Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Cole Show zebra hitch 1943


This is another picture from the Cole Show winter quarters in Louisville, they have the zebras snubbed down pretty good. When we joined the show at the tail end of the 1944 season, my dad was told that after several exciting events this hitch while exiting Spec, took part of the bandstand and several musicians out the back door with it and was forthwith discontinued.
The two ladies are Mickey Freeman and Marjorie Nelson and driving the hitch is Ted White who was Arky's assistant on elephants and was unfortunately killed during the '43 season by one of the Ranch elephants "Joe" while unloading in Prescott, Arizona.

Posted by Buckles at 12/20/2005 05:26:00 AM

12 comments:

Pat Cashin said...

Was Mickey Freeman any relation to Otto Griebling's boxing partner Freddie Freeman?

I know Freddie came from an equestrian family but other than that I can't find much other than he was Otto's boxing partner for many years, first on Cole and later on Ringling.

I've got a tape of the Ringling show from '65 and Freddie does a great version of the levitation gag with Mike Coco and Marcos Drogett.

He seems to have retired about the same time that the Felds took over and Dougie Ashton came in with a similar makeup.

Anyone out there with any info on Freddie? Otto? Any of the pre-CC clowns? Anyone? Alright...any dirty jokes then?

Let's put the "X" back in "X-mas",
~Patrick

20 December, 2005 08:46
Buckles said...

Yes it is, her real name was Ethel.
In my recent conversation with Gee Gee Engesser, she said that both Mickey and Freddie were in the riding act I showed pictures of two days ago.
As I recall Freddie had a British accent and for extra cash Otto would hit the wholesale stores some mornings and return with clothes he would then sell to the working men.
In those days clowns removed their make up between shows so Otto was available to be the referee in the wrestling match between Jimmy Ray and the "Marine Veteran" in the after show for a few more bucks.
Amongst my clown pictures I have a picture of Otto on the Floto Show wearing a Chaplain type makeup.

20 December, 2005 09:05
Anonymous said...

I send all my dirty jokes to Buckles, but he can't put them on the blog. I don't think he can anyway. One is a male stripper that made me fall from my chair laughing so hard.

20 December, 2005 10:34
Pat Cashin said...

Yeah, I've seen Otto in a Chaplin makeup too. I've also seen Otto in whiteface on the Cole show.

There are several theories floating around as to why Otto would switch makeups.

The Chaplin makeup may have just been what he used when he was strapped for time. That theory is fine but I've seen a Cole Bros. poster that features Otto by name in that makeup so maybe he switched to the mustache for a season and then switched back to his tramp character? I don't know.

Perhaps it's the makeup that he used in the summer when it was really hot out? He was the boss clown on Cole and probably could have gotten away with it.

Perhaps it was a reaction to all the media attention heaped on Emmett Kelly when Emm joined Ringling? I know Otto was constantly mistaken for Emm by the general public for the rest of his career.

The whiteface is what Otto wore when he clowned in department stores during the holiday season. It's very simple but effective due to Otto's naturally expressive face.

The confusion comes when photos surface of Otto in whiteface on the Cole lot surrounded by the rest of the Alley. Did Otto switch to a whiteface for a time too? Are these just promo pictures taken at the beginning of the season?

~P

20 December, 2005 10:42
Anonymous said...

I once asked Lou Jacobs about photos of him with his basic makeup done as whiteface. He explained the show published these shots to suggest the show carried more clowns. For the performance, he said, "Vee go oot dere da same old clowns." Another who comfortably moved among genres was Paul Jerome, as noted for an earlier photo. He had makeup and wardrobe for both whiteface and tramp characters. Emmett Kelly refused to work his Willie makeup as murderer Ed Deets in Universal's THE FAT MAN. With the support of star Jack Scott Smart, he amazed the producers with an expressive whiteface.

Of Otto Greibling, "Flo" White once said, "Clowns never laugh at clowns. We've seen it all. We make the people laugh. Otto is the only clown who can make the clowns laugh."

Whenever I visited the Ringling show, I never missed Otto and Freddie's boxing gag. From my spot under the sidewall, it was the best ever done.

20 December, 2005 13:31
Buckles said...

In case of a late arrival, the pad top falling down, the trunk wagon losing a wheel, etc. all the clowns had a quick makeup that could applied in 15 minutes or less in an emergency.

20 December, 2005 19:35
Anonymous said...

clowns must have learned the 15 min thing from a woman.

20 December, 2005 19:55
Anonymous said...

I remember one time on the Orrin Davenport, seeing Otto wear a plain flesh colored make up, nothing else and he was just as funny. Castle Films once made a short film of Otto & a whiteface clown, throught the whole film they referred to Otto as Max, & the other clown as Otto.

21 December, 2005 08:40
Anonymous said...

Io get back to the runaway hitch, (Rex used to say "it's not a runaway till they're out of sight"), standing in Bob Parkinson's office, I noticed a picture of thr Ringling Camel hitch and remarked it would look great in the Parade. A year later we were laying over at Dave Hale's and he came to me and said he just had a call from Bob wanting him to put a Camel hitch together. And I never even got a commission! (I'm kidding)Dave is the greatest in my book! I know Buckles knows this story of the Ringling Camel Hitch as told by Bob Parkinson. They broke the Camels in pairs, and when they put all 16 together,for safety they did inside the Camel barn. Now in those days there was a row of houses across the street from the Quarters, oppisite the Camel barn lived a man who had been in a wheelchair all his life sunning himself on the porch. When they opened the doors and the camels saw the daylight they took off, out of the barn like a shot, as the story goes, that old man saw the Camels coming, jumped up and ran for his life. Bob said " I don't know if it's true, but that's how I heard it"!

21 December, 2005 09:52
Pat Cashin said...

Ron Severini and Steve Smith tell of being on the Ringling show with Otto, very late in his career, when he made it back to the Garden just in the nick of time to start his come-in.

With no preparation, and in his street clothes without makeup, he did a brilliantly improvised come-in with nothing more than the bag of groceries he'd just walked in the door with, particularly a loaf of french bread.

The crowd loved it. The clowns loved it.

As he came off the floor someone congratulated him on his incredible performance and all he could do was lament that he'd gone and ruined a perfectly good loaf of bread.

21 December, 2005 09:57
Buckles said...

John Herriott tells a wonderful story about Clyde Beatty on the winter dates when just before entering the steel arena he would toss his pith helmet aside.
As the act proceeded Otto would happen by and notice the discarded helmet on the track. He would then remove his derby, pick up the helmet and try it on for size, then after replacing his derby he would look all around to see if anyone was looking, then quickly put the helmet under his vest and continue on.

21 December, 2005 12:37
Anonymous said...

The act that started me in the business, (La Blondes, Aerial Bars) said I got into the business too late. Otto is one of the reasons I say, No, I made it just in time!

21 December, 2005 15:26

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