Henry Clay with "Teddy" former Downie Bros. elephant. |
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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4 comments:
Ahhh...the five cent red hot(with 'kraut, no less). Anyone remember the price of floss?
I think I remember floss was a nickel on my first visit to a circus, the 1947 Beatty show. When I caught RBBB in '49 and the early '50s, I believe it was a dime, and I think it was the same on the '51 and '53 Beatty show. Concessions historians may have to correct me on these stunning price hikes. But on Howard Suesz, in 1965, Gee Gee and Billy Powell starred with their Alaskans, and had floss for a quarter.
I know in 1975 on Ian Garden Shrine Dates in New Jersey, concessions were handled by an arena company from where the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Team played. Floss was 40 cents a stick and making change was a real bitch, so out on the floor I just charged 50 cents and added the extra 10 cents as my tip for bringing it right to the crowds. I made ten cents a stick from the company plus ten cents tip, and I made about $100 per show. Making change was a LOT easier and allowed me to sell more anyway. The company didn't care either, as I was peddling 2-3 times more than anyone else!
Neil Cockerline
Minneapolis, MN
I remember a candy butcher called "Big City" (Harold Schneider) who ran the floss joint on the Kelly-Miller show in the early 1950's.
Before each performance he would check out maybe 500 floss papers (you twisted them into cones by hand in those days)and when he settled up he had to have enough funds to account for the sold cones.
On the blowoff as the people were leaving the lot, when asked how much, he would whisper "Mit or Mitout the handle!" and explain Ten Cents cheaper Mitout the handle. If they went for it he quickly slipped it off the cone and handed it to the kid.
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