Wednesday, July 25, 2007

From Richard Flint #2


cage, cat, & woman001, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.


The second photo is much later (probably the very early 20th-century
and after the first use of an arena cage) and shows Pat's grandmother
(I wish I knew who the lady really was). It is interesting for
showing the seats and other props and is one of a series of pictures
of this act. And this IS a wagon and one not much wider than the
picture shows as can be discerned from the evidence of the
undercarriage.

Dick Flint
en route

Posted by Buckles at 7/25/2007 09:29:00 AM

7 comments:

Bob Cline said...

This is just an amazing photo Mr. Flint. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Bob

25 July, 2007 11:35
Anonymous said...

Two images in this "series" were sold on ebay, marked on the back 28 June 1904, Rouse's Point [Rouses Point, NY], "at the RR shows." That should enable an identification via the local newspapers or routes in Billboard or New York Clipper. One of the images was made in Chester, PA, which might suggest a connection to Leon Washburn, the circus, Tom show and carnival operator who wintered there. Circus man Thomas Hargreaves, a former hotelier in Chester, who operated a railroad show in the first decade of the 20th century, might be a stronger possibility. The single-side cage operation [that back wall looks solid, not removeable]suggests either a placement in the side show or a carnival animal show operation. The cage is of light construction, the hip ring might confirm railroad show duty.

Circuses had expanding and telescoping cages by the 1870s. They were lowered and collapsed into a smaller package for overland and railroad transport. A couple shows, John Robinson and Al G. Barnes, had expanding performance cages that extended out from the basic floor of the wagon. Same sort of principle applied with the rhino truck that was on Carson & Barnes. It flipped out to provide more room for the animal when on exhibition. The "modern" steel arena did not come into use with American circuses until about 1891, Col. Boone on Forepaugh [then owned by Bailey et al].

25 July, 2007 12:27
Anonymous said...

When I worked the Clubb Lions on Ringling, Mr. Feld had origianlly wanted a fighting cage act for spec. Jimm Clubb was familiar with this act as it had been a staple of the English circuses for years. When Mr Feld got the required cage measurements for this type of act it was decided that it would not make it around the corners in the smaller buildings. There wwere discussions about this during rehearsals and my attempt to bounce a quite trusty lioness in Ringling's little wagon were over-ruled by the choreographer stamping his little feet and insisting that I not hold up his parade !

25 July, 2007 13:06
Anonymous said...

Another point of note,at least to me, was that the spec cage that housed myself and a quite handsome lion named Clarence,was also a collapsible cage,for loading on the train. That was of particular concern to me when it started to collapse in the middle of spec one day and I had to hold it from collapsing on me and most importantly Clarence ! What I would consider a "harrowing experience"

25 July, 2007 13:14
Anonymous said...

Which would have been worse, Larry? Having the cage collapse on you and Clarence, or having the choreographer stamp his little feet again for holding up his parade? Either one would have been a disaster...!

25 July, 2007 16:12
Anonymous said...

A few posts back someone mentioned Disney wagons, etc. In the winter of 1988, the Carson & Barnes cats were booked at Disneyland in Anehiem, CA for 10 weeks for the Feld produced "Circus Fantasy". Several times a week we had to do a parade through the park before the shows. One of my lions was to ride in an interesting wagon; a 15 foot high fiberglass lion, the cage was it's entire body area.

The lion I chose was the same one with whom I'd done the Milwaukee Circus Parade, which lasted over 4 1/2 hours. The Disney parade was about 40 minutes, a little less than a mile. So I thought nothing of it to crawl up into the cage with him, to ride the length of the parade route. The people really liked it, and it saved having to walk. As we passed Michael Jackson one day, he said in a voice register I could only hope to achieve, "Ooooooo! He's soooo BIG!"

A couple of weeks into the date, I was met by... a person very high up in the Ringling organization at the end of the parade route. He was LIVID! Talk about stamping his little feet! I was told in no uncertain terms that me riding in the cage was NOT part of the contract, blah blah blah. He was very unhappy, and so was I for getting yelled at.

So, I was relegated to walking the route next to the lion cage in my very uncomfortable Capezios with the worn down heels for the remainder of the date.

The lion fell asleep during every parade after that, lying flat on his side. No one could even see him. I never woke him up, not once.

25 July, 2007 16:45
Anonymous said...

Larry,
Did the choreographer have on the dress from the tiger act in a cage or was he just one of the boys?

25 July, 2007 19:28

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