until whatever was going to happen, took shape, then we could plan from there. We definitely needed a plan as our first child was due in December. Betty was in excellent physical condition, and as long as she wore loose -fitting clothes, her pregnancy did not show. Betty felt she would rather keep working while I was being moved around by the Army.
I was shipped to Fort Benning, Ga, home of the U. S. Army Parachute School, and arrived by bus on August 30, 1943. We were lined up and marched to the barracks area and told to find a bed. There were approximately 30 men to the barracks. Next morning at 4:00 a. m., we were lined up and marched to the new clothing warehouse, where we received new uniforms, then marched back to the barracks area. We were lectured on how we were to do as were were told, without question. We learned that when the word "jab" was said, we were to strike our left breast with our right fist, hold the position until the word "recover" was said; or, if the word "jab" was said, again, you were to strike your right breast with your left fist over your right arm that was still in the first 'jab" position. From a double "jab" position, the only word given could be "recover." I don't know what the "jab" was all about, except to keep everyone alert. Missing a "jab" command could mean push-ups.
The lecture of doing as you were told, without question, and this silly thing with the "jab" was not sitting well with me. I had been able to think for myself since leaving home at 16, and I wasn't there to play games. That kind of thinking was about to get me in big trouble. All of the men in the group I was in, had come from other Army divisions. They had been through basic training, which for some reason, I had not been, then had volunteered for parachute school. They then would be "paratroopers," the elite of the Army Airborne.
There I was, straight off the Ringling Brothers Circus, free as a bird, never any kind of strict discipline to prepare me for military behavior, stuck in one of the toughest outfits for military discipline, with some of the roughest and most hardened men ever assembled in one group.
Waiting for more volunteers ito arrive so the class would be of proper number, approximately 200, there was nothing to do. Things got a little testy among the men and officers in charge.
One of the young officers decided one morning at 3:00 a. m. that everyone had to pee. He went through the barracks hollering, "Everyone up for pee call." and to "fall in ranks in the company street!" I, for one, stayed in bed. I did not need to pee. I felt the young officer was just being an asshole and showing off his rank. When he came into the barracks to make sure everyone was out, he found me still in bed. He pulled the covers off me and pulled me out of bed. That was his mistake. I came up fighting and knocked him out the door. He landed on his ass in the company street in front of the men lined up there for 'pee call.' I turned and went back to bed. I could hear the men laughing and the officer making threats about what he was going to do about my striking an officer. Sure enough, 10:00 a. m. the next morning, word came for me to report to the Company Commander on the double. Never having been in the Company Headquarters, this was something new. I went in the door, told the Sergeant I had been requested to report to the Company Commander and my name was 'Martin'. From another office, a strong stern voice said, " Yes, I have been waiting for you Martin, get in here!" I walked in, went up to his desk, put my hands on top of his desk, and asked what he wanted to see me about, as if I didn't know. The Captain came out of his chair, stood looking at me, not seeming to know what to say for a few seconds. Then he asked me how long I had been in the army. I told him, "under two months." He asked if I had basic training of any kind? I told him," I had not. They had sent me there from the Induction Camp in Michigan, where I had been through the physical and evaluation examinations, sworn in, then shipped to Fort Benning to the Parachute School." The Captain pulled my file, sat there reading, then began laughing. He told me to sit down and relax, the Army was at fault by not sending me for basic training prior to Parachute School. The Captain said he would send me for basic training. When I finished, I could volunteer for Parachute School. He said he would like to have me back at the School, as an Instructor. This sounded good to me. I asked about knocking the young officer out the door. "Was I in trouble?" The Captain said, "No, just apologize and I'm sure he will accept your apology. That incident will help him to be a better officer."
Sometime during the next few weeks, papers arrived sending me to Camp Robinson Arkansas, 'set back in the hills that never stopped,' but near the city of Little Rock. That was another world, with natural gas heated cabins and up on top of the the hills at night, every star in the sky could be seen. I really enjoyed going through basic training there in the mountains of Arkansas.
As hectic as times were, there seemed to be a little time to sit back and figure what life was all about and to try to work out in my mind, the path I hoped to be on with the ones I loved. After completing basic training, I received a call from Betty that it would not be long when the baby would be ready to make its' entrance. Betty was staying in St. Petersburg, Florida with her folks. She felt more comfortable being there during the last part of her pregnancy. The next call was to inform me that Betty was on the way to the hospital. I contacted my Commanding Officer and received a five-day pass to be with Betty and the baby in St. Pete. By the time I arrived at the hospital, Betty had already delivered a beautiful baby girl, and named her Connie Lee, after her two best friends in the circus. With the five-day pass about to run out, and all was doing well in St. Pete, I headed back to Arkansas, where I was told on arrival, that I would be heading to Fort Benning, Ga to the Parachute School. Having completed basic training, I was now to go through Jump School. At the beginning of Jump School, there is a week of "Pre-A" stage, where the training is extra rigorous, with calesthenics and a five-mile run every day. They would increase the speed of the run each day. If the volunteer student cannot keep up with the class and drops out, then the student is washed out of the parachute troops and sent to regular Infantry. By doing this, the government saves the money and time it would take to put the student through the school and then have them drop out.
Having passed "Pre-A stage," you then moved on to regular Jump School starting with "A" stage, with more physical fitness to make the body stronger and withstand the shock of landing by parachute when loaded with 50- 60 lbs of gear. "B" stage and "C" stage is more of the same. "D" stage is the last week of school, learning to pack your own chute. Five jumps are required to graduate. One of them is a night jump. At that time "C-47's" were being used as jump planes. It was necessary to stand up, hook up and go in turn out the door.
During one night jump, it had just stopped raining and the wet black-top looked like a small river. During jump school, it was taught that if it appeared you might land in water, you should get free of the parachute straps, and let the parachute go prior to landing in the water. If you didn't get rid of the parachute, it could come down on top of you and you could drown. Several jumpers looking down saw the black-top and assumed it was water, so getting free of the chute , they dropped free about twenty feet above the road. Can you imagine hitting that road, thinking it was going to be water?
That night jump produced several learning experiences: be sure it is water before dropping out of your chute; and how to help your buddies with broken arms and legs. The base hospital was busy that night. I am sure nothing like that happened again. Going through Jump School was like being back on the circus, learning new tricks and acts. I was lucky my body was tuned for this type of life. I really felt sorry for some of the men, who thought they were in good physical condition, but had no idea what was really necessary to become a paratrooper.
While going through "C" stage, I goofed. The Sergeant giving the class said, "Martin, let's do some small arm circles." Which was a type of physical punishment to teach you not to goof again. The thing about it is, that if an instructor gives it as punishment, he has to do it with you. Most of the instructors are in superior physical condition and can really make you hurt, so that your arms will not stay up. When they think you have hurt enough they will stop. The instructors had built up strength in their shoulders and were masters at small arm circles. When this certain instructor ordered me to do small arm circles with him, he had no idea what he had done. I never said a word, and started doing small arm circles - holding my arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height and turning my hands and arms in small circles, along with the instructor. After a while, the instructor felt I should be tired, but all I did was smile. We kept going, and I could see he was tiring and his arms were getting heavy. I just smiled. After a while longer, I could see the instructor was struggling and becoming flustered. He then told another instructor to take his place. The replacement was about worn out, when the first instructor stopped us. He was laughing now, as we had gathered an audience to see this battle of the small arm circles. The Sergeant in charge of all the instructors asked, "Who the hell are you?" Laughing, I told him I was a circus performer, acrobat and trapese artist. He smiled and said, "No wonder!" From then on, we were the best of friends.
By the time Jump School was completed and my five jumps finished, I was now a Qualified Paratrooper and Rigger and had been assigned as an instructor in the "Pre-A" stage. Now was the time to find a place in town where Betty and Connie Lee could join me. I had gotten to know most of the cadre. One of the men, Hank Akers, was in charge of the base swimming pool. He was married and lived in town in a four-bedroom house and was looking for some people to share the house and expenses. Just what I was looking for. I called Betty and told her to come on home. We both knew it would not be for long, but at least we could be together for a while. Being in love and being apart is one of the worst things a person should have to endure in life, especially at this time in history. No one can honestly say what the world would be like one year from now. Even now, we ask ourselves, will the earth still be here? With all the weapons and fire power that is being developed, it could all end with one big bang. This is a fear we all have, but don't talk about.
When Betty and Connie Lee arrived, it was a new world. It didn't take long to get settled in. We had a large bedroom and bath and the kitchen and living areas were shared with two other couples. Hank and Jenny Akers, and another couple who were a little older. They preferred to keep to themselves. This worked out fine. He was also an instructor in the Jump School and they loved to baby-sit. Hank Akers had been a professional swimmer prior to joining the army. He had doubled for Johnny Weissmuller in some of the Tarzan movies. He would do the cliff dives. He also swam in Billy Rose's "Aquacades," a movie with Eleanor Holmes. Hank was a fun guy. He claimed to be the the seventh son from an Irish family, and he would drink to that, to prove it. His wife, Jenny was as pretty and sweet as an Irish lass could be.
We all enjoyed the house in Columbus, Georgia. Lots of parties and good friends, plenty of hard work at the school. One afternoon at the Jump School, a note was handed to me. It was from Lt. Knight wanting me to give him a call. I called him back and found that he was the same Jerry Knight who had been a knife-thrower with the Ringling Brothers Circus , then a police officer in Sarasota, Florida. We had run around together a bit during Winter Quarters. Jerry was now an officer in the army, not in the paratroopers, but in the regular army. Jerry travelled in a well-to-do circle of friends. He insisted that Betty and I join him and his girlfriend at various social functions around town and on base. Both Jerry and I knew that officers and enlisted men were not allowed to socialize, but this never bothered Jerry. Then he received word that his army division was being sent to Europe. We hated to see him leave, but Jerry was happy to be getting into combat. He felt the sooner we could get into the fighting, the sooner the war would be over. (More about Jerry later).
