Friday, March 13, 2009

Early Circus World #1


CircusWorld Poster Merged, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This placard was too large to fit into the scanner so Shannon punched up Photo Shop and assembled it for me. I think this is the nicest artwork done at the time.
It was propped up at the end of the bar at HoJo's when I first saw it and during that evening of refreshment and fellowship, it was added to my collection.

Posted by Buckles at 3/13/2009 06:13:00 AM

6 comments:

Mike Naughton said...

Buckles, if you left that poster at HOJO's it might have promoted the additional ticket sales that were necessary to make the critical difference in keeping the park open.
That poster could represent hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost revenue.
That poster is to Circus World was the tip of the iceberg was to the Titanic.

A tip of the hat to the copywriter for the line, "THE GREAT AMERICAN VALUE" a line that will be borrowed in the very near future (wink).

13 March, 2009 07:10
Mike Naughton said...

The illustrated clown on the left is Keith Crary (Ploggly) who went to Hollywood to much fame and fortune as an Emmy-winning make-up artist.
An extraordinary talent who briefly was "in residence" at Clown College '74 prior to his exodus from spangles and sparkles to his new environ of silicone and cosmetic surgery.

It's all phony, just on different coasts.

13 March, 2009 07:26
Mike Naughton said...

Keith was "in residence" as a make-up instructor along with Bobby Kay (Robert K. Smiley, born in PA and resided in LA).

For clarification.

I am sure I mentioned this something before, Bobby's brother, Walter was a mainstay on the fairs as a musician and the other brother, Josef, was an old-school magician with a voice as deep as the Grand Canyon. I got to know all three of The Smiley Brothers, each one a gem and multi-talented. I might be wrong, but I seem to recall that their father was a physician -- don't quote me.

13 March, 2009 10:30
Anonymous said...

Keith Crary came to the Great Circus Parade each year to makeup Ernest Borgnine as a clown for the parade and associared activities.

13 March, 2009 13:22
jerry digney said...

Keith was a great clown and we had a lot of fun together at CW, even hitting the road and doing press all over Florida for the park.

14 March, 2009 01:05
Little John said...

I believe that I had the last drink at HoJo’s long after the bar had closed. It must have been perhaps 15 or 20 years ago because my kids were young, Terri and I booked a sitter, and we got a room at Howard Johnson’s. Somehow the backdoor to the bar was left open, and there behind the bar was a bottle of Chevis with about one shot left. I helped myself while looking around the dark and dusty old haunt. It was quite fitting because I drank as much or more at HoJo’s than anyone from Circus World because I think I was there the longest. (The park and the bar.)

14 March, 2009 16:19

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)