Buckles Blog

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Friday, January 03, 2014

"Konti" #1 (From Hal Guyon)

Konti on Beatty Cole 1968
Here are a few pictures of Konti taken on Beatty Cole in 1968.

From Buckles:
You may have noticed in Picture #1 how the hook up man has wrapped the rope in a fashion that the elephant can be quickly released should she bolt.
Mack MacDonald told me that on the Russell Show after the top was up one morning, George Werner came to him saying he needed the back end peak raised a bit to accommodate the flying act.
Rather than get a hook up man, he simply put the hook through the loop in the end of the rope and headed off with "Myrtle"
Next thing he knew he was over 100 feet from the tent, still taking up slack and approaching a shallow lake.
Now knee deep in water and Werner waving for him to stop, a flock of geese suddenly shot up out of the reeds and "Myrtle" was off to the races, jerking the #4 center pole and part of the flying act rigging through the sidewall.
Mack said the last thing he remembered was Werner throwing his hat in the air and collapsing to the ground.

1952 King-Cristiani #1

1952 King-Cristiani #2

1952 King-Cristiani #3

Macon, Ga. winter of 1951-52

Written on the back by Steve Fanning:
(L to R)
1. Alice
2. Mona
3. Christy
4. Carrie
5. Babe
6. Margie
7. Shirley
8. Mary
9. Maud
10. Norma
11. Bessie
12. Konti

From Buckles:
Alice, Mona and Margie owned by Floyd King.
Christy, Carrie, Babe and Shirley owned by Oscar Cristiani
Mary, Maud, Norma, Bessie and Konti owned by Pete and Norma Cristiani (originally from Dailey Show)

1952 King-Cristiani #4

1952 King-Cristiani #5

1952 King-Cristiani #6

1952 King-Cristiani #7

1952 King-Cristiani #8

1952 King-Cristiani #9

1952 King-Cristiani #10

1952 King-Cristiani #11

1952 King-Cristiani #12

Thursday, January 02, 2014

From Chic Silber

Hi Buckles

Isn't this also Black Diamond?

"No this is "Tusko" but both he and "Diamond" did troupe together on the Barnes Show at one time"

From Dave Price

Elk and Buffalo

I shot this pic at the Miami County Museum in 1995 when Roger Smith and I went up to check things out. As you can see the lower carvings had been monkeyed with since your dad's day.

I sometimes wonder.....

.....had my father opted for other venues in show business, might I not be a circus owner today?

"Black Diamond" #1

My father's early years in show business were pretty exciting having run away to join the Rhoda Royal Circus in 1920 at age sixteen and two years later fled Military School in Bellbuckle, Tenn. to serve as a camel groom on the Ringling Show and remarkably is listed in the 1922 Hagenbeck-Wallace Route Book as presenting an end ring elephant act for Bert Noyes.
However 1923 on the Barnes Show was the year he he talked and wrote mostly about, having then gone to work for his life long hero, Cheerful Gardner.
I never heard him say how he managed to get this job on the Atterbury Show but at age 20 had his own herd.

"Black Diamond" #2

"Black Diamond" #3

"Black Diamond" #4

"Black Diamond" #5

Not bad, already a Colonel at age 21!

"Black Diamond" #6

"Black Diamond" #7

"Black Diamond" #8

"Diamond", Bill Woodcock and "Chub" enroute.

"Black Diamond" #9

Albert Cauble owner of Monroe Bros. Shows.

"Black Diamond" #10

Pete Sutton Carnival 1960.
Lon Turner and Albert Cauble posing with Sport Matthews elephant "Dixie", later owned by the Silverlake family.

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

RBBB Backyard #1

With the thought of bidding Adieu to 2013, I decided to run these nostalgic pictures of some familiar faces during their last RBBB season under canvas.

I thought about trying to adjust the color but decided the situation and spartan wardrobe tell a better story.