Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Conroy Bros. Circus 1936 #7



Nice shot of the big top and marquee. The flags on a bail ring top add the finishing touches. Posted by Picasa

Posted by Buckles at 11/21/2006 05:48:00 AM

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buckles, What do you guess on that big top, a 70' with 3, 30's maybe?

21 November, 2006 07:15
Buckles said...

At least an 80.

21 November, 2006 07:20
Anonymous said...

Here's a question for you historians. At what point did these small mud shows start using push pole tops instead of bale ring (as shown here)?

Having grown up in the Midwest (and regularly seeing the various Hugo shows), push pole tops were the norm for me.

21 November, 2006 23:58
Anonymous said...

Surprisingly it is a bale ring top.For a small show like that I would assume a 60 with three 30s or maybe 70. I doubt that it would call for anything larger. Maybe it was a used top he bought cheap and hence the bale ring and size. I think Obert Millers "fAIRYLAND' circus was about those sizes, 60 or 70 and in 44 when I pulled up the top with the elephant it was an 80 push pole with probably a 40 and two 30s. They worked an 8 horse liberty act in it, so it had to be a 40 middle. Bear in mind that for years Bob Earl Sr. used a 60 for his Roberts Bros. with three 30s. Final note; they obviously didn't use a Jigger. Note the sagging middles or maybe it hadn't been guyed out. It was always laughingly said that the reason KM in early days and then C&B used a push pole is that none of those old mud show folks knew how to rig a bale ring and they been doing it ever since. It always seemed that their route being in the high wind plains states they could drop the peaks with a bale ring easier than tipping the poles. But there is no question that all those shows have made very efficient use of push pole and you can't knock success. My little circus tent was a pushpole.

22 November, 2006 10:10
Anonymous said...

Counting the quarters I note three in front, one at each round end, so figuring three on the other side would be only eight. Hardly enough for anymore than a sixty with three thirties.

22 November, 2006 12:37
Anonymous said...

I would have wanted to put in a season on a show just like this one.

And like the show in the beautiful, entrancing photo with the moon over the Big Top.

22 November, 2006 15:30

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