PORTAmerica 's Favorite Clrrui Weekly

Volume 3 February 18, 1974 Number 7

R GOOD STARTThe first month of the cur-

rent tour has been on of the bestrecorded, reports Gary and PhilipLashinsky, producers of the Wonderful World of Horses show. From theopening date in New York City on

Jan. 3 (where some70,000 people cameout to see the show)to the final day inSt. Petersburg, Fla.on Feb. 3, the showhad gross receiptsof $325,000.

The show's producersare anticipating an outstandingseason for 1974, with many new fa-cilities and cities on the sched-uled route. The entire 1974 seasonis fully booked and the show isnow contracting dates for 1975 and1976.

HISTORICAL FACT

The Hamilton & Snrgant's NewYork Circus of 1877 was using a100 ft. round top and 50 horses.

Day & DateWith two shows preparing to

play Washington, DC during themonth of April, there is every in-dication that an old-fashioned"circus battle" could erupt at anytime. However, at least one showofficial was quoted last week assaying "we're not entering a cir-

cus battle."

The Capitol Centre, whobroke off negotiationswith RBB8 last fall, isnow promoting its own

circus. That show will be producedby Paul Kaye and Karl Wallenda andis scheduled to play the 18,500seat Centre April 3-21.

The Ringling-Barnum Sho* issending its Red Unit into Washing-ton for an April 2-22 engagement.This show will play the 10,250seat National Guard Armory*

RBBB has already announcedthey will step up their advertis-ing for the date. They will alsobring in a Side Show andto augment the circus.

Page 2 The Circus HBpOrt

Caltech SHOWAnticipating an attendance

Lof some 5,000 people, the CaltechCircus haa scheduled five showsthis weekend — Feb. 23-24 (lastyear the total attendance came to4,190). It is the fourth annualcircus presentation at the collegeand will be presented in BeckmanAuditorium at Pasadena, Calif. Theshow times arei 11 am, 2 pm, 8 pmon Feb. 23rd and 1 and 3:30 pm onFeb. 24th.

The circus features bothprofessional performers and col*,lege students, and will be backedby a 32 piece band under the dir-ection of Jim Rotter. At leastthree production numbers have beenplanned, with special costumes andfloats. In all some 100 animalsand people will participate in thecircus performances.

In addition to the perform-ances, circus model builders fromthroughout the Southwest will bedisplaying their models for thepublic. A3 an added feature cir-cus photos and antique lithos arealso scheduled for display.

Proceeds are shared by theCaltech Glee Club and Band.

THE CIRCUS REPORT is published ona weekly basis by Don fflercks, 525Oak St., El Cerrito, Cal. 94530.

Subscription rates arei S5.00 forsix months and $10.00 for a year.Air flail service is $2.00 e«tra.Overseas rates upon request.

NO PURCHASE MADEIn a report from Canada, Ian

IX* Garden, president of GardenBros* Circus, says he has not pur-chased the Clyde Bros0 Circus orany other show.

nl*lr. Suesz and myself havebeen friends for some time andhave on occasions, co-operated•ith each other when it was bene-ficial for both to do so. At themoment, I have agreed to assistOr. Suesz with certain dates onhis Blue Unit. I have talked tomany performers regarding thesedates and this could be the sourceof the rumor you heard."

If ever I buy a circus or makeany major changes in our presentshow, says Pflr. Garden, I'll cer-tainly let the industry know*

HI5TORICAL FACT ....The Milliard A Plain Circus of

1888 was an overland wagon show,owned by Ita. Rain and II. M. Mill-iard. The show's ringmaster thatyear was Harry Mack.

FOR SALEClark & Walters Collector Kit. Thekit includes a choice pictorial,tickets, passes, letterheads, ad-vance forms, route cards, herald*color book and program (the colorbook was drawn by Mrs. Silverlake)

While they last - just S3.50, plus750 for postage.

