Thursday, June 14, 2007

"Danny" and "Eva" with Kay Bros. Circus (From Richard Flint)


Kay Bros ele truck001, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Here's a picture of "Mary Ellen's Dancing Elephants"
loaded on an early truck in an undated photo of Bill Ketrow's Kay
Bros. before its 1938 closing. Kay Bros. had only a single elephant
its first season of 1932 but later acquired another and they were
presented by Ketrow's daughter, Mary Ellen. There is no evidence of a
rear door and I am not sure that the "air brakes' label on the back of
the truck provided a great deal of reassurance for any automobile
passengers facing the gaze of the giant girls riding in the truck!
And might some playful bull sometimes have hefted the tub out the rear
of the truck?
Dick Flint
Baltimore

That's a good question, the man might be in the process of dragging the tub behind the elephants since it has no spokes to tie off to.

To conclude my fathers letter: "..........after being sold to Kay Bros. they were for a time worked by Ketrow's daughter Mary Ellen, hence the name." Buckles

Posted by Buckles at 6/14/2007 06:14:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Somebody tell me about the Kay Bros. Circus of the late 1960's. The front office of the Compound booked Dick McGraw and the Jungleland Fighting Lions (which we both worked) out to Al Kayda's Kay Bros. Circus for a tour that never came to be. We jumped from Thousand Oaks to Brawley, California, but never worked due to Roy Kabat's failure to provide insurance coverage. Al Kayda was crushed, but last minute efforts to get us insured fell through. We worked one matinee, loaded up and went home. Ted DeWayne brought his show in and saved the day for poor Mr. Kayda. The Kay Bros. we see posted here cannot be the same Kay Bros. of Al Kayda, can it? Anyone?

14 June, 2007 22:35
Ryan Easley said...

Roger,
From Robert L. Parkinson's "Directory of American Circuses," pp. 237-238, 241.

Kay Bros. Circus, 1918-1941, 1951, 1988-1989.
- William Ketrow, proprietor 1918-1941
- Chuck Koenekemp, proprietor, 1988-1989

Also:
Kaye Bros. Circus, circa 1961
- Al Kayda, proprietor
Ketrow Bros. Circus 1906-1930
- William Ketrow, proprietor

07 June, 2012 10:48

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