Life was kind to Betty and me. We were living as a family. We had no idea until now what real love was all about. There was nothing I would not do for Betty and she felt the same about me. Whenever we looked at each other, a wrm smile came on our faces. That's real love. It never ended and will last for eternity.
Things were not going well with the wars in Europe and Japan. Here at home in the United States, ration books were needed to buy almost any item: meats, gasoline, tires or anything that was needed to be used for the war effort. It all was rationed. Everyone was willing to do without, just to get this war to end. The whole world was affected. All America was feeling the desperation. The effort to win the war was 100%. There was now no way to plan even six months or a year ahead. Betty and I agreed that I would ask for overseas duty. Betty would take Connie and go to Detroit, Michigan, to live with my mother so Betty could work in one of the defense plants, while grandmother watched the baby .
to be continued.... To Scotland and the war in Europe.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
On to Nashville, More Stories Under the Big Top
After we were under canvas and on the road, Ringling Brothers came to the realization that the show was short of working people such as ushers to set up the stands, place the chairs and seat people. Management then asked for volunteers from the performers to help other departments. A few of us younger fellows pitched in and set up the stands and placed the chairs. Some of the older ushers were there and showed us how to make a few dollars for ourselves. By lapping each chair one inch over the one next to it, you would have room for one extra chair in each row, which there would not be a ticket sold for. So, with approximately 30 extra chairs, that you sold for $3.00 each, which was less than the ticket price, you made $90.00 per show. When we went back to the dressing tent to get ready for the show, and the "old-timers' saw all that money we were making, they all wanted to volunteer to help. I don't think the ushers were paid, and that's how their money was made.
While playing small towns under canvas, there is not time for the work crews to go into town and sight-see or just enjoy leisure time. Consequently, crap games develop around the trains at night. A six by six piece of canvas was laid down on smooth ground and lanterns places at each corner. A houseman furnished the dice and bank roll, and the game would begin. Late one night I wandered down and got into the crap game. All I could do was win. I made several trips to the 'virgin car' to give Betty the cash I was winning and then I would go right back and win some more. About the time I believed I owned the circus, the houseman called the Pinkerton security people, who traveled with the show. He had them watch me. The Pinkertons took over the running of the crap game and it wasn't long until they had the circus back, and, all the money I had given to Betty to hold. I don't know how they stopped my lucky streak, but I wasn't fool enough to ask or complain.. With the Pinkerton's this was very serious business. My lesson learned, was that there is always someone luckier or smarter than you think you are.
A couple of days prior to playing Nashville, Tennessee, a meeting was held in the men's dressing tent by a group of the older clowns. It seems that in Nashville there were some bordellos that were favorites of the old timers and they felt a party would be in order. However, they wanted the money to be handled by one man, due to past experiences. So, one of the Bulgarian bar actors was elected to pay for everything. Each man gave $50.00 the day we arrived in Nashville. There were clown, actors, acrobats, midgets, dwarfs and so on. Probably close to 30 men.
At the first Bordello, when the Bulgarian bar actor tried to settle the bill a huge brawl erupted.
The police were called to break it up. One of the policemen asked what had caused the fight? The madam said, "The Bulgarian only wanted to pay half-price for the midgets and dwarfs.
She wanted full price. The policeman said it would be settled very easily. He told a dwarf to drop his pants. When he did the policeman said, "Pay full price!" There was no half-price warranted. A good time was had by all.
On hot summer days between shows, we would gather up a group of the younger performers and have the show bus take us to a local swimming pool. the show bus did not have a sign on it that it was the circus bus, so the local people didn't know who or where the 20 or 30 of us came from? After a few minutes of letting the local guys and gals get their eyes full and all excited, we would go into a few acrobatic routines and then start in on the diving boards. The local people had no idea what was happening . If they had paid $100 each, they would not have seen a better show than a group of young circus performers trying to out-do each other. Naturally by the time we left the pool, we had made many new friends, which made for a large crowd for the night show.
Speaking of trying to out-do each other.... I can remember when the circus train would be stopped for an hour or two. The performers would become restless and walk along the stopped train cars and visit with each other. Some of us young fellow, Christianni's, Zerbeines, Ivanos, Eddi Kohl, Billy Thompson and I would make bets as to who could do the most forward gains when doing a back somersault from a standing position on a railroad track. What we were doing was far more dangerous than anything we did during the show. We would have been in big trouble if any of our bosses had seen what we were doing. If I can remember correctly, the most I could gain was 2", but the Christianni's could all do better than 4".
One of the more uncomfortable experiences that would occur quite often while traveling on the circus train, was the very rough handling and moving of the performers' railroad cars. Every so often the engineer driving the locomotive with the performers' cars attached would bump and bang the railroad cars so badly that you would literally be thrown out of bed and knocked about on the floor. Eddy Ward, a catcher in the trapeze act, was trying to shave one day. This was after the cars had been bumped and banged for three days by the same engineer. The day before, Eddy had gone up and talked with the engineer about handling the cars more gently. The engineer gave Eddy a smart remark like, "Can't you take a few bumps?" This morning was all Eddy could take. His face was bloody from trying to shave and being bumped. He threw down his razor, jumped out of the car and ran up to the locomotive. He told the engineer to stop the train and come down on the ground. When he did, Eddy hit him square in the nose and asked him how he liked being bumped? When Eddy came back to our car, the car porter said to Eddy, "That was an awful thing to do" Eddy's reply was, "Yeah, but I sure feel a lot better." We had same engineer for another week, and we could hardly feel the train move.
What most of the performers did enjoy was what we called a "Dukie Run." It was a 2 or 3 day run over a long distance. The 'dukies' were the box lunches that everyone received. The 'Dukie Runs' were a social time for us, a time for for card games, stories and dreams. During these runs, the trains would have to stop, by law, every so many hours to feed, water and exercise the animals. Of course the performers took advantage of this law. The train was stopped in a very small town that only had a drug store and a movie house for local entertainment. We talked the
the movie house owner into opening up and showing a movie while we were stopped. In the middle of the movie, the circus train blew its' whistle and that meant it was leaving, and it did. Some didn't make it on time and had to hire a taxi to catch the train at the next stop. After paying one of those taxi cab bills, you learned to not wander too far from the train.
During the 1942 season, the circus was hit hard by the war. In 1943, it was almost a disaster, due to the labor shortage of all the crews. Even the circus band converted to canned music. In March of 1943, I turned eighteen and reported to my draft board in Detroit, Michigan. Within
a few months, I was told to report for induction at an army camp at Kellog, Michigan. The next few days were spent taking tests and physical examinations. After the tests, and examinations, the officer in charge asked what I did prior to coming into the army? I told him I was an acrobat and had been with the Ringling Brother, Barnum and Bailey Circus. He said, "I have just the right job for you. Here sign this!" If course, being young and stupid, I did. He said, " You are now in the United States Army Parachute Troops." The next day they shipped my butt off to Fort Benning, Georgia, which is a whole new story.
To be continued....... World War 11
While playing small towns under canvas, there is not time for the work crews to go into town and sight-see or just enjoy leisure time. Consequently, crap games develop around the trains at night. A six by six piece of canvas was laid down on smooth ground and lanterns places at each corner. A houseman furnished the dice and bank roll, and the game would begin. Late one night I wandered down and got into the crap game. All I could do was win. I made several trips to the 'virgin car' to give Betty the cash I was winning and then I would go right back and win some more. About the time I believed I owned the circus, the houseman called the Pinkerton security people, who traveled with the show. He had them watch me. The Pinkertons took over the running of the crap game and it wasn't long until they had the circus back, and, all the money I had given to Betty to hold. I don't know how they stopped my lucky streak, but I wasn't fool enough to ask or complain.. With the Pinkerton's this was very serious business. My lesson learned, was that there is always someone luckier or smarter than you think you are.
A couple of days prior to playing Nashville, Tennessee, a meeting was held in the men's dressing tent by a group of the older clowns. It seems that in Nashville there were some bordellos that were favorites of the old timers and they felt a party would be in order. However, they wanted the money to be handled by one man, due to past experiences. So, one of the Bulgarian bar actors was elected to pay for everything. Each man gave $50.00 the day we arrived in Nashville. There were clown, actors, acrobats, midgets, dwarfs and so on. Probably close to 30 men.
At the first Bordello, when the Bulgarian bar actor tried to settle the bill a huge brawl erupted.
The police were called to break it up. One of the policemen asked what had caused the fight? The madam said, "The Bulgarian only wanted to pay half-price for the midgets and dwarfs.
She wanted full price. The policeman said it would be settled very easily. He told a dwarf to drop his pants. When he did the policeman said, "Pay full price!" There was no half-price warranted. A good time was had by all.
On hot summer days between shows, we would gather up a group of the younger performers and have the show bus take us to a local swimming pool. the show bus did not have a sign on it that it was the circus bus, so the local people didn't know who or where the 20 or 30 of us came from? After a few minutes of letting the local guys and gals get their eyes full and all excited, we would go into a few acrobatic routines and then start in on the diving boards. The local people had no idea what was happening . If they had paid $100 each, they would not have seen a better show than a group of young circus performers trying to out-do each other. Naturally by the time we left the pool, we had made many new friends, which made for a large crowd for the night show.
Speaking of trying to out-do each other.... I can remember when the circus train would be stopped for an hour or two. The performers would become restless and walk along the stopped train cars and visit with each other. Some of us young fellow, Christianni's, Zerbeines, Ivanos, Eddi Kohl, Billy Thompson and I would make bets as to who could do the most forward gains when doing a back somersault from a standing position on a railroad track. What we were doing was far more dangerous than anything we did during the show. We would have been in big trouble if any of our bosses had seen what we were doing. If I can remember correctly, the most I could gain was 2", but the Christianni's could all do better than 4".
