I am certain that he had been one of the first cage men for George Keller and then got some young lions and went out on his own. All props were painted green [jungle setting] and it was a small arena [similar to Keller. They both were from the same PA. area. He looked like what he was; A big red neck type truck driver who decided to be a lion trainer. He had a small amount of very young lions. I believe he went back to truck driving. It was a pretty impressive alias tho "Prince El Kigordo" Wonder where he ever dreamed that up. I don't believe the Professer was too fond of his act. He seemed to be a nice guy.
The Prince was just that, great fun to be around, you described him pretty good,(like a trucker), he was the first person I remember in this business with a mobile phone,(that was before CB's, the first one of those I remember was Charlie Allen). Prince was from Williamsport, PA, and he was another one of those "characters" that made our lives a "circus".
Fred Logan once told me that when he was in the Biller Bros. winter quarters in the late 1940's, the Prince got downed during a practice session. Steve Fanning entered the arena to assist and was taken down as well. Enoch Brafford ran for a rifle and shot the lioness in mid-struggle. Surprisingly the only lasting injury was the loss of the top part of one of Steve's ears.
Buckles just validated the correct spelling of Enoch Brafford. His name has suffered as many mis-spellings as Codona's. Technically, my first paying circus job was for him. He had the old Hagen Bros. Big Top for Suesz, and I worked canvas for him one day only. For this, I became a circus professional, as Mr. Brafford counted out my princely stipend of four 25-cent pieces.
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I am certain that he had been one of the first cage men for George Keller and then got some young lions and went out on his own. All props were painted green [jungle setting] and it was a small arena [similar to Keller. They both were from the same PA. area. He looked like what he was; A big red neck type truck driver who decided to be a lion trainer. He had a small amount of very young lions. I believe he went back to truck driving. It was a pretty impressive alias tho "Prince El Kigordo" Wonder where he ever dreamed that up. I don't believe the Professer was too fond of his act. He seemed to be a nice guy.
As I recall he never learned to pop the whip.
The Prince was just that, great fun to be around, you described him pretty good,(like a trucker), he was the first person I remember in this business with a mobile phone,(that was before CB's, the first one of those I remember was Charlie Allen). Prince was from Williamsport, PA, and he was another one of those "characters" that made our lives a "circus".
Fred Logan once told me that when he was in the Biller Bros. winter quarters in the late 1940's, the Prince got downed during a practice session. Steve Fanning entered the arena to assist and was taken down as well.
Enoch Brafford ran for a rifle and shot the lioness in mid-struggle. Surprisingly the only lasting injury was the loss of the top part of one of Steve's ears.
Buckles just validated the correct spelling of Enoch Brafford. His name has suffered as many mis-spellings as Codona's.
Technically, my first paying circus job was for him. He had the old Hagen Bros. Big Top for Suesz, and I worked canvas for him one day only. For this, I became a circus professional, as Mr. Brafford counted out my princely stipend of four 25-cent pieces.
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