Barnes & Daly Circus, Box 197-A,Dept. C&M, Medora, Indiana 47260

February 18, 1974 Page 3

YEARS AGOPittafield, Maas. - may 25, 1918The Barnum 4 Bailey Shows arrivedhere from Kingston* N.Y. on theMeat Shore Railroad*The first section arrived at 5 amand had 3 horse cars* 17 flat careand 2 sleepers, with 55 wagons* ofwhich 28 were cages.

The second section came in at 11a.m. with 6 horse cars* 10 flatsand 6 sleepers* with 26 wagons anca cart.

The third section arrived at 11:11a.m. with 6 horse cars, 14 flats*with 42 wagons* 2 chariots* twotractors and an auto in a wagon*The fourth section arrived at 11i30 a.m. with 6 horse cars, 4 stockcars and 10 sleepers.

They have 20 elephants* 14 camels,one baby camel* three giraffees,one baby giraffe, two zebras andthree aacred cattle.

The show is presented in threerings and on four stages*

In all they have 15 tents - a bigtop (6 pones)* menagerie (onlythe aidewall was used here), sideshow* cookhouse, dining tent, aprivate dining top, colored dininctent, dressing room, wardrobe,band top* ring stock* two draftstock tents* blacksmoth shop, etc.

The colors arei Advance Car No* 1,red with yellow trim and gold let-ters; Car No. 2* blue trimmed inyellow with gold letters; Car Mo.

(Continued on the Back Page)

'ALL-STAR CIRCUS'Acts appearing with the Caltech

Circus at Pasadena, Calif, thisweekend includei

Wiss Astra - sponge diveHollywood Canine ReviewClown Boxing numberMiss Aurora (Bambi) - iron jawRuss Sounders TrioBambi, Dale, Allison - aerialsffliss Cindy - chinp actThe Clown DentistLittle John Strong - jugglingffliss Dale - Swinging trap"Baby Neena* the elephant

Show officials will includes TomLehman, producer/Director) Doug Ly-on, Act Coordinator) Chuck Burnes,Ringmaster and Consultant.

Clowns for the show are: PopsLevinson, Joey Braga, Chip Burnes,Rudy Rewls and Checkers Baker.

CJfThe second half of a two

year tour by Ringling-Barnum'sRed Unit is well underway. The bigshow opened at Venice,Fl*. on Feb. 8th and iscurrently playing at At-lanta, Ca.

Highlighting the sho* per-formance are: Gunther Gebnl-uiil-liams, Elvin Bale, Wolfgang Holz-mair, Pio Nock, Gran Picaso andLou Jacobs.

Cnltach Circus

Fab. 23-24 Pasadena, Cal.Hubert Castle Circus

Feb. 19 Las Crucas, N.M.22-24 Albuquerque

Char las Bros. Cont'l CircusFab. 19-20 H. Hartford,Conn

Circus VargasFsb. 16-20 Miami, Fla.

21-23 Mast Palm Beach24-26 Orlando

Cola All Star TV CircusFab. 18 Perry, N. Y.

19 Pann Yan20 Avoca21 Bath22 Lyons23 Hannibal24 Enroute25 Waterloo26 Enroute

Fisher Bros. CircusFeb. 23 Alamo, Taxes

24 Enroute25 Mercedes26 McAllen

Great Moscow CircusFeb. 22-War 11 Melbourne,Ast

Hubler's Int'l CircusFab. 23-24 Gelesburg, 111.

Ringling's Blue Unitto Fab 18 Hampton, Va.

Ringling's Red Unitto Fab. 25 Atlanta, Ge.

Royal Lipizzan Stallion ShowFeb. 18-19 Hot Spring,'Ark.

21 Columbus, Miss22 Tuscaloosa, Ala24 Columbia, 5.C.25 Athens, Go.

To«*y Scott-Tin McCoy ShowFeb. 18 Plant City, Fla.

19 Lakeland20 Lake Alfred21 Wauchula22 Ft. Myers23 Avon Park24 Eustis25 Sanford26 Leesburg

Tripoli Shrine CircusFeb. 19-24 Milwaukee, Misc.

