Thursday, August 27, 2009

Royal Hanneford in Michican #4


Scan12059, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Here am I being presented a Michigan Militia Certificate by Dale Riker in March of '84 in Lansing.
You will notice that Ray has retreated into the background having been completely out-sequined by my Mattel wardrobe.

Posted by Buckles at 8/27/2009 05:43:00 AM

13 comments:

Frank Ferrante said...

One thing you have to admit - for a short time - Mattel had lots of money and Irvin knew how to spend that money! ~frank

27 August, 2009 11:08
Chic Silber said...

The brothers had an incredible

(don't recall when Izzy died)

arrangement with Mattel that

worked out extremely well for

them until the house of cards

fell apart and Mattel took the

park away from Irvin who had

dreamt it up and lost it

Then of course I & K productions

bought the whole thing back

for (pardon the expression)

peanuts & popcorn

Real nice while it lasted

27 August, 2009 11:27
Chic Silber said...

Had a call from Bobby Snowden

yesterday and we are having

dinner together tonight

Really looking forward to it

Talk about a fellow with nearly

total recall

27 August, 2009 11:30
Buckles said...

Ask Bob to tell you the story of when Rex Williams first joined the Beatty Show and brought the five young elephants he was working on for the center ring act to make a winter tour in Florida on Bobby's show.

27 August, 2009 11:38
Chic Silber said...

Will there be time in just one

evening for all that fun

I also have a few questions

27 August, 2009 11:49
Anonymous said...

Take notes for the rest of us!
:-)
Cindy Potter

27 August, 2009 13:53
Chic Silber said...

Does anyone know of any local

BA meetings (Buckles Anonymous)

as I feel the strong urge to

enter a 24 step program but I

may be far beyond help

27 August, 2009 14:18
Chic Silber said...

Does this type of addiction

possibly qualify for any type

of disability benefits

27 August, 2009 14:20
Anonymous said...

Sorry Chic, the stimulus package does not include goodies for Republicans.
The Pres

27 August, 2009 19:03
Chic Silber said...

So for those showfans with any

interest in the Rex plus 5 saga

here is the gospel according to

Bobby Snowden (a most remarkable

fellow that can't possibly be 82)

The 5 act mentioned was trained

by Cheerful Gardner for Ben

Davenport who presented them to

Pete & Norma as a wedding gift

They were sold to the Acme folks

and leased along with Rex to Bob

for a 6 week Florida winter tour

of the King show

Somewhere in the center of the

state they played a lot adjacent

to a limestone quarry lake and

Rex took the group led by Mary

to water them at the lake but

Mary somehow slipped into the

extremely cold water and due

to the very steep sides of the

quarry wasn't able to climb out

After returning the remaining

4 to the menagerie top Rex and

a few others tried to coax Mary

out of the quarry without luck

after trying the other sides of

the lake (hoping to find a more

gradual incline) another elephant

and 2 harnesses were brought out

Rex swam out (remember the cold)

in the lake and harnessed Mary

exclaiming that he had just

started working for this company

and now he was about to lose his

first elephant (but didn't)

We had a great dinner by the way

27 August, 2009 22:28
john herriott said...

I hear time and time again that Irvin used Mattel money in those years. I believe you will find that RBBB was self sustaining and did not cost Mattel any money. The projections that RBBB and Mattel would use RBBB figures in toys, etc. did not materialize and also the Handlers [operated Mattel] got involved in shady dealings that cdaused a big irruption in the company. Irvin trading any rights to "Circus World" for the concession priveleges on RBBB was a stroke of business savy. Under Irvin Circus world had a small chance of survival, but once Irvin was out of any dealings and consultation it died with incompetant bookkeppers as Presidents who tried to be P. T. Barnums. Not unusual in our business [shrine chairmen, other circus themed attractions, and alot of curcuses in general. Irvin did have wardrobe, production and awesome size. Why criticize that. We could use alot of Irvin today, but again the show was self supporting and Mattel was not sending any checks to keep it afloat. I respect any comments in opposition to this comment.

28 August, 2009 09:34
Frank Ferrante said...

Buckles - Since you were on the show at that time, what is your take on how much Mattel invested in the show? I remember the show before Mattel and after, and althought I agree with John that the show was always self-sustaining, it did appear to have beem plussed after the purchase. Irvin had brought in the best designers and craftsmen, but it appeared that they had MORE spangles to work with after Barbie and the Hot Wheels started showing up at the garbage stands. ~frank

28 August, 2009 14:55
Jack Ryan said...

I agree with Johnny on this. The touring shows always made money -- lots. The concessions, Sells-Floto, made even more.

The show had already started an major upward swing in production values before Mattel and the Handlers were ever involved.

28 August, 2009 15:34

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