Sunday, September 05, 2010

From Bill Powell #1


emmit kelly florida orch007, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Buckles,

Sherry was going thru some archives at the Florida Orchestra and found some materials of interest to the blog.

In 1972 Emmett Kelly performed with the Orchestra on a Christmas show at Bayfront Auditorium (now renamed the MaHaffey Theatre).

Posted by Buckles at 9/05/2010 06:01:00 AM

16 comments:

Chic Silber said...

By the detail in the signature

this must be after his son had

taken the name & personna

05 September, 2010 09:34
Frank Ferrante said...

Chic -

That doesn't make sense. Why whould Jr. sign his DAD'S name, (Emmett Kelly, SR. to a photo of Emmett Kelly, SR. (That ain't Junior in the pic.). Nope, doesn't make sense to me, sorry. ~frank

06 September, 2010 01:36
Chic Silber said...

You clearly misunderstood Frank

I only said that it is "after"

not "by" because if it were before

he (Sr) would not have needed to

distinguish the difference

Of course this is the real 1

06 September, 2010 08:57
Frank Ferrante said...

Gotcha, you're right Chic. Only with TWO Weary Willies on the road at the same time would he have had to make the distinction. Have a restful Labor Day! ~frank

06 September, 2010 11:31
Little John said...

I got you sentiment right off the bat Chic. When my associates find out that I was a clown they immediately put me into a category so far from what I was – am. When they show me their Emmett Kelly Jr. pictures I use to try to give them a bit of history from my perspective. My words were falling on deaf ears, so now I don’t even try anymore.

06 September, 2010 16:27
Roger Smith said...

LITTLE JOHN: Your experience is to be expected. A veteran billposter friend tells of placing window cards with the generic whiteface clown, and the shopkeeper exclaimed, "Hey! Emmett Kelly!"

At Alamo Photo, in San Antonio, there hung a poster-size shot of Emmett, Jr., as I pointed out. The woman owner protested that it was Senior. I did what you did, attempting a little history, all to the same deaf ears of your story. For a moment, I had forgotten the old rule: "Never try to wise up a townie."

06 September, 2010 19:32
Roger Smith said...

While we still have Mr. Kelly up here, other memories return. I first met him at the Southwest Boat Show, in Dallas, in '59. I'm grateful that on that day he signed his book for me. He was co-starring with George Liberace.

As fate would have it, when I visited Parley Baer on Gus Bell's Summertop, in Dallas again,in '76, it marked the last time I saw 3 of our icons alive on one show--Merle Evans, Karl Wallenda, and Emmett Kelly, Senior.

06 September, 2010 19:53
Chic Silber said...

Otto was probably mistaken for

Emmett more often than he was

recognized for himself

(mostly by marks but don't try

to tell them)

Was it Sr or Jr on the fancy

liquor bottle

06 September, 2010 20:57
Frank Ferrante said...

Chic - It's probably Junior. I have never seen another performer who has racked up so many product promotions and tie-ins as Junior. ~frank

07 September, 2010 14:41
Roger Smith said...

On my first visit to Otto, I noticed a color photo of Emmett Kelly on the inside lid of his trunk. Chuck Burnes explained why it was there. When people came into the Alley and saw Otto making up, they often said, "My favorite clown! Hello, Mr. Kelly." Otto angrily pointed to Kelly's picture and retorted, "I'm not Emmett. Dot's Emmett. Do I look like dot?" To the townies, he did, and he resented it.

Long ago, before Junior began marketing images of himself, Emmett, Sr. appeared on a special Jack Daniels bottle. I'm not sure if this was some commemorative for the company, or simply an honor to Kelly. I never liked Jack Daniels anyway.

07 September, 2010 15:25
Chic Silber said...

Roger Boyd Used to say that

Jack Daniels was a rich man's

George Dickel & that he wasn't

a rich man "George Dickel The

Wonder Worker" was a regular

"attraction" in Roger's side

show pitch (I have it memorized)

07 September, 2010 15:37
Anonymous said...

Chic,
Did you hear the long one, when Roger had to kill some time? I think that he mentioned every well known attraction that ever was and made up a lot more that never were.
Bob Kitto

07 September, 2010 16:40
Anonymous said...

Roger, all of the 4 you meationed (Parley Baer,Emmett,Merle,and Carl)also made the Dallas CFA Convention that year also.
p.j.

07 September, 2010 17:06
Chic Silber said...

Oh yes Bob over the years I must

have heard many if not most of the

side show pitches as well as the

coloring book pitches for my good

friend Kenny Dodd

Many of you probably know that

Roger was an acomplished sign &

show painter who came down to

Sarasota several times between

seasons to do some prop painting

in my shop & he had his own shop

in Valdosta (Roger Jr may still)

I've had some incredible folks

help me over the years including

the Late Tommy Cooper and I'm

happy to say that "Copey" Harvey

Copeland remains a pal

I think I'll have a Pabst to toast

PBR signs for those who remember

07 September, 2010 19:53
Chic Silber said...

Bob I also got a kick out of his

mispronouciations some of which

I felt were intentional as he had

a marvelous quirky sense of humor

(like Guanaqua)

07 September, 2010 20:16
Chic Silber said...

We didn't have any Guanacos

(South American Camelids) just

to be truthful but I guess from

what I learned last week they

must be cleft hoofed ungulates

(wish that Roger had known that)

07 September, 2010 22:50

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