Wonderful World of MagicFeb. 24 Binghampton, N.Y

OTHER ROUTES AND DATES.

Cowboy Hall of Fame AuctionFeb 19-Mar 2 New York, N.Y.

Oianey on Parade ShowFab. 19-24 Little Rock, Ark

Holiday on IceFab. 19-24 Louieville, Ky.

Ice CapadesFab. 19-24 Saginaw, Mich.

Ice Folliesto Feb. 24 Boston, Mass.

La Fiesta da los VaquerosFeb. 21-24 Tucson, Ariz.

Peter Pan ShowFeb. 19-24 Syracuse, N.Y.

OAKLAND

S U N D A Y

SEPT. 7l . i - \MIMII BLVD. * nr.il, AVK.AI-I K.nXlON AMI MI.HT

THKOMCATISTSHOW ON EARTH

MisitiH lor 1141 - tMR. & MRS. GARGANTUAThe Great

Th( Fibulous, f nrylind F»ntl»y

"Old King Cole and Mother COOM"ALFRED COURT'S Great Wild Animal Act*VISCMOE PWIE <Sm Mttt. H.wHni IncompmM*Display of Super Horatminihip. climixtd by

•^ItVtMINq IH CKMTKAL PAKtC'

19,099 MARVf LS-800 PMII.U Pertotm«rt-100 Clown: -50 Elephant! -VAST RESTYLEOMENACEMIE-WOMLD'S L A R G E S T TENT."_9 * _L° •*_* ' " ' co " 0 I T 1 0 H EJ)TWMX DAILY-2:i5»»:15-rOPUlAH PMCE*rl«krl» I Ir, ii« D«]r .f <lir <).. i l ) r , k10., Corner 131h nnd Brondw.7. At

Well Am at Show (.round.

Cougars ProtectedWINNIPEG. Manitoba (AP)

— The Manitoba Departmentof Mines and Resources hasplaced the cougar on its list ofprotected species.

February 16, 1974 Page 5

D a i l e y Bros.

...by BILL GREEN

A famous titls — Dailey BrosCircus — fondly re»e«bered by•any circus fans, has been revivedfor the 1974 season by John "Go-pher" Davenport, the adopted sonof the late Ben Davenport. All ofthe show's dates will be sponsoredwith some special promotional en-gagements also planned.

The all-new show will use a60 ft x 120 ft. big top, with a14 ft x 30 ft. marquee. The SideShow is 30 ft x 40 ft and will befeaturing magic, fire eating, thesword box, end enimal acts. A showcookhouse will also be carried andall rolling equipment will be redand white.

The circus menagerie will con-sist oft an elephant, buffalo, anrhea, pygmy goats, monkey, hippo,jungle rat and llama.

The tentative program will befeaturing! Turtle's chimps, Dale'sdogs, Gopher's dogs, Miss Rosa,foot juggler) Chin toy, rola bola)Griselda, foot juggler| Senor Tor*tuga, miss Kuka, Miss Carmen, ontightwire) treined llamas, ffliaaCarman, Kuka, Emilda, Rosa in an•erial ballet) Capt. Dale Osborn,elephant) Turtle's whips and knifeact) Turtle, Kuka, Chintay, Rose,juggling) and finale "Circus onPerade."

Staff for the circus will betJohn "Gopher" Davenport - owner

NOTESThe Koran Shrine Temple, of Can-

ton, Ohio, has announced they willsponsor Clyde Bros. Circus in theircity on July 18-20.

Ringling-8arnum*a Blue Unit willopen its extended Mew York City en-gagement on March 28th.

The Perelman Antique Toy Museum,of Philadelphia, Pa., has severalearly day circus train and wagontoys in its collection.

Ringling-Barnum is reportedlysueing Capitol Centre , at Washing-ton, DC, because of the duo ahowmove in that city*

M8SC shows are operating on aregular achedule despite the cur-rent difficulties in getting gasto move their equipment. Some areaaare worse then others, says one bigshowman.

