Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Drawing by Forrest Freeman


Scan11308, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can sure remember this show lot in the late 50s.Looking at this drawing, I recall at the left side on the last lace line from the round end forward Count Vasconcello's horse semi was parked, on the other side of the door Dick Clemens' spartan house trailer and cat rig. There was a clown on the show with a giant yoyo. I cannot for the life of me remember who it was? I can recall Dick Clemens had an ocelot cub we kids played with.

Anonymous said...

I believe the clown with the big yo yo was Balila.

Anonymous said...

I remember being in the first or second grade when the Christiani Bros. circus came to my little town in Alabama and they took us out of the school to sit on the lawn and watch the circus parade go by. I don't remember much but the last unit in the parade was the Zacchini cannon. This would have been in 1053 or 1953, I guess. It was probably the biggest circus that ever came to Demopolis, Alabama, ever. The drawing is beautiful and shakes up some deeply burried memories that probably eventually led to my career.
Warren

Anonymous said...

I have been a show painter since 1967 and I attribute my love of the business to Cristiani Bros. Circus as well. I remember as a kid seeing the poles arrive the day before and sitting there in the morning watching the never ending parade of trucks and trailers arriving. The downtown parade the my first ever cat act and canon. Seems like yesterday.
Denny Gilli

Anonymous said...

The Cristiani top had a certain eye-catching aura about it that I've always remembered. It had a particular pitch to it that made it a favorite of mine. Maybe our canvas experts can better define it for us, but I loved that top.

Anonymous said...

Balila is the right name of the Clown.with the Big YO YO, a wonderfull Man.
Mireille.

Anonymous said...

How many seasons did this show tour ?
great drawing of a circus top