Thursday, November 15, 2018

RINGMASTER #2


Posted by Chic Silber at 11/15/2018 12:13:00 AM

2 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Frederick Freber better known

as Fred Bradna was truly an

"Equestrian Director" more

than 40 years on Big Bertha

15 November, 2018 10:19
Roger Smith said...

When he married Ella Bradna, he legally took her name. I have long advocated for everyone first approaching circus to read his 1952 autobio, THE BIG TOP, co-written with the elegant word stylist Hartzell Spence. I leave it to those truly interested to learn what real circus was when Ella was growing up in those wooden caravan wagons, being hauled overland by horses and elephants, on the back-country roads of Europe. Then, what circus was when they made their way to Barnum & Bailey, then to the combine, and what it meant to finally live in their own very small, but private stateroom on the train. The inside history here is a definite must-read, and a lifetime keeper for reference. Since Bradna, as Equestrian Director, knew every detail of circus operation and of each performance, I hold his book out as the best of its kind.

15 November, 2018 17:54

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