Lille Circus Festival #9

Casselly%20elephants%202011, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. You know, some Don Foote wardrobe, blond hair and a chest mike.....Nicole Feld might make another discovery! Buckles

From Don Covington

ashton-729-420x0, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Phyllis and Doug Ashton, in 1992. Photo: Graham Tidy, The Canberra Times. Doug Ashton, the patriarch of the world's longest family-run circus, died as he lived his life - on tour, in his caravan. Mr Ashton passed away this morning aged 92, after a year-long battle with cancer. Family friend and spokesman John MacDonnell said Mr Ashton died in his caravan in Perth, on tour with his grandson's Circus Joseph Ashton. "He wanted to die in his caravan and he succeeded, he didn't want to die in hospital," Mr MacDonnell said. Mr Ashton never had to run away to join the circus - he was born into the family business and went on the road when he was just six days old. Ashton's Circus was started by his great grandfather, James Henry Ashton, in 1847. Mr Ashton lived most of his life in a caravan, only moving into his granddaughter's home in recent years and, as a child, used to ride the circus elephants in the street. Through the circus he met his wife, Phyllis, whose parents were members of the company. They married when he was 16 and she 17. Together they toured the country and had three children while on the road - Lorraine, Mervyn and Jan. After World War II, they took the helm and turned Ashton's into Australia's biggest and best-known circus. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, they had an enormous entourage of elephants, tigers, lions, monkeys, parrots, a giraffe, bear and even a hyena. At its peak there were more than 120 people, 80 animals and millions of dollars worth of equipment travelling the country. There were also trips to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Mr Ashton and his wife, who died 10 years ago, performed as many as 12 acts in the ring, including elephant rider, clown and trapeze artist. At one stage there were 38 family members working for the circus, building an impressive family dynasty. Mr MacDonnell said it was accepted that Ashton's was the longest running family-owned circus in the world. He said Mr Ashton also started Australia's first lion parks - in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Loganlea in Queensland and Raymond Terrace, NSW. For many years they bred and supplied lions and tigers for many parts of the world, Mr MacDonnell said. They also employed Tommy Hanlon Jnr for a short period when he finished his television career. Mr Ashton represented Australia at the Festival of the World's Greatest Circuses in Monte Carlo. In 1996, Mr Ashton and his wife were awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to the entertainment industry and charity.

From Chic Silber #1

POLACK3, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Two out of three seems like a fair percentage but I'm sorry I never had the opportunity to work on the Polack Bros show

From Chic Silber #2

POLACK1, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Polack Bros. Circus #1 (From Buckles)

SAVE2902, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. I never met Irving or Bessie Polack, he had passed long before and Mrs. Polack terminally ill. Same for Ethyl Robinson, long time exclusive agent but some of the old guard Ross Paul, Mickey Blue, Sam Ward, Opal Page, Soldier Johnson remained.

Polack Bros. Circus #2

Scan10241, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Polack Bros. Circus #3

11-02-2011 05;21;06PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. This is the first publicity photo Parley took of us.

Polack Bros. Circus #4

11-02-2011 05;19;00PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Barbara and "Opal".

Polack Bros. Circus #5

Scan10953O, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. I trained three young elephants for the show while we were there "Stella" in 1965, "Kenya" in 1966 and "Louie" in 1967, by then I had learned how to suck-up to the boss. This elephant eventually wound up in South America. Someone sent me a picture of him 4 or 5 years ago.

Polack Bros. Circus #6

SAVE1747, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Imported for the show by Louie Goebel late in 1966 and I swung by 1000 Oaks enroute to the LA County Fair and loaded her up. I had already picked out the name "Kenya" by looking at a map of Africa. Had her in the ring for the January 1967 opening in Flint.

Polack Bros. Circus #7

Scan10967, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Hammond, Indiana 1968 "Kenya", "Stella" and "Louie".

Polack Bros. Circus #8

SAVE2908, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Medinah Temple, Chicago 1966.In the background the band conducted by "The Paul Whiteman of the Circus World" Maestro Henry Kyes! "Well, the Blog went a lot better today, Shannon switched me from "Picasa" back to "My Pictures" however on the bad news side, I paid my Property Taxes yesterday, up $800 from last year."

From Robert Perry

!cid_E854923C05AC11E1993EBEF7CFF086BC@snj-us-pcwp-707_us_kodak, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Buckles the icon of Australian Circus Doug Ashton passed away today in Perth WA HE was in his 90s photo Doug in the centre jules Bullen in black & Robert Perry Robert Perry Australia

From Don Covington

Askold%20Zapashny, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. Renowned Russian animal tamer Edgard Zapashny on Monday entered the Guinness Book of World Records with a unique horse-riding trick. The act features Zapashny standing on two horses running side by side, with nothing fixing his legs in place, while his two female assistants stand one atop another on his shoulders to form an acrobatic 4.5-meter-tall “column.” Brothers Edgard and Askold Zapashny created the risky acrobatic act especially for the Guinness Book of Records and have been polishing it for almost two years. They first performed the trick in July. This is the second Guinness record set by the Zapasnhy brothers. In 2006, Askold Zapashny rode on the back of a lion as the big cat jumped from one two-meter-high wheel to another over a distance of almost three meters.

From Don Curtis #11

From Don Curtis #12

From Don Curtis #13

From Don Curtis #14

From Don Curtis #15

"This is the third picture of this young lady, the photographer must have been impressed" Buckles

From Don Curtis #16

(CONCLUDED)

From Buckles #1

I decided to toss in a copy of the RBBB 1956 (artsy-fartsy) program cover.

From Buckles #2

From Buckles #3

After further examination of the program, I discovered that Barbara was right, the show girl shown yesterday (picture #10) is indeed Joyce Kuhn. I asked her about "Miss Ringling" and she explained that they had a beauty contest as a publicity gimmick and Joyce won. Not only that but they had a parade in Sarasota in her honor. If the show was anything like it was twenty years later, she probably received death threats.

From Don Curtis #1

Hello Buckles, I have restored some damaged Ringling slides that I came across recently, but am unable to put a name to all of the faces. I wonder if some of your vast and knowledgeable viewers might be able to ID the folks and year.Many thanks and my best to you and Mrs. Woodcock. Don Curtis

From Don Curtis #2

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From Don Curtis #9