One of the more uncomfortable experiences that would occur quite often while traveling on the circus train, was the very rough handling and moving of the performers' railroad cars. Every so often the engineer driving the locomotive with the performers' cars attached would bump and bang the railroad cars so badly that you would literally be thrown out of bed and knocked about on the floor. Eddy Ward, a catcher in the trapeze act, was trying to shave one day. This was after the cars had been bumped and banged for three days by the same engineer. The day before, Eddy had gone up and talked with the engineer about handling the cars more gently. The engineer gave Eddy a smart remark like, "Can't you take a few bumps?" This morning was all Eddy could take. His face was bloody from trying to shave and being bumped. He threw down his razor, jumped out of the car and ran up to the locomotive. He told the engineer to stop the train and come down on the ground. When he did, Eddy hit him square in the nose and asked him how he liked being bumped? When Eddy came back to our car, the car porter said to Eddy, "That was an awful thing to do" Eddy's reply was, "Yeah, but I sure feel a lot better." We had same engineer for another week, and we could hardly feel the train move.
What most of the performers did enjoy was what we called a "Dukie Run." It was a 2 or 3 day run over a long distance. The 'dukies' were the box lunches that everyone received. The 'Dukie Runs' were a social time for us, a time for for card games, stories and dreams. During these runs, the trains would have to stop, by law, every so many hours to feed, water and exercise the animals. Of course the performers took advantage of this law. The train was stopped in a very small town that only had a drug store and a movie house for local entertainment. We talked the
the movie house owner into opening up and showing a movie while we were stopped. In the middle of the movie, the circus train blew its' whistle and that meant it was leaving, and it did. Some didn't make it on time and had to hire a taxi to catch the train at the next stop. After paying one of those taxi cab bills, you learned to not wander too far from the train.
During the 1942 season, the circus was hit hard by the war. In 1943, it was almost a disaster, due to the labor shortage of all the crews. Even the circus band converted to canned music. In March of 1943, I turned eighteen and reported to my draft board in Detroit, Michigan. Within
a few months, I was told to report for induction at an army camp at Kellog, Michigan. The next few days were spent taking tests and physical examinations. After the tests, and examinations, the officer in charge asked what I did prior to coming into the army? I told him I was an acrobat and had been with the Ringling Brother, Barnum and Bailey Circus. He said, "I have just the right job for you. Here sign this!" If course, being young and stupid, I did. He said, " You are now in the United States Army Parachute Troops." The next day they shipped my butt off to Fort Benning, Georgia, which is a whole new story.
To be continued....... World War 11
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Christianni's and the circus fire.
Some of the couples in the book by Connie Clausen, "I Love You Honey, but the Season's Over," were couples put together by Professor Love. Connie Clausen is the Connie after whom we named our daughter, Connie Lee. Connie Clausen was one of the sweetest and most intelligent girls in the show. Connie knew how to make you feel great just by talking to you. She was honest and not afraid to say what she was thinking. Connie and I talked quite often, and her love life was in turmoil. She was going with one of the Christianni boys. The Christianni's were a large Italian family doing several acts: bareback riding, acrobats, teeter-board and most of the production numbers. Connie's boyfriend, of course, lived with the family in the Christianni car, where mama Christianni did all the cooking and rode shot-gun over her brood. Mama Christianni knew about and had to approve of whatever her kids were doing. That kind of put a damper on what Connie and her boyfriend could and could not do. What kept Connie in a state of frustration, was the boyfriend was pressing for sex and Connie knew the moment she gave in, Mama Christianni would know about it through her other children. Connie preserved her virginity for what seemed to her to be a lifetime, but on the other hand, she was relieved as her boyfriend was a wild man and that somewhat frightened her when it came to the act of losing her virginity. Knowing her fears and because her boyfriend and I were good friends, I got him alone and without his knowing that Connie and I had talked, I let him in on a few facts of life and how to treat an American girl. A few days later, I talked with Connie and she was relaxed, smiling and happy. I never asked if she was still a virgin, but she and her boyfriend were together the rest of the time, until the end of the season. Thus, the title of her book, "I Love You Honey, but the Season's Over."
Speaking of love. During the show number of "The Wedding of Toto and Gargantua," in which I had been selected to be the bride Toto. Gargantua, the groom, was one of the Bulgarian bar performers. We were dressed in gorilla costumes, of course. The routine of the wedding was the gorilla bride and groom were brought into the center ring and married there by a preacher. Then a horse-drawn 'wedding carriage' was driven into the center ring and the happy couple seated themselves in the carriage for the trip around the hippodrome track for everyone to see the newly-married gorilla couple. That gorilla wedding number was advertised prior to the circus arrival in each town, which may have led some people to believe that real gorillas were being married. Of course, with our costumes on, we did look like the real thing. Those costumes weighed 40-50 pounds each. As we were being displayed around the hippodrome track, we could hear the comments of the under -canvas audience, such as "They're not real!" or "They're fake!" These under-canvas audiences were closer than other audiences, such as in New York or Boston, where we would not have heard their remarks. After hearing the people's remarks a few times, I decided to find out if the audience really thought we were fake. As the carriage came close to the bleachers and I could hear the doubts being voiced about the gorillas, I made a fast jump, as if I was coming out of the carriage into the audience. There were screams, screeches, and cries of fear, as the audience near the carriage vanished. As some of the crowd looked back to see if the gorillas were after them, I would throw them my wedding bouquet and act shy. That worked so well, and was so much fun, that I was told to keep it in the number. The audience enjoyed the scare and looking foolish afterwards. The music for the wedding was Harry James, "You Made me Love You." To this day, when we hear the song, my wife looks at me with those bedroom eyes and winks.
As the season rolled on, everyone was gaining more confidence with their acts and each other. Betty and I were startled late one afternoon to hear "Modoc," one of the lead elephants, crying and moaning in the center ring of the Big Top. We went in to see what was going on. Walter McClain, the boss elephant trainer, was standing next to Modoc, making her do headstands over and over. Poor Modoc was crying because it hurt and she knew she was being punished for not doing her number correctly during the show. Now there were four of us with tears in our eyes, Modoc, Walter, Betty and myself.
Walter McClain was not a mean elephant boss or trainer. The men and elephants all loved him and he loved them. A surprise electical/wind storm hit late one night. The elephants were in the tent with a chain around one leg, with the chain attached to a wooden stake driven into the ground. As the storm increased, the elephants, about 15 of them, became uneasy and began to trumpet and sway. The more the storm increased, the more the elephants worked themselves into a frightening state of mind in which all they knew to do, was pull their stakes out of the ground and run. The bull hands in the tent could not stop them. An elephant stampede started, and the elephants were running and trumpeting. To see a scared and stampeding herd of elephants heading off the circus lot and towards a small town is enough to give a strong man weak knees and a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
As the elephants all joined in the stampede, Walter McClain came running and as loud as he could, he hollered, "Ruth Stop!!" As Ruth was the lead elephant, she put on the brakes and the herd behind her stopped. Walter went up and talked to Ruth and she turned around and led the herd back to the elephant tent. The punishment Ruth recieved was a love pat from Walter. The elephants were following their natural instinct: when in danger, run, but the elephants knew that Walter would take care of them and protect them. Their respect and love for Walter saved many lives and a small town from destruction that day.
One last story about elephants. It happened during a fire in Cleveland, Ohio. The menagerie caught fire between shows. The circus lost many horses, camels, cats and other animals, including elephants. Their hides were burned and falling off in chunks. They would just stand there and cry, they were in so much pain. Some animals died in the fire and others had to be shot to set them free of pain, since there was no chance of their surviving. Circus and city crews worked late into the night with large cranes and trucks. Bulldozers had to be transported out into the country where large holes could be dug to bury the many burned and dead animals. That was one of the saddest days for everyone in the circus family.
Betty lost her elephant, "Cass." in the fire, which hit her hard. Betty had become like a mother to Cass and her best interest was foremost in Betty's mind. Elephants have a way of returning your love, so losing Cass, was like losing a member of her family and she was heartbroken. She had worked with Cass starting back with rehearsals in Sarasota. Betty would bring a loaf of bread each day so that Cass would permit the hair to be burned off her hide in the areas where Betty sat during "The Elephant Ballet." If this elephant hair was not removed, it's like sitting on needles.
An elephant hand or groom, whichever one wishes to call the elephant caretaker, was sitting in a bar one afternoon having a beer. He was dirty and covered with wet elephant dung. The bartender asked him what he did for a living? The man replied that he was with the circus. He did many jobs. He loaded and unloaded the circus from the trains, and he was just promoted to Elephant Hand First Class, and he took care of the elephants. He fed and watered them, and when they were constipated, he would get a ladder, climb up and lift the elephant's tail, reach in the hole under the tail and remove the blockage. When he did that, the dung and water would rush out and cover him and that's why he smelled like he did. The bartender said, " Good gosh man, why don't you quit and find other work?" the elephant hand replied, "What, and leave show business?" That's an old circus story, but how true it is.
One number that was fun to do was the "Popcorn Gag." When the juggler, Mosey Milliano Trutsey, was about to go on in the center ring, I would get a seat in front of the center ring about half-way up the aisle. During the juggling act, the juggler would throw a ten inch ball into the crowd and the ball would be thrown back to him and he would catch it on a knife he held in his mouth. On about the third throw into the audience, the ball would be thrown to me. I would be sitting on an end seat and would step out in the aisle to catch and throw the ball back. As I would throw the ball, a popcorn vendor with a tray of popcorn-filled bags held in one hand, high above his shoulder, would try to pass me in the aisle. The ball would hit the tray of popcorn and popcorn would fly everywhere. This always brought a laugh and of course, the popcorn vendor and I would have an arm-waving discussion about who was going to pay for the popcorn? The juggler paid the vendor and me $5.00 a week to do this gag. But what he didn't know, was that the people in the audience would feel sorry for the vendor and would give him money for the popcorn that was spilled. Between the vendor and me we made more than the $5.00 per show, by the audience's paying for the popcorn. I can see Mosey Milliano Trutsey's face now, when he discovered how much money we made, and he didn't get a penny of it. He was so tight he would ask if we could use the same popcorn twice.
to be continued....On to Nashville and more stories under the Big Top.
