Sunday, March 23, 2008

Ringling Red Show Route 1970


Ringling_routeRed70, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Posted by Buckles at 3/23/2008 05:31:00 AM

4 comments:

Buckles said...

You may notice that the Red Show played Milwaukee twice in 1970.
The first time was when my family and I visited on July 5 when they were in conjunction with the Milwaukee Parade.
The second time was at the same building while on their usual fall route.
As was usual, both audiences combined didn't provide enough people for a good fist fight.

23 March, 2008 11:10
Roger Smith said...

Notice they played Waco four days. Jungleland was gone by then and I was there to witness them languish at the coliseum and die the death of a snakebit hound. Waco's 10,000 seat building, in my time, was filled twice by Bob Hope, once by Billy Graham, and did so-so for rodeos. Elvis, when he was the hottest act in showbusiness, in 1957, barely drew a third-house there. On the '81 Beatty show, if I had known Johnny Pugh was booking Waco for 3 days, I'd have counseled otherwise, and sure enough we lost our shirts on that one. Moral to show owners: Take your chances with Milwaukee, but 86 Waco. Why the cynicism? I graduated high school there, and I know.

Roger Smith

23 March, 2008 16:21
Anonymous said...

Waco hasn't gotten any better. Why is still gets played can only be attributed to "We've gotta park it somewhere." Like a lot of Texas towns the theory is, "there's money there," while the fact seems to be that the people actually making money are working overtime and going home to fall into bed, not to go back out to the circus.

23 March, 2008 21:30
Roger Smith said...

To Ben Trumble: In truth, the fact is Waco is a repository of dullards. People who live there don't live, they only exist. Nothing excites them. Many can name other towns like this. Even if it's events that brings out the throngs in any other town, Waco sits on its duff. Those stuck there who want a good time along the I-35 corridor know they have to go to Dallas, Austin or San Antonio to find it. Red Skelton was booking Waco, and when no one bought tickets, he cancelled, citing "illness". When a town is a bad show town, nothing can wake it up, and nothing can make the people think for a moment of what they are missing.

Roger Smith, Waco High School Class of '61.

24 March, 2008 18:12

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