Sunday, March 15, 2009

Gee Gee's albums. #1


Scan11123, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Had lunch last Thursday with Bill Powell. He stopped by on his way to Sarasota with a van full of his mother's extensive collection to be donated to the Ringling Museum.
Having spotted a large plastic container of 8 by 10's, I put the arm on him so they could be seen on the Blog before they end their journey.

Posted by Buckles at 3/15/2009 06:45:00 AM

10 comments:

Buckles said...

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw an aerial bar act, they were great audience favorites.
You would think a dozen or so college athletes could be had to frame an assortment of these and other type acts long for gotten and give the Chinese a break.
I can see the billing now, The Greatest Show on Earth, after 35 years positively NO WHEELS, NO GLOBES.

15 March, 2009 11:41
Wade G. Burck said...

Buckles,
I should think if you could find a way to pay them more then what they could make at pizza hut or Quisnos, they probably could be "had".
Wade Burck

15 March, 2009 14:16
Chic Silber said...

The Beatty show had a terrific

aerial bar act in the late 70s

or early 80s the Rodriguez Troupe

The Gaona family had done a bar

act before they started flying

But I never saw it

Chic

15 March, 2009 14:47
henry edgar said...

buckles -- everytime i even read a line-up of most circuses, i ask the same question. the different circque shows have built up some flashy acts using college gymnasts that have helped make those shows so successful -- if they can do it, why can't the other shows try it and give us a break from hula hoops? i know i'm old but i honestly believe one big cause of the attendance problem is the performance offered so often these days. ading a few performers at a reasonable salary might be part of a solution. as you said, some of the chinese and south american acts could be dropped, or, if they are so cheap, just used to fill in. in the 50s and 60s, even the smallest mud shows often offered better performances that some of the "major" shows today. most even had acts that had "finish" tricks instead of doing something and just styling and leaving the ring. cirque producers have said they can spend more on performers because of the lack of animals, but how many of today's mud shows have any kind of animals other than dogs, kitty cats or ponies and a an occasional manege horse? cirque was talking about cat acts and big elephant acts -- you rarely see cats on a mud show any more and three elephants are usually tops. there should be a way most shows could add a little money to the performance budget, offer a decent cookhouse and sleepers.

15 March, 2009 16:13
henry edgar said...

the gaonas had a casting act on beatty-cole before flying which was far superior in enetertainment value to most acts today. (they even had costumes that didn't come from thrift stores) victor gaona could have trained four or five gymnasts well enough that they could have put on a show by themselves -- and the crowds would have loved it. all of the victor gaona family acts were superb. why aren't they in the hall of fame?

15 March, 2009 16:22
Wade G. Burck said...

Henry,
"some of the chinese and south american acts could be dropped, or, if they are so cheap, just used to fill in." They are not "cheap" per se, asking for less. They are having to accept what is available. They are surviving. That is the shame.
Wade Burck

15 March, 2009 16:52
Frank Ferrante said...

Didn't John Hartzell do an aerial bar act? Or maybe it was his sons who did one.
~frank

16 March, 2009 00:10
Anonymous said...

It is good to remember the great bar acts featuring Uncle George Hubler, who referred to "working the hoe handles". We recall George's sense of humor, but maybe someone can describe the materials and rigging for bar acts.

For our last big Easter Show, at Jungleland, in '69, Bob Yerkes brought in a pair of young guys with a hell of a bar act, and I believe, in line with Henry Edgar's thoughts, they were college talent.

16 March, 2009 19:58
24-HOUR-MAN said...

Frank:
Johnny Hartzell had a three bar horizontal bar act over a trampoline, not very high.

anonymous:
Go to "Yesterday' Towns" & type "Three Bars" into the search bar at the top of the page. I think you'll find a bit of bar act history.

16 March, 2009 23:01
Anonymous said...

That was me again,as Anonymous, tapping the wrong key before I could sign on.

17 March, 2009 14:31

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)