Speaking of love. During the show number of "The Wedding of Toto and Gargantua," in which I had been selected to be the bride Toto. Gargantua, the groom, was one of the Bulgarian bar performers. We were dressed in gorilla costumes, of course. The routine of the wedding was the gorilla bride and groom were brought into the center ring and married there by a preacher. Then a horse-drawn 'wedding carriage' was driven into the center ring and the happy couple seated themselves in the carriage for the trip around the hippodrome track for everyone to see the newly-married gorilla couple. That gorilla wedding number was advertised prior to the circus arrival in each town, which may have led some people to believe that real gorillas were being married. Of course, with our costumes on, we did look like the real thing. Those costumes weighed 40-50 pounds each. As we were being displayed around the hippodrome track, we could hear the comments of the under -canvas audience, such as "They're not real!" or "They're fake!" These under-canvas audiences were closer than other audiences, such as in New York or Boston, where we would not have heard their remarks. After hearing the people's remarks a few times, I decided to find out if the audience really thought we were fake. As the carriage came close to the bleachers and I could hear the doubts being voiced about the gorillas, I made a fast jump, as if I was coming out of the carriage into the audience. There were screams, screeches, and cries of fear, as the audience near the carriage vanished. As some of the crowd looked back to see if the gorillas were after them, I would throw them my wedding bouquet and act shy. That worked so well, and was so much fun, that I was told to keep it in the number. The audience enjoyed the scare and looking foolish afterwards. The music for the wedding was Harry James, "You Made me Love You." To this day, when we hear the song, my wife looks at me with those bedroom eyes and winks.
As the season rolled on, everyone was gaining more confidence with their acts and each other. Betty and I were startled late one afternoon to hear "Modoc," one of the lead elephants, crying and moaning in the center ring of the Big Top. We went in to see what was going on. Walter McClain, the boss elephant trainer, was standing next to Modoc, making her do headstands over and over. Poor Modoc was crying because it hurt and she knew she was being punished for not doing her number correctly during the show. Now there were four of us with tears in our eyes, Modoc, Walter, Betty and myself.
Walter McClain was not a mean elephant boss or trainer. The men and elephants all loved him and he loved them. A surprise electical/wind storm hit late one night. The elephants were in the tent with a chain around one leg, with the chain attached to a wooden stake driven into the ground. As the storm increased, the elephants, about 15 of them, became uneasy and began to trumpet and sway. The more the storm increased, the more the elephants worked themselves into a frightening state of mind in which all they knew to do, was pull their stakes out of the ground and run. The bull hands in the tent could not stop them. An elephant stampede started, and the elephants were running and trumpeting. To see a scared and stampeding herd of elephants heading off the circus lot and towards a small town is enough to give a strong man weak knees and a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
As the elephants all joined in the stampede, Walter McClain came running and as loud as he could, he hollered, "Ruth Stop!!" As Ruth was the lead elephant, she put on the brakes and the herd behind her stopped. Walter went up and talked to Ruth and she turned around and led the herd back to the elephant tent. The punishment Ruth recieved was a love pat from Walter. The elephants were following their natural instinct: when in danger, run, but the elephants knew that Walter would take care of them and protect them. Their respect and love for Walter saved many lives and a small town from destruction that day.
One last story about elephants. It happened during a fire in Cleveland, Ohio. The menagerie caught fire between shows. The circus lost many horses, camels, cats and other animals, including elephants. Their hides were burned and falling off in chunks. They would just stand there and cry, they were in so much pain. Some animals died in the fire and others had to be shot to set them free of pain, since there was no chance of their surviving. Circus and city crews worked late into the night with large cranes and trucks. Bulldozers had to be transported out into the country where large holes could be dug to bury the many burned and dead animals. That was one of the saddest days for everyone in the circus family.
Betty lost her elephant, "Cass." in the fire, which hit her hard. Betty had become like a mother to Cass and her best interest was foremost in Betty's mind. Elephants have a way of returning your love, so losing Cass, was like losing a member of her family and she was heartbroken. She had worked with Cass starting back with rehearsals in Sarasota. Betty would bring a loaf of bread each day so that Cass would permit the hair to be burned off her hide in the areas where Betty sat during "The Elephant Ballet." If this elephant hair was not removed, it's like sitting on needles.
An elephant hand or groom, whichever one wishes to call the elephant caretaker, was sitting in a bar one afternoon having a beer. He was dirty and covered with wet elephant dung. The bartender asked him what he did for a living? The man replied that he was with the circus. He did many jobs. He loaded and unloaded the circus from the trains, and he was just promoted to Elephant Hand First Class, and he took care of the elephants. He fed and watered them, and when they were constipated, he would get a ladder, climb up and lift the elephant's tail, reach in the hole under the tail and remove the blockage. When he did that, the dung and water would rush out and cover him and that's why he smelled like he did. The bartender said, " Good gosh man, why don't you quit and find other work?" the elephant hand replied, "What, and leave show business?" That's an old circus story, but how true it is.
One number that was fun to do was the "Popcorn Gag." When the juggler, Mosey Milliano Trutsey, was about to go on in the center ring, I would get a seat in front of the center ring about half-way up the aisle. During the juggling act, the juggler would throw a ten inch ball into the crowd and the ball would be thrown back to him and he would catch it on a knife he held in his mouth. On about the third throw into the audience, the ball would be thrown to me. I would be sitting on an end seat and would step out in the aisle to catch and throw the ball back. As I would throw the ball, a popcorn vendor with a tray of popcorn-filled bags held in one hand, high above his shoulder, would try to pass me in the aisle. The ball would hit the tray of popcorn and popcorn would fly everywhere. This always brought a laugh and of course, the popcorn vendor and I would have an arm-waving discussion about who was going to pay for the popcorn? The juggler paid the vendor and me $5.00 a week to do this gag. But what he didn't know, was that the people in the audience would feel sorry for the vendor and would give him money for the popcorn that was spilled. Between the vendor and me we made more than the $5.00 per show, by the audience's paying for the popcorn. I can see Mosey Milliano Trutsey's face now, when he discovered how much money we made, and he didn't get a penny of it. He was so tight he would ask if we could use the same popcorn twice.
to be continued....On to Nashville and more stories under the Big Top.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Traveling under the Big Top
Philadelphia was our first date for the circus under canvas. Another first: we would be contending with rain, wind and lightning, floods, cold and hot weather, which, while performing in Madison Square Garden and Boston Gardens, had not been a consideration, as both buildings had been enclosed. One of the worst to contend with was mud. We have seen elephants stuck in mud up to their bellys, and tractors would have to be used to pull them out. I really think the elephants enjoyed being stuck, as they seemed to smile when pulled out. If one elephant was hooked up with pulling gear and went in the mud while pulling another elephant out, they would both seem to giggle about having to have a tractor pull them out.
Now under canvas, the full circus goes into operation. The advance men would go ahead and pick out the towns, the lot's location (not too far from a railroad sidings), make the deals, do the posting and advertising. In general, they would lay all the ground work for the circus trains to arrive. There were four trains: the first train carried the land clearing and leveling equipment, along with some workmen and the elephants, canvas, rigging, ropes and stakes. These were all loaded and packed in wagons which had to be moved from railroad cars to the circus lot by trucks, tractors and elephants. The second train brought more canvas, rigging, wagons, trucks and tent erection crews. The third train carried animals, the sideshow, buses, cook-tent, power plants, performers' rigging and seats. The fourth train held the performers, wardrobe, office wagons, office personnel, the band and instruments. The circus was a traveling city, all within itself.
In 1941, the U S Army made a study as to how this was accomplished. It has been my good fortune to see and experience a lot of what this world has to offer, but to this day I am amazed at the remarkable efficiency with which Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey, could move that city of 1,500 people and four trains, the Big Top, and all the other tents, maybe 15 to 20 of them; power plants that furnished lighting for all the circus, the horses, lions, tigers, gorillas, elephants, the feeding of all those animals and the hands that cared for them. The trains, erection, tear-down, canvas crews, along with all the front office personnel and the performers. All of that could be moved from trains, set up, two shows perfomed, all of it torn down, packed, loaded on board the trains again and moved to the next town, and within a 24 hour day. I don't believe the U S Army has been able to reach that kind of efficiency even yet. Keep in mind, the circus made a profit and as it left each town, that town could hardly wait for it to return the next year.
While playing in Philadelphia the first week under the canvas tent, the Wallendas fell while doing a high-wire routine, with four or five of the family involved. The worst one hurt was Joe Wallenda, who suffered a broken leg. He was taken at once to a hospital where the leg was set and a cast applied. Joe was in pain and he was told to stay off his leg for a few days. That night, for the evening show, there was Joe up on the high-wire, doing the act as if the leg cast did not exist.
Remembering the Wallendas that first week under canvas: Carl Wallenda and I had become friendly by dong little things to help each other. One particular day, Carl was up on one end of the high-wire, where there are small platforms that hold the bicycles and balancing poles. Carl saw me walk into the Big Top during tween-shows and he called down for me to come up and please give him a hand. It looked to me like he was having trouble with part of his rigging. So, up I went to help. When I reached the platform, Carl said, " get up on my shoulders, stand and reach up, and loosen a twisted rope." That I did, then Carl turned with me still standing on his shoulders , picked up a balance pole and off we went across the high-wire to the other platform. Never having been on a high-wire before, this scared me so badly, I could not move or say anything. On reaching the other platform, Carl said, "Now reach up and untwist the same rope as on the other platform." That I did and came off Carl's shoulder, still so shaken that I didn't speak. Carl said, "I knew you were not frightened by height, so anytime you would like to, come work with us. " Little did he know that it was him that frightened me. He did things that were far too dangerous and were not necessary to keep up the good name of the Wallendas. Carl died while walking a high-wire between buildings in Puerto Rico. A strong wind blew him off the wire. Carl was aware that the wind whipping between the buildings was a danger. If Carl had been younger, he would not have fallen. His mind knew to grab the wire, but at his age, his body did not react fast enough.
The Wallendas were a fine and proud family, and Betty and I became close friends with them. Carl was married to Helen, Herman was married to Lee and Joe was single. At that time, there were only five people in the act. Our daughter, Connie Lee, was named in part for Lee Wallenda, who was a beautiful, gracious, and fun-loving woman. She was also named after another friend of ours in the circus, Connie Clausen, who I will talk about later. Lee and Herman later divorced and Lee replaced the Kirmrist girl when Vera was badly hurt in an auto collision.
