Changing of the Guard (From Jackie LeClair)

changingguard, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. The Changing of the Guard Elephant Finale with the British marching music and the busbie black hats. the performers were doing "Cherry Pie" in those days, the men loading all the dressing tops trunks. We loaded the mens first and let the girls have the privacy of the side wall a few minutes to freshen up, having just come in from the elephant number. There was no place in the privacy in the married couple and girls car to do that, only two sinks on each end of the coach open without privacy. We "Cherry Pie'ers" then rolled up the side wall and the dressing tent top, but fortunatly the trucks loaded the canvas. This was done every nite, rain or shine, so we all carried our boots and rubber rain coats and hats, back and forth from the train to the lot. My trunk loading partner was Joe Geiger, one of the original Wallendas, later married to Margie Geiger. "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end" but they did, Jackie LeClaire Buckles, this has got to be either 1944 or 1945 as that is the only two years the girls wore the kilts. In 1943 they wore the black long pants.