The Meat Coast is anticipatinganother big season for circuses.Last year eome 21 shews played inthe Sen Franciaco area.

Bill Swain - general agentPaul Champion - apecial egentDon Malhoff - superintendentWilliam Wilson - boss canvasmanChas. "Termite" Davenport - mgr.caKennedy Swein - side ehow menagerPeggy Null - band directorJohn Davenport - performance dir.Ken Benson - midway managerDale Osborn - Supt. of Trenepor.Ralph Serratt - Mgr Privilege cer"Turtle" Benson - mail agentInnecente Castillo - Menagerie SptKen Benson - Producing clown

February 16, 1974 Paga 7

ASHTON FARIAS, of the Flying Far-ias, suffered a broken ankle onJan. 20th, when a spec cage he wasdriving overturned in the backyardof Circus Vargas at Arlington, Tex*

BOB and DORIS EARL, of Saraaota,Fla., will reportedly tour the newROBERT BROS. CIRCUS this year.

BEV and ANTAR WAZZAN will be onthe Nordmnrk 6 Hood show during theconing season.

LINDA PHILLIPS, ventriloquiat,and GOflFFHEY, eacape artist, recently performed at the Santa Roaa(Calif.) High School.

OUT IN IOWA where the tall corn grows this picture was taken in1?IO at Maquoketa shortly before bally was called. It shows the SideShow group of Gollmar Bros.' Circus.

The Side Show at the time was managed by Charlie Bell, Hie thirdone from the left, next to the ticket box (Now what do you Hi ink ofthat!) occupied by Doc Fitzgerald. In Hie ticket box to Hie right •loo Chiswell.

Others in the picture include Edith Morris, sword swallower; SusieMiett, snake charmer, and Mrs. Roberts, knife thrower, all in the top row.

ROGER SMITH, lion trainer, expectsto be back on the road in 1975 andalready has some firm committmenta.He la at home in Waco, Texas due tohia father'a ill health.

PAULINE FOTH JULEE DUKE plans totour with the Cardon * Johnson Circusduring the coming year.

COL. BOB "Smiley* CORBIN reportshe still makes some dates with hiacalliope, but moat of hia time theaedays is apent in promotional work.

JOE BRADBURY, Circus historian,visited the Ringling Red Unit atAtlanta, Ca. yesterday (Fab. 17).

ITALO FORNASARI and hia family•ill reportedly betouring with HoxieBros. Circus thisaeason.

PAUL and WANDADuke will be withthe Hamid-MortonLircua for ita tour.

HARLEY and JOSEPHBELMONT recently lo-cated each other af-ter 40 years. Harleylives in San Laandro(Cal), while Josephlive*) in Detroit.Their folks were theFlying Belmonta, fa-

ua in the 1920'aend 1930'a.

Feb. 18, 1974 Page 8TARS AGO (Continued)3, olive, trimmed in green withgold letters. The sleepers are alJred, the flat cars are yellow witfgreen ends, the horse cars areyellow with red ends, while thewegons are all red*

They really arrived late so no pa-rade was given and the matineegot started about 4 p.«. The eve-ning show started at 8 p.m. andgood crowds were there for both ofthe shows.

They played on the Elm Street lotand the big top wasn't put up un-til about 1 p.m. and all of thewagons hadn't yet come down fromthe train*The giraffes have three specialwagons, built especially FOB themThe side show has two wagons forthe front, with electric lights.

In the side shgw sret The Minstrelgroup, ekeleton dude* the albino,fet boy, wrestling midgets, beerwoman, levitation, giantess, mangiant, snakes, midgste, cowboygiant, sword swallower DancingBushman and tattooed man.

The show started loading about 6p.m. the big top was down just alittle after midnight.

The first section wae loaded andleft about 11 pm, but the othersections were not loaded untilafter daylight. At 1 a.m. the we-gons were ell lined up on thestreet, from the lot to th trainsIt had started to rein just befonthe night show started end itrained every little bit all nightlong.