In the dressing tent and across from my trunk was the German fellow who did the act of piling tables one on top of the other. Then, at a height of approximately thirty to forty feet, he would sit in a chair placed on top of all the tables. He would rock the stack of tables back and forth, back and forth, until the angle of falling was just about reached. He played this angle of fall back and forth, keeping the audience in suspense. With each rock, the tables would almost fall, with him still in the chair on top. He did this act well, and when the tables finally fell, he would hit the ground and and roll to a standing curtsy. The audience loved him.
One morning early, I came into the dressing tent, and he was at his trunk with a pile of women's clothes beside him. With a large pair of scissors, he was cutting each piece of clothing into very small pieces. I stood there watching him. He did not say a word, just kept cutting. Finally, I got up enough nerve to ask him what he was doing? He said he had caught his beautiful young wife talking with a young man. He would not have that kind of action by his wife, so he was getting rid of everything he had given her. He must have destroyed thousands of dollars worth of clothing. I offered the opinion that he may be a little hasty with what he was doing. It turned out that I was right. In a couple of days, they were back together and he had to buy her a completely new wardrobe. He told me later he wished he had stopped when I said he was being hasty. Of course, his wife learned how to acquire a new wardrobe.
Further across the trunks, and in another line, several clowns all had their trunks placed side by side. Most of the gentlemen had been Broadway and burlesque performers and just loved the
show business so much that as long as they could perform some kind of act, they would not give up. There were a few that were famous from the clown characaters they created, such as Lou Jacobs, with his small automobile that held at least ten clowns. Paul Jung, with papier-mache heads he created for the clown numbers. Almost all of the fellows kept in their trunks a tap-board, a board of half-inch thick plywood. It was 18 inches wide by 24 inches long. When placed on flat, level ground, it became a floor for practicing tap-dancing steps. One of the joys of the older fellows was teaching tap steps to us younger fellows. We were known as the "first of Mays" that being our first year on the show. Of course, the way to get back with them when they called us that was to say, "I'd rather be a first of May, then the 'Last of November', " but when you said it, you'd better be running.
One of our favorites was the clown Johnny Tripp, known in the circus world as "Professor Love." As soon as the season started, Professor Love went right to work matching up all unattached people. Sometimes if he was having problems finding matches, he would spend hours talking to individuals about other individuals to try to work out a happy match. Often, during the season, couples would seek out advice from Professor Love to keep together the match he had engineered.
to be continued.....The Christianni's and the circus fire
Now under canvas, the full circus goes into operation. The advance men would go ahead and pick out the towns, the lot's location (not too far from a railroad sidings), make the deals, do the posting and advertising. In general, they would lay all the ground work for the circus trains to arrive. There were four trains: the first train carried the land clearing and leveling equipment, along with some workmen and the elephants, canvas, rigging, ropes and stakes. These were all loaded and packed in wagons which had to be moved from railroad cars to the circus lot by trucks, tractors and elephants. The second train brought more canvas, rigging, wagons, trucks and tent erection crews. The third train carried animals, the sideshow, buses, cook-tent, power plants, performers' rigging and seats. The fourth train held the performers, wardrobe, office wagons, office personnel, the band and instruments. The circus was a traveling city, all within itself.
In 1941, the U S Army made a study as to how this was accomplished. It has been my good fortune to see and experience a lot of what this world has to offer, but to this day I am amazed at the remarkable efficiency with which Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey, could move that city of 1,500 people and four trains, the Big Top, and all the other tents, maybe 15 to 20 of them; power plants that furnished lighting for all the circus, the horses, lions, tigers, gorillas, elephants, the feeding of all those animals and the hands that cared for them. The trains, erection, tear-down, canvas crews, along with all the front office personnel and the performers. All of that could be moved from trains, set up, two shows perfomed, all of it torn down, packed, loaded on board the trains again and moved to the next town, and within a 24 hour day. I don't believe the U S Army has been able to reach that kind of efficiency even yet. Keep in mind, the circus made a profit and as it left each town, that town could hardly wait for it to return the next year.
While playing in Philadelphia the first week under the canvas tent, the Wallendas fell while doing a high-wire routine, with four or five of the family involved. The worst one hurt was Joe Wallenda, who suffered a broken leg. He was taken at once to a hospital where the leg was set and a cast applied. Joe was in pain and he was told to stay off his leg for a few days. That night, for the evening show, there was Joe up on the high-wire, doing the act as if the leg cast did not exist.
Remembering the Wallendas that first week under canvas: Carl Wallenda and I had become friendly by dong little things to help each other. One particular day, Carl was up on one end of the high-wire, where there are small platforms that hold the bicycles and balancing poles. Carl saw me walk into the Big Top during tween-shows and he called down for me to come up and please give him a hand. It looked to me like he was having trouble with part of his rigging. So, up I went to help. When I reached the platform, Carl said, " get up on my shoulders, stand and reach up, and loosen a twisted rope." That I did, then Carl turned with me still standing on his shoulders , picked up a balance pole and off we went across the high-wire to the other platform. Never having been on a high-wire before, this scared me so badly, I could not move or say anything. On reaching the other platform, Carl said, "Now reach up and untwist the same rope as on the other platform." That I did and came off Carl's shoulder, still so shaken that I didn't speak. Carl said, "I knew you were not frightened by height, so anytime you would like to, come work with us. " Little did he know that it was him that frightened me. He did things that were far too dangerous and were not necessary to keep up the good name of the Wallendas. Carl died while walking a high-wire between buildings in Puerto Rico. A strong wind blew him off the wire. Carl was aware that the wind whipping between the buildings was a danger. If Carl had been younger, he would not have fallen. His mind knew to grab the wire, but at his age, his body did not react fast enough.
The Wallendas were a fine and proud family, and Betty and I became close friends with them. Carl was married to Helen, Herman was married to Lee and Joe was single. At that time, there were only five people in the act. Our daughter, Connie Lee, was named in part for Lee Wallenda, who was a beautiful, gracious, and fun-loving woman. She was also named after another friend of ours in the circus, Connie Clausen, who I will talk about later. Lee and Herman later divorced and Lee replaced the Kirmrist girl when Vera was badly hurt in an auto collision.
In the dressing tent and across from my trunk was the German fellow who did the act of piling tables one on top of the other. Then, at a height of approximately thirty to forty feet, he would sit in a chair placed on top of all the tables. He would rock the stack of tables back and forth, back and forth, until the angle of falling was just about reached. He played this angle of fall back and forth, keeping the audience in suspense. With each rock, the tables would almost fall, with him still in the chair on top. He did this act well, and when the tables finally fell, he would hit the ground and and roll to a standing curtsy. The audience loved him.
One morning early, I came into the dressing tent, and he was at his trunk with a pile of women's clothes beside him. With a large pair of scissors, he was cutting each piece of clothing into very small pieces. I stood there watching him. He did not say a word, just kept cutting. Finally, I got up enough nerve to ask him what he was doing? He said he had caught his beautiful young wife talking with a young man. He would not have that kind of action by his wife, so he was getting rid of everything he had given her. He must have destroyed thousands of dollars worth of clothing. I offered the opinion that he may be a little hasty with what he was doing. It turned out that I was right. In a couple of days, they were back together and he had to buy her a completely new wardrobe. He told me later he wished he had stopped when I said he was being hasty. Of course, his wife learned how to acquire a new wardrobe.
Further across the trunks, and in another line, several clowns all had their trunks placed side by side. Most of the gentlemen had been Broadway and burlesque performers and just loved the
show business so much that as long as they could perform some kind of act, they would not give up. There were a few that were famous from the clown characaters they created, such as Lou Jacobs, with his small automobile that held at least ten clowns. Paul Jung, with papier-mache heads he created for the clown numbers. Almost all of the fellows kept in their trunks a tap-board, a board of half-inch thick plywood. It was 18 inches wide by 24 inches long. When placed on flat, level ground, it became a floor for practicing tap-dancing steps. One of the joys of the older fellows was teaching tap steps to us younger fellows. We were known as the "first of Mays" that being our first year on the show. Of course, the way to get back with them when they called us that was to say, "I'd rather be a first of May, then the 'Last of November', " but when you said it, you'd better be running.
One of our favorites was the clown Johnny Tripp, known in the circus world as "Professor Love." As soon as the season started, Professor Love went right to work matching up all unattached people. Sometimes if he was having problems finding matches, he would spend hours talking to individuals about other individuals to try to work out a happy match. Often, during the season, couples would seek out advice from Professor Love to keep together the match he had engineered.
to be continued.....The Christianni's and the circus fire
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Traveling with the Show
The 1942 circus season was extremely busy. I was doing six new numbers and Betty Jean was doing eight numbers -two shows per day. The most frantic were the one-day stands. We would wake up on the circus train, ask where we were, then we would get dressed, have coffee that was made by the car porter, catch the show bus from the train to the circus lot and have breakfast in the cook-tent. The cook-tent had been unloaded from the circus train and erected sometime during the dark hours of the morning. It had a complete kitchen and dining area, and was ready to serve a healthy breakfast by sun-up or shortly thereafter. The next thing was to find where the dressing tent was located. By this time, you expected to find your trunk placed where your assigned area was located in the dressing tent, and hoped that your allotted two buckets of fresh, clean water had been placed in front of your trunk. Each performer was given two buckets of clean water each show. Four buckets a day. If you required more water, that could be arranged by tipping the bucket boys. On cold mornings, ice would form on the top of the water in the bucket. Loud shrieks could be heard on these mornings as each performer rinsed off the soap suds with the icy water. The dressing tent was a very large tent divided into three areas and separated by canvas walls. The men's dressing area was on one side and the women's on the other. Between the dressing rooms was the wardrobe department, where the many costumes were kept and maintained by the wardrobe people. All costumes were kept in large circus wagons. As the show was going on and your numbers were coming up, you went to the wardrobe area to remove the costume of the number you had just completed and then to be fitted into the costume for your next number. As can be imagined, the dressing tent was a madhouse while the shows were going on. About 150 people changing costumes from two to eight times in a 2 1/2 hour period. Fortunately, the wardrobe people had a sense of humor and kept things moving.
