| Buckles, I found the program for that show. No where do you see the Clyde Beatty - Cole Bros. Circus title. It does seem that I have a poster from nthat show buried away somewhere. I seem to recall the Beatty - Cole title on that. Maybe Dave Price can confirm this. Has anyone ever seen any photos of this show? Seems like Buster Bailey would have taken some. |
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Coliseum 1963 Christmas Circus (From Jim Cole)
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6 comments:
There seems to be some confussion on the year of this show. As Dave Price had confirmed, the date ran from Nov. 29 1962, - Jan 1, 1963.
Perhaps the promoters felt that labling it the "1963" edition might be a good marketing tool.
Besides Ringling and Big Apple, there have been a number of circuses in New York City in the past few decades.
I remember seeing Geo Matthews Great London Circus showing in the open air somewhere on the west side. Also, Circus Vargas was in NYC, somewhere in the low rent-high crime neighborhood. The Vargas lot was terrible, a large lot strewn with construction/demolition debris. The night I visited I was told that they were tearing down and blowing the spot because of concern for safety. The show personnel told the locals that the show was going to make a movie and that the circus would return in a few days.
I forget the year, perhaps one of the readers can expand on this.
Then there's the legend of the HOXIE or GREAT AMERICAN truck making a wrong turn and leaving Jersey over the Geo Washington Bridge into NYC never to be seen again; lost in the bowels of upper Manhattan or the infamous South Bronx.
I might have something on why Hoxie Bros Circus got lost and took a wrong turn into New York city.
Many years ago I helped Gene Hecker the long time Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros 24 hour man, arrow and lay out the lot.
We were waiting for Johnny Pugh to come in from the previous town and approve the new layout.
Cutting up jack potts Gene told me the story where some show messed with his arrows and he said I was going to fix them good and he did.
So after the other shows 24 hour man went through and changed there arrows.
He said he watched from some view point and said what a mess it was as they were all over the place going the wrong way.
I know you are not supposed to do this but Gene is dead and gone and he arrowed them a many a year down the circus trail.
Harry
For the 1962 Coliseum date, the Beatty-Cole elephants went ahead by train arriving on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov 23) and parading from the Sunnyside train yards of the Pennsy through Queens and Manhattan to Columbus Circle. This, of course, was a smart PR move by Beatty-Cole and Coliseum people as that day is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The show's 34-day engagement began just one week after Thanksgiving only to be hit hard by the newspaper strike that began Dec 8, 1962, and which continued until the end of March shutting down most of the city's then 8-10 dailies. The next fall a second season was announced for Dec 21-31, 1963, with 4 shows daily, and I believe another program was issued for it though I do not have it.
Historical trivia for Mike Naughton: Another winter circus came to an unsuccessful end in New York City in 1872 when Barnum's show, appearing in his newly acquired Hippotheatron on 14th Street, burned down the day before Christmas with only two elephants surviving from the show.
And then there was the 2004 CHS convention on Beatty-Cole with a bus tour to Coney Island that almost followed the fate of that Hoxie truck!
Dick Flint
Baltimore
To Mike Naughton et al..
YES! I saw a large tented circus in the 60's on the West side of Manhattan. Thanks for mentioning Vargas.
Would you believe we were sitting on the lot of the former Madison Square Garden on 8th Ave. and 49th Street. Talk about circus history locations!
klsdad
Dick--
With this recent topic of the Christmas Circus I was wondering where the equipment was parked. Thanks for the info.
I saw LOS MUCHACHOS, the boys circus from Spain founded by a Catholic priest who was the scion of a circus family. This was in MSG. Of course, we had the Morris Chavin (sp?) presentation of the Moscow Circus in the basement of MSG, called the Felt Forum, then renamed the Paramount Theatre at MSG and now just the Theatre (I think, could be wrong).
Recently the Apollo Theatre in Harlem had the Cornelius Tuffy Nicholas and Barry Schmoyer's circus; also their Moscow Circus played Washington Heights a few years ago.
In the 70's on the west side (40's?) The Geo Matthews Great London Circus, open-air, had Sparky Washburn, the Ronritas, the Paulos and I THINK Pancho Magana (sp?) among others.
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