Tuesday, September 25, 2018

TRAPEZE #2


Posted by Chic Silber at 9/25/2018 12:41:00 AM

8 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Although he did both

this is not a fly bar

25 September, 2018 09:41
Roger Smith said...

This is from his single trap act, my once and forever favorite photo of Codona.

25 September, 2018 15:09
Tony Greiner said...

How is a fly bar different?

25 September, 2018 21:29
Chic Silber said...


There are several basic types of trapeze bars

Most single trap bars are suspended by rope

Some have a cable core in the rope & most of

the ropes are covered in a fabric or velvet

There is often extra pading around the splices

The round bars are between 3/4" & 1" & they

are taped with both a friction type tape as

well as a twill or gauze secondary covering

Trapeze Washington bars are flat & not round

with a solid length of rod at each end that

attaches to similar ropes as mentioned above

Fly bars are suspended by cables at each end

with no decorative end caps or balls

They are generally between 5/8" & 3/4" with

very similar taping as mentioned above

Catch trap bars are very heavily padded at

the cable connection points to protect the

catcher in suspension position

Look back to the Saturday the 22nd images

25 September, 2018 23:12
Roger Smith said...

Fay Alexander's fly bars did feature chrome balls on each end.

Ernest Clarke's fly bar was known in the industry as always the heaviest. We remember Burt Lancaster, as Mike Ribble in TRAPEZE, was a devotee of the "two-act", the flying act with only a leaper and his catcher--with no one up there dropping bars. Clarke had to swing so correctly that when he left the bar for his trick, it had to remain in a very straight swing so it would be at the right height for his return from his catcher brother, Charles. They determined the weight of the bar that would make this return in place. Someone who has this bar once showed it to Kim Baer, saying, "This is your grandfather's fly bar--always the heaviest."

26 September, 2018 17:20
Tony Greiner said...

That's a good amount of info, but why (generally) would you not have a end cap on a fly bar?

27 September, 2018 00:19
Chic Silber said...


A fly bar is primarily

a means of conveyance

not part of an artistic

routine & their cables

at each end are often

disconnected for the bar

to be rewrapped

27 September, 2018 12:26
Chic Silber said...


Focus should remain with

the flyer & not the bar

27 September, 2018 12:28

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