Because the dressing tent was divided by canvas walls, everything and anything could be heard by everyone. Whatever happened on one side could be heard by all. There were no secrets between the men's and women's side. Once when several of the girls had been missing money and jewelry over a period of several weeks, they got together and set a trap for the thief. The trap was successful and they caught her. Two of the girls stripped her naked and threw her out of the dressing tent with no clothes or money. She was never heard from again. The girls had cures for many things. If one of the girls was becoming a bore with self-importance, the cure was to place a very large elephant turd on top of her trunk. In removing and disposing of it, she would be brought back to reality.
Every so often the dressing tent on one side or the other would become silent. You could not hear a sound, then all of a sudden loud laughter and applause would break out. Quite often a performer, deep in thought, would walk into the wrong dressing room. If it was a guy, the girls would be silent until he was well into the dressing room, then scream and holler to see the startled look on the poor guys face when he became aware of where he was. Sometimes the girls would be standing naked and make a big show of getting the guy out. Getting the dressing rooms correct was a problem. The dressing tent was erected by the tent crew and they couldn't care less which side was which. Fortunately, circus performers are well-built and don't mind showing off their bodies on occasion.
The hardships and unforeseen events that befall circus people tend to bond them together. The result is a sort of protective web to guard against outside influences. For example, on one occasion when Betty Jean was performing in Washington, D C, she was dressed in her costume for the "Shangri-La" number and was waiting at the Big Top entrance for the number to begin. She would be sitting on a throne, fastened to a litter that would be lifted onto the shoulders of four black litter-bearers for the trip around the hippodrome track. While waiting, a local black man appeared and confronted Betty Jean, making indecent offers and remarks to her. Betty said nothing, but was crying when the four black litter-bearers came to pick her up on their shoulders. They asked her what was wrong and she told them what the local man had said to her. Later that day, there were police and an ambulance gathered at the river on the far end of the circus lot in the tall grass. It seems someone had found the local black man beaten up, with his stomach cut from top to bottom. Nothing was said, but the next show Betty was told by her litter-bearers that if she had any more trouble, she should let them know. Betty never complained of anything to anyone after that incident.
While playing Madison Square Garden in New York and living in hotels around the Garden, there was a new happening every day and night. The first show started at 2:00 PM and was over by 4:30 P M; the second show started at 8:00 PM and was over at 10:30 PM. That gave us 3 1/2 hours between the first and second shows, then 5 to 6 hours after the second show until we had to be in bed. This lasted for six weeks. Don't think we didn't miss a thing that was happening in New York City during that six weeks. Some of the more popular spots were: Jack Dempsey's, the Diamond Horseshoe, Belvedere Hotel bar, the Capitol Hotel, the Hoffbrau House and restaurants of all kinds.
The Italian restaurants had the best spaghetti, the most delicious we had ever eaten. There should be a New York Delicatessen in every city. The variety of roasts, cold-cuts, breads, salads and baked goods can only be found in a New York deli. Romero's was at Times Square and was open 24 hours a day. It was one of the favorite spots for the circus performers to gather for food and drinks after the night shows.
While the circus was in Madison Square Garden, the ocean liner "Normandie" burned and sank at her berth in the harbor, which we could see from the stage door of the Garden. Just for fun, we told the Bulgarian bar acrobats that the police were looking for them for burning and sinking the Normandie. I wish we had not done that now, it scared the poor fellows half to death. They were upset for a week and would not even leave their hotel at night.
One night, during a performance, several police cars pulled up to the stage door. Eight or ten police officers chased one of the elephant hands back stage. He ran to where the elephants were housed. He appeared to be hurt, and a little blood was showing. He was breathing hard and was scared. He ran to "his" elephant , and she took him in and would not let anyone near him. This included the police. The elephant stood over and guarded him for several hours while he slept and recovered. When he awoke, and was settled down, he satisfied the elephant that he was OK. She then stepped back and let him take charge. The police did not press charges. The fellow had a few too many beers and was talking when he should have been listening. Besides, they did not want to upset the elephant again.
Once when I was going out the stage door after a night show, I noticed a very large black limousine with a uniformed chauffeur standing beside it , with an arm full of long -stemmed roses. My first thought was that one of the girls had hit a gold mine. All the girls and guys were a few steps behind me, so I slowed down to see which gal would get the roses. As I came alongside the limousine, the chauffeur stepped over and asked if I was Bobby Martin? As I said "yes" he handed me the roses and said Billy Rose was in the limousine and would like me to have dinner with him. So, there I stood holding the damn roses, and the chauffeur holding the door of the limo open, waiting for me to get in with Billy Rose. All the gals and guys were standing there, watching us with grins on their faces. My wish was that the sidewalk would open up and swallow me. I was so embarrassed and frustrated that I could hardly talk. I handed the roses back to the chauffeur and told Billy Rose I was sorry but I didn't play those kinds of games and my girlfriend was waiting for me. I turned and left. The guys and girls never did let me forget meeting Billy Rose. Long-stemmed roses still embarrass me.
Betty Jean was asked to audition for a Broadway show that was in rehearsal at one of the theaters. She went down to auditon for the musical, "Early to Bed", produced by Robert Altman. During the audition, she met the people producing and directing the show, along with the backers and performers. After the audition, I asked her how things had gone with the audition. She said, "Fine." They had offered her the part, but after meeting, talking, and mingling with the group, she turned it down. Her reason was she was happy with the circus, where almost all the boys were boys and girls were girls, and those that were not, told you so. Such as "Barbette," the ballet and dance director, who Betty still claims tried to fix things so that she would be knocked off her web. Betty felt that Barbette had a "thing" for me, but we got all the rigging corrected prior to show time, and nothing was hurt but pride.
I will have to confess that I did tease Barbette and enjoyed his/her friendship knowing that she felt I could become an excellent performer. Barbette had performed the world over as a female performer on the single trapeze and was highly regarded in Europe. Then came the fateful day when she fell, breaking both arms and hands to the extent that she could never perform again.
Until that day, he had masqueraded as a woman. It was a shock to the world to discover that Barbette was a man. After the fall, Barbette became a dance director on Broadway, and was one of the best. In the circus, he could walk into the girls dressing room and no attempt would be made by the girls to cover up. Barbette would also help each of them with the proper make-up, speech, dressing and walking, along with dance and performing. They all loved to hear his/her stories. Barbette took a special liking to Betty and me. He would take us to dinner whenever he wanted to show off his "circus friends" to other show business people.
While directing the rehearsals for George Ballanchine, Barbette, along with John Murray Anderson, would have the showgirls performing all kids of ballet positions on a vertical rope hanging from approximately 40 feet in the air for the web numbers. Some of the girls were not in the physical condition necessary to do that type of rope climbing. They were just learning the music and routines for the numbers. More than once, the poor girl on the rope would be put through routines that were painful and take all her strength, working to the point of tears. Barbette said this was "OK, because the more she cried the less she peed."
While working in Madison Square Garden, a labor problem came to a climax one afternoon. Since arriving in New York, there had been trouble slowly brewing between the southern blacks that came with show from Sarasota and the workers hired in New York. We never knew what happened to set off the fight that broke out that day. There were close to 100 workers fighting in all three rings, and every one of them was out for blood. Art Concello had a few of us at a meeting in the back of the Garden when the fight broke out. We all ran to where the fight was going on. Art said for us to stay back, away from the fighting. Art ran into the middle of this bloody mess, jumped up on a shute gate section and hollered for the fighting to stop. He called those men everything could think of, in no uncertain terms. To our surprise, the fighting stopped and the men listened to what Art Concello had to say. They all put their heads down and walked away, ashamed. I don't think Billy Graham could have done as well. That incident confirmed for me that I was working for a truly strong and intelligent man who had the courage to fight for what he felt was right.
After six weeks in New York, we moved to Boston, Mass and set up in Boston Garden. We played Boston for two weeks, then moved on to Philadelphia, where our first show of the season would be under canvas.
to be continued..... Traveling under the Big Top.
Because the dressing tent was divided by canvas walls, everything and anything could be heard by everyone. Whatever happened on one side could be heard by all. There were no secrets between the men's and women's side. Once when several of the girls had been missing money and jewelry over a period of several weeks, they got together and set a trap for the thief. The trap was successful and they caught her. Two of the girls stripped her naked and threw her out of the dressing tent with no clothes or money. She was never heard from again. The girls had cures for many things. If one of the girls was becoming a bore with self-importance, the cure was to place a very large elephant turd on top of her trunk. In removing and disposing of it, she would be brought back to reality.
Every so often the dressing tent on one side or the other would become silent. You could not hear a sound, then all of a sudden loud laughter and applause would break out. Quite often a performer, deep in thought, would walk into the wrong dressing room. If it was a guy, the girls would be silent until he was well into the dressing room, then scream and holler to see the startled look on the poor guys face when he became aware of where he was. Sometimes the girls would be standing naked and make a big show of getting the guy out. Getting the dressing rooms correct was a problem. The dressing tent was erected by the tent crew and they couldn't care less which side was which. Fortunately, circus performers are well-built and don't mind showing off their bodies on occasion.
The hardships and unforeseen events that befall circus people tend to bond them together. The result is a sort of protective web to guard against outside influences. For example, on one occasion when Betty Jean was performing in Washington, D C, she was dressed in her costume for the "Shangri-La" number and was waiting at the Big Top entrance for the number to begin. She would be sitting on a throne, fastened to a litter that would be lifted onto the shoulders of four black litter-bearers for the trip around the hippodrome track. While waiting, a local black man appeared and confronted Betty Jean, making indecent offers and remarks to her. Betty said nothing, but was crying when the four black litter-bearers came to pick her up on their shoulders. They asked her what was wrong and she told them what the local man had said to her. Later that day, there were police and an ambulance gathered at the river on the far end of the circus lot in the tall grass. It seems someone had found the local black man beaten up, with his stomach cut from top to bottom. Nothing was said, but the next show Betty was told by her litter-bearers that if she had any more trouble, she should let them know. Betty never complained of anything to anyone after that incident.
