| I would say that gazoonies were about the same then as now. "Gazoonie is a big word in this household. Very shortly now I will line up three of them, all under the age of 3, in front of the TV to watch Sponge Bob. We refer to it as "Cartoonies for little Gazoonies". At parties we have "Balloonies for little Gazoonies" and so forth." Buckles |
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sparks Circus 1920's #7
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You hit the nail on the head in regard to the Gazoonies. Harry Dubsky told me that with his circus he named all of his gazoonies "Whitey" because when he wanted one of them he would yell out "Whitey" and at least one would show up. Pretty ingenious.
Buckles I love your story about doing the morning training demo in Baraboo when you were showing how to train the elephant "walk over" and "cover" and you instructed Wayne to lay down as the guinia pig and explained that to train it you used a "goof" and if the elephant didn't bust up the "goof" then the pretty circus girl could take his place.
Also the gazoonie that saw the leg carry with Anna Mae every day and around the barn heard the jackpots that nthey used to do the head in the mouth routine and decided to try his head in the mouth with Anna Mae.
I recall how each gazoonie got his formal circus education by being sent to one of the bosses to get the"sky hook" or "board stretcher".
This Whitey was given his moniker by his famous parents: Mother Nature and Father Time.
I once was asked to do an on camera interview for some documentary which consisted of them asking me what different circus slang words were actually used on a show lot.
About ten minutes into this question and answer period which was done on the lot in Peru In. at the HBW quarters for some Canadian outfit. Never the less the word gazoonies came up at the same time these two dudes who's names I shall not reveal came walking up and I just busted up and had tell the guy to shut the camera off to catch my breathe. The two in question wanted to know what was so funny.
Upon these two gents departure ,off camera I told the camera man ,see those two, the one is a gazoonie and the one working for him is the "F'n gazoonie.
To Jimmy Hall. Enjoyed you bringing up the subject of "circus slang" and we both know alot of people nwho claim to be quite kinowledgable on the subject and I believe have even invented some circus slang that we were not aware of, so here is a trivia question to all you bloggers out there. What is a "Grouch Bag"?
When my mother performed in the show she wore around her waist beneath her costume a cloth wallet for things she didn't want to leave laying the dressing room.
It was tied in front like an apron in reverse.
She called it a "grouch bag".
Sir John you "got me on that".
However Buckles got me on a tri fold bible. I had not seen one of those to date. Never the less I am sure you will have "The Larry" using up his minutes now ?
To Johnny
Are you wise in the way of the pitch on "writing sheet"?
A hand me down from my old man.
I made that crack to Tommy Bentley and he spun around and said "I haven't heard that in years" and said "I used to do that"!
Speaking of Gazoonie...
This is the real thing!
Hope you don't mind, John!
:-)
Cindy Potter
GAZOONIE by: John Herriott
“Let’s go,” yells the pusher, “get out of the sack!”
Should’a blowed last night and never come back.
Guys all grumble and cuss in their bunks,
A bang on the door – “Get up you chumps!”
Five A.M. it’s a cold, cold day.
Rain is fallin’ in this month of May.
Mouth tastes rotten and I’m sick as hell,
From killin’ that jug of Muscatel.
Clothes are muddy my shoes are wet
The boss ain’t bought no raincoats, yet.
I head for the cookhouse for coffee & rolls.
Shakin’ and coughin’ with the other poor souls.
All of us standin’ around a bonfire,
Wonderin’ how we’ll get out of this quagmire!
“You drive the spool,” yells out the boss
“Slim blowed last night – not much of a loss!”
Trucks are started and motors are roaring
The boss yells out “Let’s get going.”
Elephants pull each truck off the lot
Old Myrtle is pullin’ with all she’s got.
Out to the road and follow the arrows
Down through the town, where the road narrows.
Deafy is riding with me in the cab
And his feet are stinking real bad!
Forty miles we drive to the next town
Pull to the lot and look with a frown.
Trucks are mired again in the mud,
And my truck rolls fast and stops with a thud.
Clutch is gone- have to get a bull,
And spot the spool with her and a pull
Stake driver is working with a rhythmic beat
And the poles are raised - for the towners, a treat!
Canvas is spread all hands pull together,
The tent is raised, in spite of the weather.
Stringer wagon’s ready to drop off the planks,
And up go the seats to form a round bank.
Straighten the quarters and guy out the top.
Workin’ in the rain and walkin’ in slop.
“Shake it, break it, down stake it,” the chant,
Boss makes us do it, even if we think we can’t.
The tent is up and the show is all set,
Tickets are sold for the best day, yet!
Head for the cookhouse for a noon time snack
Then spread the straw on the hippodrome track.
The doors are all open, and people come in.
I head to town for a bottle of gin.
Between shows it’s payday-the end of the week.
To collect my small salary, sure seems bleak.
Suddenly the sun shines through the clouds,
And people come out in great big crowds.
I shake out my clothes and dry out my bunk,
Tomorrow I’ll go down and buy me a trunk.
I sit outside the sleeper and ponder a silent bet…
If that sun keeps on shining, I won’t blow just yet!
I brought up the "grouch bag" subject to my wife and she mentioned that on the Dailey Show, Hazel King wore hers in her brassiere.
My mother used one the rest of her life, whenever we went shopping she only carried a minimum of cash in her purse, anything over that was was stashed away and would have to be produced in privacy if needed.
In this day of rampant purse snatching, the reinvention of the grouch bag would make a fortune.
Reading that Herriot diddy put a cold chill down my back. As a brat, when then sun came out I was on butter knife detail scraping off the dried up mud on our tribe's footware
Mud Show! Mud Show! Man
I wanna beeee, a Mud Show Man!
Anyplace my Dad hid cash during a fair week was a "grouch bag." But I see looking it up this morning that term probably came out of the British Army in the 19th Century, and that Groucho Marx took his name from the bag
When my Dad took me on the Cole Show he educated me to get a grouch bag as leaving scratch in the dressing room, etc. was not a good idea. Katie Lucky as a sidline out of the wardrobe dept. made and sold them. A little flat pouch big enough for dollar bills, lined inside with some sort of plastic so perspiring would not interfere and a little zipper on top and the thing to tie around your waste. Note the comments about your Mom and Hazel. Mary Ruth just laughingly mentioned that Mayme Ward always used hers during her days in Baraboo. How many times show people when needing more scratch to pay a bill would have to step in the donicker for a couple minutes. Was a great invention. Seems when I got drafted I took my "grouch bag" with me.
"Grouch Bag"
My dad's reference was; stash that in your snood son, when it came to one's bank roll.However he did keep his palm and wax in what I now recall him called the "grouch pouch"
My great aunt used to sew a little inside pocket to the waist of my Great Uncles trousers. When he died they didn't list about a grand that was on him. We collected the clothes from the morgue, sure enough, there it was -nobody found that pocket. cc
The first time I every heard the term "grouch bag" was from Cleo Plunkett, as he patted his lower stomach. Until today, I thought he was refering to his "manhood". Boy, what a "Larry" I was back then. Wade Burck
P. S. Please ignore James C. Hall's potential incoming "Larry" remark's.
Mention of the 3 fold bibles brings to mind that the leading place that made bible hinges was in Rockford, IL. All of the big shows used to stock up when they were in the area.
Damn, and I always though male flyers were just more - how would you say - padded, than the rest of us
RE: Flyers - at least I wasn't the only one looking...cc
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