It's been interesting to read the anecdotes about Chappie Fox in regard to the Circus World park. Here's a photo of the great man addressing the Ringling Clown College class of 1985. Among the many words of wisdom he imparted to us eager young skulls full of mush on that muggy October evening almost 24 years ago was his opinion of the state of Florida: "If I owned both Florida and Hell, I'd lease Florida and live in Hell." And after some 20 years (on and off) as a resident of the Sunshine State, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Chappie hit that nail squarely on the head! |
Friday, March 13, 2009
Chappie Fox (From Barry Phillips)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Why is it that the State of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Historical Society, Circus World Museum and Circus World Museum, Inc. never formally objected to Feld's choice of a name for his Florida theme park?
Imagine if the tables were turned.
Quite a few complaints and even threats of litigation were made by the Wisconsinites but a few deals were negotiated and it eventually blew over.
After all, the last thing the Museum needed was to alienate the Ringling Show.
After it was all said and done, Chappie was the saddest victim of this drama. Having been swept up, like so many others, in Irvin Feld's enthusiasm, I remember him saying,"I will no longer be recording History, I will be making it!"
After the park went south he was kept on the Feld payroll doing odd jobs but in truth the man who had once created the nationally acclaimed Circus World Museum and the mighty Milwaukee Street Parade was now (in his own words) the advance clown.
Little wonder that a return to Wisconsin would look good to him.
circus world turned out to be a very unhappy experience for Chappie, who was, as someone who saw him every day, a totally special person--a genius in his own right and great company. His wife, Sophie, who was every bit as outspoken as Chappie and a personality unto herself, never liked Florida and was thrilled to eventually return to Wisconsin (i believe she passed away only a year or two ago). when the park fizzled, it's true he was kept around doing advance and other assorted chores for the traveling shows but it was a big come down from chasing his dreams at the park. also i heard that many of the enormous and one of a kind lithos that he had leant, as i understand it, to the park were later put up for sale at auction and to recover them he had to bid on his own treasures, the ultimate humiliation for a wonderful circus booster, showman and gentleman.
p.s. Chappie and Sophie had a beautiful home in Winter Haven on the lake that housed the famous Cypress Gardens. they were great hosts and i spent many lovely evenings there admiring Chappie's meticulously organized collection of circus ephemera, Sophie by the way was a bulldog businesswoman who handled all of their financial affairs including Chappie's book deals, etc, and also typed all of his manuscripts as i recall--as a result they had a very comfortable life. the books he wrote were all done in longhand on legal pads--wonder where they are now? Chappie was also an ace photographer and did some fine photo books on the circus, most now tough to find but worth tracking down. along with the circus he was a great horse lover and did books on them, too. Chappie was a pr guy's dream, always full of ideas--he knew more about publicity than i'll ever know!
Besides Lou Jacobs and Gunther, that podium is the most photographed item of the Greatest Show on Earth. It turns up everywhere.
The paint job, the logo, etcetera Unless they did a "Mickey Mouse" where there are several in existence and you only see one at a time.
The last time I saw it was 1987 Clown College tv show with Dick Van Dyke.
Here tis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMWEP66FVdY
I want to say quite abit of Chappie's research and book materials are in the Circus World Museum archives. I have seen quite a few boxes of Circus World Florida related materials that came from him also in their archives.
Greg
The podium may very well end up on display at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. I saw it at the Palmetto shops with a bunch of other Clown College props and set pieces that had been set aside for a possible future CC exhibit.
Post a Comment