While playing Madison Square Garden in New York and living in hotels around the Garden, there was a new happening every day and night. The first show started at 2:00 PM and was over by 4:30 P M; the second show started at 8:00 PM and was over at 10:30 PM. That gave us 3 1/2 hours between the first and second shows, then 5 to 6 hours after the second show until we had to be in bed. This lasted for six weeks. Don't think we didn't miss a thing that was happening in New York City during that six weeks. Some of the more popular spots were: Jack Dempsey's, the Diamond Horseshoe, Belvedere Hotel bar, the Capitol Hotel, the Hoffbrau House and restaurants of all kinds.
The Italian restaurants had the best spaghetti, the most delicious we had ever eaten. There should be a New York Delicatessen in every city. The variety of roasts, cold-cuts, breads, salads and baked goods can only be found in a New York deli. Romero's was at Times Square and was open 24 hours a day. It was one of the favorite spots for the circus performers to gather for food and drinks after the night shows.
While the circus was in Madison Square Garden, the ocean liner "Normandie" burned and sank at her berth in the harbor, which we could see from the stage door of the Garden. Just for fun, we told the Bulgarian bar acrobats that the police were looking for them for burning and sinking the Normandie. I wish we had not done that now, it scared the poor fellows half to death. They were upset for a week and would not even leave their hotel at night.
One night, during a performance, several police cars pulled up to the stage door. Eight or ten police officers chased one of the elephant hands back stage. He ran to where the elephants were housed. He appeared to be hurt, and a little blood was showing. He was breathing hard and was scared. He ran to "his" elephant , and she took him in and would not let anyone near him. This included the police. The elephant stood over and guarded him for several hours while he slept and recovered. When he awoke, and was settled down, he satisfied the elephant that he was OK. She then stepped back and let him take charge. The police did not press charges. The fellow had a few too many beers and was talking when he should have been listening. Besides, they did not want to upset the elephant again.
Once when I was going out the stage door after a night show, I noticed a very large black limousine with a uniformed chauffeur standing beside it , with an arm full of long -stemmed roses. My first thought was that one of the girls had hit a gold mine. All the girls and guys were a few steps behind me, so I slowed down to see which gal would get the roses. As I came alongside the limousine, the chauffeur stepped over and asked if I was Bobby Martin? As I said "yes" he handed me the roses and said Billy Rose was in the limousine and would like me to have dinner with him. So, there I stood holding the damn roses, and the chauffeur holding the door of the limo open, waiting for me to get in with Billy Rose. All the gals and guys were standing there, watching us with grins on their faces. My wish was that the sidewalk would open up and swallow me. I was so embarrassed and frustrated that I could hardly talk. I handed the roses back to the chauffeur and told Billy Rose I was sorry but I didn't play those kinds of games and my girlfriend was waiting for me. I turned and left. The guys and girls never did let me forget meeting Billy Rose. Long-stemmed roses still embarrass me.
Betty Jean was asked to audition for a Broadway show that was in rehearsal at one of the theaters. She went down to auditon for the musical, "Early to Bed", produced by Robert Altman. During the audition, she met the people producing and directing the show, along with the backers and performers. After the audition, I asked her how things had gone with the audition. She said, "Fine." They had offered her the part, but after meeting, talking, and mingling with the group, she turned it down. Her reason was she was happy with the circus, where almost all the boys were boys and girls were girls, and those that were not, told you so. Such as "Barbette," the ballet and dance director, who Betty still claims tried to fix things so that she would be knocked off her web. Betty felt that Barbette had a "thing" for me, but we got all the rigging corrected prior to show time, and nothing was hurt but pride.
I will have to confess that I did tease Barbette and enjoyed his/her friendship knowing that she felt I could become an excellent performer. Barbette had performed the world over as a female performer on the single trapeze and was highly regarded in Europe. Then came the fateful day when she fell, breaking both arms and hands to the extent that she could never perform again.
Until that day, he had masqueraded as a woman. It was a shock to the world to discover that Barbette was a man. After the fall, Barbette became a dance director on Broadway, and was one of the best. In the circus, he could walk into the girls dressing room and no attempt would be made by the girls to cover up. Barbette would also help each of them with the proper make-up, speech, dressing and walking, along with dance and performing. They all loved to hear his/her stories. Barbette took a special liking to Betty and me. He would take us to dinner whenever he wanted to show off his "circus friends" to other show business people.
While directing the rehearsals for George Ballanchine, Barbette, along with John Murray Anderson, would have the showgirls performing all kids of ballet positions on a vertical rope hanging from approximately 40 feet in the air for the web numbers. Some of the girls were not in the physical condition necessary to do that type of rope climbing. They were just learning the music and routines for the numbers. More than once, the poor girl on the rope would be put through routines that were painful and take all her strength, working to the point of tears. Barbette said this was "OK, because the more she cried the less she peed."
While working in Madison Square Garden, a labor problem came to a climax one afternoon. Since arriving in New York, there had been trouble slowly brewing between the southern blacks that came with show from Sarasota and the workers hired in New York. We never knew what happened to set off the fight that broke out that day. There were close to 100 workers fighting in all three rings, and every one of them was out for blood. Art Concello had a few of us at a meeting in the back of the Garden when the fight broke out. We all ran to where the fight was going on. Art said for us to stay back, away from the fighting. Art ran into the middle of this bloody mess, jumped up on a shute gate section and hollered for the fighting to stop. He called those men everything could think of, in no uncertain terms. To our surprise, the fighting stopped and the men listened to what Art Concello had to say. They all put their heads down and walked away, ashamed. I don't think Billy Graham could have done as well. That incident confirmed for me that I was working for a truly strong and intelligent man who had the courage to fight for what he felt was right.
After six weeks in New York, we moved to Boston, Mass and set up in Boston Garden. We played Boston for two weeks, then moved on to Philadelphia, where our first show of the season would be under canvas.
to be continued..... Traveling under the Big Top.
Betty Jean joins the circus.
During the 1942 tour season, the show train was temporarily stopped in Georgia near Callaway Gardens between shows when Betty Jean became ill with acute appendicitis causing her to have severe stomach pains. The show doctor, Joseph H. Bergin, said she had to be taken to a hospital at once as her appendix was about to rupture. Billy Thompson, a fellow acrobat, said he would help me carry Betty Jean two miles up the railroad track to catch a taxi to take her to the hospital in Birmingham, Ala. Doctor Thus in Birmingham, examined Betty Jean and said she had to be operated on "right now." After the emergency appendectomy, the doctor said everything was fine, but she would have to remain in the hospital for at least a week. Leaving Betty in the Birmingham hospital, I had to return to the circus train to continue on without her. A couple of days later, I talked with Betty on the phone and told her if all was well, I could come to Birmingham and bring her back to the circus which was now playing in Georgia. When Betty checked with the doctor he agreed to release her as she was healing well due to her excellent physical condition.
During the time I came to pick Betty Jean up from the hospital, we took a little side trip.
When I went to pick Betty Jean up she was still a little weak from her surgery. We went to the station and boarded for the trip to Columbus, Ga. During the train ride we discovered how much we meant to each other and we were both willing to spend the rest of our lives together. The next time the train stopped, we got off and let the train go. The first thing we did was buy a wedding ring from the dime store, since there was no jewelry store in the small town. I believe I paid $3.00 for the ring. Then we found a preacher in a small church who married us that day, with his wife as the only witness. Betty still has that ring which has never turned green even after 57 years of marriage. Our love is just as strong now as it was then, but not quite as athletic.
Note: I wrote a poem entitled "The $3.00 Ring" that was published by the Georgia Poetry Society in their annual poetry book, The Reach of Song, in their 2006- 2007 publication.
C. Lee Martin
Betty Jean had been hired by the Ringling Brothers Circus to dance in the Elephant Ballet number that was produced by George Ballanchine of The American School of Ballet in New York. Betty had been a dancer ever since she was old enough to walk. She had produced and performed many shows in and around the Central Florida area while growing up and had qualified for her state license to be a ballet instructor by the time she was 12 years old. Quite an accomplishment for someone not yet in her teens. She used to design and make her own costumes on one of the old fashioned treadle sewing machines that her mother had at home.
Betty Jean and her family felt that possibly through meeting and working with George Ballanchine, her chances of moving up in the world of dance would be enhanced, with the possiblity of a show business career in her future. Boy, was I going to be in trouble, when her family came to the realization that her life would be with me instead.
Betty performed not only the Elephant Ballet, but also the Spanish Web and all of the show numbers. At one point she was the "Snow Queen" riding on a float around the arena before the show started. In one number, she represented "Shangri-La" and was carried on a four man litter on the shoulders of four, large, black men around the hippodrome track. In a couple of numbers, we worked together as partners. In the "Spanish Web" portion , I was her web-sitter at the bottom of a vertical rope that was hung approximately 30 feet in the air. The girls in the number would perform all types of acrobatic and dance positions to the rhythm of the music. Remember, this was all done while 30 feet in the air and hanging by a rope around one wrist.
During the "4th of July" number, we rode a bicycle built-for-two, dressed in 1900's costumes.
While the circus was still in the Winter Quarters in Sarasota, a group of photographers and designers from Harpers Bazaar and Vogue magazines came to the circus to photograph the show girls who modeled fashions for the year 1942. Betty was the only show girl they used in their spread, as she had that "girl next door look." She was a natural beauty with her light brown hair and green eyes. They did a 3 - 4 page spread, using her as a model, in the national magazines with photographs by Horst and Hugeny.
Betty and I enjoyed many friends in the Winter Quarters in Sarasota and in various towns during our tour. Many hours and days were spent with the Wallendas, Christianis, Concellos and people from all walks of show business On the road that year there were twenty-six languages spoken in our dressing tents with approximately one hundred and fifty performers . There were some tragedies: performers falling or being hurt, animals misbehaving, love-spats, etc. but the good and happy times make up 90% of the memories that stay with us. Also, there were no racial problems, just mutual respect.
to be continued.... Traveling with the circus.
