Monday, September 13, 2010

From Buckles #2


Scan13113, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

A couple of days ago I mentioned driving down from
Baraboo to see Gopher's Show.
I later wrote on the back:
"Ford Bros. Circus
Ripon, Wisconsin
June 9, 1984."

Posted by Buckles at 9/13/2010 06:10:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw Ford Brothers in Burley,Idaho and Jackpot,Nevada summer of 1982.Being young and dumb I then hitchiked back to Florida.Took 9 days ,thirty bucks,and great truckers.
No major problems .Sure wouldnt do it now.Shouldnt have done it then.
I recall Harry Locker working the cats.Also Chona Eastwood and her son on the show.
Whitey Black in the small office.
Gophers mom ran the concessions and her husband Jack was their.
They had hired a clown who didnt work out.
Turtle Benson was their as well.

13 September, 2010 12:23
Anonymous said...

I realize this is an old post, but I felt the need to comment. I was on this show the summer of 1984, as a side ring juggler with Turtle and Chente Castilla (or Castillo) in the center ring. In the photo there is Gopher in the middle and the late, great Bobby Gibbs on the right (read "Circus at the Edge of the World" for more on Bobby). Bobby and I hung out a lot that summer, going to many shops, restaurants and I did quite a bit of dumpster diving for him.

This photo was taken before the show, as this was a very memorable day (even though it was 27 years ago). Gopher had taken over the cat act a few days earlier, because the regular trainer returned to his home in Hollywood, Fla. (forget his name offhand) to have surgery (I believe for his hearing, he was at least partially deaf). In Ripon we worked adjacent to a carnival for some big town celebration and while I was watching through the back door waiting to go on (the jugglers performed as the cat cage was disassembled), one of the tigers reared up and gave Gopher quite a scratch down the back of his shoulder. The cat was made docile by use of a fire extinguisher sprayed (it sucks the oxygen from the air). The ambulance came and rushed him off and that was that. I heard Gopher needed about 107 stitches, became pretty dependent up painkillers and kept his arm in a sling most of the summer. Not one of my happier circus memories, but one as my most vivid -- I was 17 and thought I was going to see a man killed less than a week into my circus experience.

I've never performed for so quiet an audience, as they sat there pretty stunned.

I'm mentioned in a Circus Report from later in the summer (I looked this up at the Circus World Museum library); my name is mistakenly given as "Steve" or something. It is actually Jim Robinson.

31 August, 2011 11:12

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