Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Boys From Baraboo #3


Scan00000010034, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

My dad wrote on the back of this picture:

"Barnum & Bailey, Otto Ringling Mgr."

Posted by Buckles at 12/15/2010 06:20:00 AM

8 comments:

Buckles said...

My kind of guy!
Cane in hand to help adjudicate disagreements.

15 December, 2010 08:51
Anonymous said...

Konyot is wearing the same sort of slippers that my grandfather wore. They were termed "Romeos." Anyone know if that's their formal name. or how it came about?

15 December, 2010 09:52
Anonymous said...

One of the Ringling canes survived. You can read about it in an early issue of Bandwagon. My surmise is that Otto could generally resolve most disagreements with choice words. As "the King," his word commanded legions of canvasmen and others, as necessary, to handle the physical labor.

15 December, 2010 09:54
Frank Ferrante said...

Wasn't Otto the financial whiz of the five circus working brothers? ~frank

15 December, 2010 09:58
Buckles said...

I remember my father talking with Arthur Hoffman (Side Show manager on the Cole Show)who had once been a side show ticket seller with Ringling Bros.
He said Otto Ringling would regularly make the rounds picking up the cash and if it was $5 or $500 he would always say the exact same thing, "And is this all?"
A man of few words.

15 December, 2010 11:08
Anonymous said...

Yes, Otto was the financial wizard. In the midst of the Panic of 1907 [underway through 1907] he was able to find credit to enable the brothers to buy the Barnum show, the cost somewhat over a half million dollars. He led the re-fitting of the show, which paid off the purchase price in the next season. Imagine doing the same in the past year of tight credit.

Otto's rejoinder about the take was likely meant as a challenge to employees. He didn't want slouches in the boxes. He was known to challenge people, not to threaten them, but to make sure that they were the type to remain at the top of their game.

16 December, 2010 09:27
Roger Smith said...

The spelling of "Mr. Konyoct" is curious. Most of us have seen it as Konyot. But then we also see Czeslan Mrocskowski simplified to Charlie Moroski.

16 December, 2010 18:08
Ole Whitey said...

Roger: I think Mrocskowski preferred Moroski. Maybe he shortened it himself. I once greeted him as "Mr Mrocskowski" and he corrected me, "My name is Moroski."

17 December, 2010 15:12

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