Saturday, October 02, 2010

"Fun By The Ton"


Scan13136, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

From Radar:

Buckles,
Can you please provide us with more information regarding the Eddie Allen book? Thank you.


From Buckles:
His book was ghosted by the great Press Agent F. Beverly Kelley
when both were with Cole Bros. Circus but wasn't published until 1941.
I first read it when I was in Grade School and was impressed. Lots of
good pictures. Mr. Allen was a remarkable man in as much as he
jumped from working elephants to becoming Gene Autry's Business Manager and later an Executive in Hollywood.
When I was with the Polack Show, Parley and Ernie invited Barbara and I
to their home and what a surprise when I discovered they had also
invited Mr. Allen.
What an afternoon that was. I tried to get him to fill in some blanks
regarding the Cole Show elephants but didn't have much luck.
Only elephant man I ever saw with a manicure. Parley later told me
that Eddie owned a small island off the California coast.
Years later I had a wonderful afternoon visiting with Bev Kelley while he was
visiting in Baraboo.

Posted by Buckles at 10/02/2010 07:01:00 AM

11 comments:

Buckles said...

I think a more interesting book would have been about Eddie Allen's days in Hollywood.
Parley was ribbing him about an incident Eddie had at the studio with a popular singer of the day who had an altercation with a stage hand.
Can't remember the singer's first name, his father was Alan Jones who had been the romantic lead in the Marx brothers movies.
Eddie had him thrown off the set and told a complaining producer, "You bring him back here and I'll shut this whole fucking Studio down!"
I didn't know elephant men behaved like that.

02 October, 2010 07:38
Jack Ryan said...

Buckles and Radar,

I'd love to read Mr. Allen's book. Have never been able to find a used copy.

Bev Kelley also ghosted Emmett Kelly's book, "Clown: My Life in Tatters and Smiles." Bev was one of the best drum beaters who ever lived.

Jack

02 October, 2010 10:49
Chic Silber said...

I just sent you a link Jack

Chic

02 October, 2010 12:37
Eric said...

Allan Jones' son Jack Jones was a popular singer back in the 1960s. Was it him?

Smokey once told me that Eddie Allen was a big shot in the Hollywood stagehands union. In fact, he got Smokey a job as a stagehand. When Eddie Allen retired, he was working on the Sonny & Cher Show.

For Jack Ryan:

For a used copy of FUN BY THE TON, check Advanced Book Exchange(ABEBOOKS), the on-line used book service. If a book is available used anywhere in the world, they probably have it listed.

02 October, 2010 13:23
Eric said...

Here is a link to the FUN BY THE TON books that are available through ABEBOOKS: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=Kelley&sts=t&tn=Fun+by+the+Ton&x=40&y=20

(They have enough used copies available so that no Buckles' Blog reader should be without their own copy!)

02 October, 2010 13:29
Eric said...

Buckles mentioning Allen Jones’ name reminded me of the time I played in a pit orchestra for a show he appeared in at the old Fox Theater in San Diego. (This was back around 1982.) The show was called “Star Time” or something like that, and featured a number of performers who had been big names in the 1930s-40s-50s and who were/are still remembered: Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy, Edie Adams, Frankie Lane, Hildegarde, Viviane Blaine, and Allen Jones. There was also a black tap dancer named Gene Bell, who opened the show. Most of them did the specialty numbers they were famous for: Allen Jones sang “The Donkey Serenade,” Frankie Lane sang “Mule Train,” Viviane Blaine sang “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys & Dolls (which she had sung on Broadway in the original production), Hildegarde sang “The Last Time I Saw Paris,” etc. What impressed me the most about these old pros was they were personable and cordial when you’d meet them backstage, and were always happy to sign autographs, pose for pictures, or answer questions about the shows and movies they had appeared in. They all had CLASS! Contrast this with many of the big name celebrities of today and you can see just how coarse popular culture has become.

02 October, 2010 14:26
Jack Ryan said...

Eric and Chic,

Thanks for the info. I am on it.

Jack

02 October, 2010 14:44
Harry Kingston said...

Eric,
You are right on the old stars vers the new ones.
I worked at a local CBS station in news and got to meet Jimmy Stewart and what a great guy and we talked about Greatest Show and signed autographs etc and also Bob Hope to.
To me there is a ton of differances between the old and new so called stars.
Bogart wanted $500,000 for being in Blood Alley and Wayne's could not afford it.
Eroll Flynn got $2500 a week in 1937 and what they get today many millions.
After seeing many movies on TCM give me the old stars and Directors any time.
About every shot in a John Ford film is like a painting.
C B DeMille, did it bigger and better and in glorious Technicolor.
Flynn, Bogart,Edward G., Betty Davis, etc are hard to beat.
Harry

02 October, 2010 20:27
Richard Reynolds said...

Santa Claus brought me Fun By the Ton on Christmas morning December 25, 1941, and I still have it, my first circus book.

My copy is even autographed by Bev Kelly and dated November 24, 1941. He must have been in Atlanta for a book signing and my Dad went and got it, probably at either Richs of Davison’s our two big downtown department stores.

I finally met Kelley on the Milwaukee lakefront in July 1967 when he was there for the circus parade. He was a swell fellow.

02 October, 2010 23:56
Ryan Easley said...

Leave me a copy please, Jack!
Thanks for the information, Buckles.

02 October, 2010 23:59
Roger Smith said...

Parley also partnered with Eddie Allen in real estate. At the time of his passing, Parley still held title to acreage they shared here in Lancaster, CA.

Bev Kelley's writing of Emmett Kelly's book is why we so often see Emmett's name as Kelley.

NEW SUBJECT: I am sad to notice the passing of Tony Curtis hasn't been posted here.

03 October, 2010 00:25

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