| Did you know Steve Fanning was once an aerialist? This is when he was married to my cousin Vera. I see in a Clyde Beatty-Wallace Bros. program they are listed as the Aerial Ortons. |
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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3 comments:
Hey guys, thanks for the photo. That must be Steve in his younger days. I don’t know how old he was in 1975, when I knew him on Strates? I would suspect maybe mid 60’s. Steve had a guy that worked for him who rode the jumps, on the train, inside the pony van, but I can’t remember his name. This guy always kept to himself. The only time one ever saw this guy was when he led the ponies over to the ring from the back lot. I guess he did help load the kids. I never knew Steve to use any other help. He most of the time upped and downed his top himself. In fact, I credit Steve with teaching me to tie a cloth hitch over the top of a stake. (A lost art today with all the ratchets and straps on new tents) Steve always sat in his chair right next to the ride. I’m almost positive he didn’t sell any tickets. Strates was one of the first to use universal tickets and he also had postage type scales in the office to weigh them.
Old Whitey had indicated that he knew Steve was on Beatty Cole in 1960. I’m not exactly sure when Steve came over to Strates, but I remember him telling me that he had been on Beatty Cole. I can’t remember all of the details but for some reason I was going to visit this show and Steve said to tell the woman in the ticket office hello. If I remember correctly, after I mentioned Steve’s name, she told me to go ahead on in and enjoy the show.
Steve's helper was Norman (i forget his last name) He always had an old cigar butt sticking out of his mouth & would tell tales of the old World of Mirth carnival
Mention of Steve's chair reminds me of Shipley laughing and saying the first thing Steve ever did on the new lot was to send a gazoonie for his chair.
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