During the time I came to pick Betty Jean up from the hospital, we took a little side trip.
When I went to pick Betty Jean up she was still a little weak from her surgery. We went to the station and boarded for the trip to Columbus, Ga. During the train ride we discovered how much we meant to each other and we were both willing to spend the rest of our lives together. The next time the train stopped, we got off and let the train go. The first thing we did was buy a wedding ring from the dime store, since there was no jewelry store in the small town. I believe I paid $3.00 for the ring. Then we found a preacher in a small church who married us that day, with his wife as the only witness. Betty still has that ring which has never turned green even after 57 years of marriage. Our love is just as strong now as it was then, but not quite as athletic.
Note: I wrote a poem entitled "The $3.00 Ring" that was published by the Georgia Poetry Society in their annual poetry book, The Reach of Song, in their 2006- 2007 publication.
C. Lee Martin
Betty Jean had been hired by the Ringling Brothers Circus to dance in the Elephant Ballet number that was produced by George Ballanchine of The American School of Ballet in New York. Betty had been a dancer ever since she was old enough to walk. She had produced and performed many shows in and around the Central Florida area while growing up and had qualified for her state license to be a ballet instructor by the time she was 12 years old. Quite an accomplishment for someone not yet in her teens. She used to design and make her own costumes on one of the old fashioned treadle sewing machines that her mother had at home.
Betty Jean and her family felt that possibly through meeting and working with George Ballanchine, her chances of moving up in the world of dance would be enhanced, with the possiblity of a show business career in her future. Boy, was I going to be in trouble, when her family came to the realization that her life would be with me instead.
Betty performed not only the Elephant Ballet, but also the Spanish Web and all of the show numbers. At one point she was the "Snow Queen" riding on a float around the arena before the show started. In one number, she represented "Shangri-La" and was carried on a four man litter on the shoulders of four, large, black men around the hippodrome track. In a couple of numbers, we worked together as partners. In the "Spanish Web" portion , I was her web-sitter at the bottom of a vertical rope that was hung approximately 30 feet in the air. The girls in the number would perform all types of acrobatic and dance positions to the rhythm of the music. Remember, this was all done while 30 feet in the air and hanging by a rope around one wrist.
During the "4th of July" number, we rode a bicycle built-for-two, dressed in 1900's costumes.
While the circus was still in the Winter Quarters in Sarasota, a group of photographers and designers from Harpers Bazaar and Vogue magazines came to the circus to photograph the show girls who modeled fashions for the year 1942. Betty was the only show girl they used in their spread, as she had that "girl next door look." She was a natural beauty with her light brown hair and green eyes. They did a 3 - 4 page spread, using her as a model, in the national magazines with photographs by Horst and Hugeny.
Betty and I enjoyed many friends in the Winter Quarters in Sarasota and in various towns during our tour. Many hours and days were spent with the Wallendas, Christianis, Concellos and people from all walks of show business On the road that year there were twenty-six languages spoken in our dressing tents with approximately one hundred and fifty performers . There were some tragedies: performers falling or being hurt, animals misbehaving, love-spats, etc. but the good and happy times make up 90% of the memories that stay with us. Also, there were no racial problems, just mutual respect.
to be continued.... Traveling with the circus.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus memories
A few days after returning from upper Michigan, Eddy and I bought an old car we felt would make the trip from Michigan to Florida in the middle of winter. We packed the car and headed for the Sarasota Winter Quarters of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.
The trip from snowy Michigan to sunny Florida is one I will never forget. We stopped for gasoline at a small station in the mountains of Kentucky. It was cold and snowing that winter night. The station attendant saw we were freezing and offered us a milk bottle of what looked like water to us. We drove straight through to Florida. When we got there we saw white stuff that looked like snow piled up along the side of the roads. We kept the windows closed and the heater turned on. It finally began to get a little too warm as we kept sipping from our "milk bottle." When we finally stopped for gas again, we opened the doors and found the white stuff along the roads was the sugar white sand Florida is so famous for, not the snow we thought it was. We showed the gas station attendant what was left in our bottle and he laughed and said "You guys are lucky to be alive!" What we had been sipping all the way from Kentucky was some of their "white lightening" and no wonder we thought the white sand was snow!
When we arrived in Sarasota and finally sobered up, we went looking for a place to stay. The next morning we drove out to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus' Winter Quarters. Rehearsals were in progress for the 1942 season and all of the feature acts were there along with the clowns, showgirls and extras hired for the show numbers being produced for the coming season. What caught my attention were the 100 beautiful showgirls hired for the Elephant Ballet and Spanish Web numbers. The girls had come from all over the world and were in the best physical condition. As a healthy young 17 year old boy, I couldn't help but be amazed at all the beauty around me.
When Eddy and I walked into the arena, the music and all the rehearsals stopped as the performers all wondered who these two young men were? Eddy walked right up to Art Concello, introduced us and told him I was looking for work. Mr. Concello looked me over and asked if I had any expereience as an acrobat? My answer of course, being "yes". Then he wanted to know if I had ever worked in the air? I answered that I had never "worked" in the air, but had been on a trapeze up at the Melzores place in Michigan . Mr. Concello said his trapeze acts were already made up but he hired me for the high-diving act and whatever other things that might be required or necessary. He said he nevcr knew when one of his people might be hurt or sick. Art Concello owned several acts on the show, such as the gymnast's high bars, the low bars and the single trapeze acts. Art was also married to the very beautiful Antoinette Concello.
I was now officially a circus performer! As it turned out I did five numbers in the show, plus learning and practicing to fill in any of the other acts as needed. I was also cast as the gorilla "Toto" in the show number, the wedding of "Toto and Gargantua", which was staged by John Murray Anderson. I was the "bride!"
While I was standing there, after having been hired by Art Concello and trying to comprehend all of it, a young man about my age, walked up and introduced himself as Freddy Wolthing, part of the "Wolthing Act". He asked if I cared to join him and his girlfriend that evening for a few drinks, dinner and dancing? I said I would love to but felt that three would be a crowd. Freddy said, "Don't let that bother you, there are 100 single, beautiful girls here, pick one and I will introduce you. Then perhaps we will have a foursome." Looking around the Big Top, it was overwhelming to pick just one girl out of all them. After having a good look at each girl, I saw "Her" over in a corner, a girl in pig-tails coming down backwards from the head of an elephant. After all these years I still remember she had on green rompers, with long legs and a really nice rear end. When she finally came down and turned around, I was looking at the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. A smile broke out on her face and my heart stopped. We have been married now for over 57 years and I thank God every day for the choice He helped me make that day in the middle of a circus arena when I found the beautiful Betty Jean Tull.
To be continued. Betty Jean and the Circus
The trip from snowy Michigan to sunny Florida is one I will never forget. We stopped for gasoline at a small station in the mountains of Kentucky. It was cold and snowing that winter night. The station attendant saw we were freezing and offered us a milk bottle of what looked like water to us. We drove straight through to Florida. When we got there we saw white stuff that looked like snow piled up along the side of the roads. We kept the windows closed and the heater turned on. It finally began to get a little too warm as we kept sipping from our "milk bottle." When we finally stopped for gas again, we opened the doors and found the white stuff along the roads was the sugar white sand Florida is so famous for, not the snow we thought it was. We showed the gas station attendant what was left in our bottle and he laughed and said "You guys are lucky to be alive!" What we had been sipping all the way from Kentucky was some of their "white lightening" and no wonder we thought the white sand was snow!
When we arrived in Sarasota and finally sobered up, we went looking for a place to stay. The next morning we drove out to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus' Winter Quarters. Rehearsals were in progress for the 1942 season and all of the feature acts were there along with the clowns, showgirls and extras hired for the show numbers being produced for the coming season. What caught my attention were the 100 beautiful showgirls hired for the Elephant Ballet and Spanish Web numbers. The girls had come from all over the world and were in the best physical condition. As a healthy young 17 year old boy, I couldn't help but be amazed at all the beauty around me.
When Eddy and I walked into the arena, the music and all the rehearsals stopped as the performers all wondered who these two young men were? Eddy walked right up to Art Concello, introduced us and told him I was looking for work. Mr. Concello looked me over and asked if I had any expereience as an acrobat? My answer of course, being "yes". Then he wanted to know if I had ever worked in the air? I answered that I had never "worked" in the air, but had been on a trapeze up at the Melzores place in Michigan . Mr. Concello said his trapeze acts were already made up but he hired me for the high-diving act and whatever other things that might be required or necessary. He said he nevcr knew when one of his people might be hurt or sick. Art Concello owned several acts on the show, such as the gymnast's high bars, the low bars and the single trapeze acts. Art was also married to the very beautiful Antoinette Concello.
I was now officially a circus performer! As it turned out I did five numbers in the show, plus learning and practicing to fill in any of the other acts as needed. I was also cast as the gorilla "Toto" in the show number, the wedding of "Toto and Gargantua", which was staged by John Murray Anderson. I was the "bride!"
While I was standing there, after having been hired by Art Concello and trying to comprehend all of it, a young man about my age, walked up and introduced himself as Freddy Wolthing, part of the "Wolthing Act". He asked if I cared to join him and his girlfriend that evening for a few drinks, dinner and dancing? I said I would love to but felt that three would be a crowd. Freddy said, "Don't let that bother you, there are 100 single, beautiful girls here, pick one and I will introduce you. Then perhaps we will have a foursome." Looking around the Big Top, it was overwhelming to pick just one girl out of all them. After having a good look at each girl, I saw "Her" over in a corner, a girl in pig-tails coming down backwards from the head of an elephant. After all these years I still remember she had on green rompers, with long legs and a really nice rear end. When she finally came down and turned around, I was looking at the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. A smile broke out on her face and my heart stopped. We have been married now for over 57 years and I thank God every day for the choice He helped me make that day in the middle of a circus arena when I found the beautiful Betty Jean Tull.
To be continued. Betty Jean and the Circus
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