Saturday, December 31, 2011

To Chic

Scan000010747 by bucklesw1
Scan000010747, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.


This is Dalilah's first day in show biz, seen here being delivered to the lot in Mexico by the show's lawyer Reynato Ceballos and his wife.
I should have known by the look on her face that 38 years later I'd be regularly reprimanded for not taking my medicine and even accused of hiding pills, false behaviors she insists on reporting to Dr. Dawson.

To Gary Payne

12-30-2011 11;33;17AM by bucklesw1
12-30-2011 11;33;17AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Hi Buckles!

I have a question for you....
You make reference to the "milk run"..... Can you explain - what is the milk run?

Happy New Year to you and your family.
Gary Payne


"The term pretty much explains itself.
This example shows my wife and "Anna May" exiting the ring and taking the long way around the track to acknowledge the entire audience hence "Milk Run".
The suggestion came from Irvin Feld himself, I'd like to think he liked the act but maybe they needed time to set the ring for the next act."
Buckles

More '78 Blue Show #1

12-30-2011 07;29;31AM by bucklesw1
12-30-2011 07;29;31AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Here are a few more snap shots taken on a cold morning, don't remember the town.
Rammy Sammy, Chico, Ben, Ted and Gary waiting for the cars to be spotted.

More '78 Blue Show #2

12-30-2011 11;36;32AM by bucklesw1
12-30-2011 11;36;32AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

More '78 Blue Show #3

12-30-2011 11;39;45AM by bucklesw1
12-30-2011 11;39;45AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

More '78 Blue Show #4

12-30-2011 11;42;00AM by bucklesw1
12-30-2011 11;42;00AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

More '78 Blue Show #5

12-30-2011 11;44;38AM by bucklesw1
12-30-2011 11;44;38AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

One of the Bull Cars.

More '78 Blue Show #6

SAVE2546 by bucklesw1
SAVE2546, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

More '78 Blue Show #7

SAVE1284 by bucklesw1
SAVE1284, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

More '78 Blue Show #8

Scan000010993 by bucklesw1
Scan000010993, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Maria Augustina a very nice lady.
She styled one of the end ring elephant herds for Ted.
"Sid", "Louie". "Vance", "Juno" and "Major".

More '78 Blue Show #9

SAVE1283 by bucklesw1
SAVE1283, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

More '78 Blue Show #10

SAVE1286 by bucklesw1
SAVE1286, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Friday, December 30, 2011

From Don Covington

bilde by bucklesw1
bilde, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Unnamed circus-train fire victims get new headstone!



Patti Morgan stands in front of the grave of 10 men who died in a circus train fire in 1884 on Wednesday morning at Linn Grove Cemetery. Morgan helped get the a new headstone put in place for the victims of the fire as well as searched for their names.
Photos by JOSHUA POLSON / jpolson@greeleytribune.com


Patti Morgan replays one sentence from an Associated Press story in an 1884 publication of the New York Times over and over in her mind.

“The odor of the roasting flesh and the distant cry of the coyote added to the general horror,” the story read. “The voices of the dying grew fainter and soon ceased.”

The story was about 10 men who were employees of Orton’s Anglo-American Circus Show. In 1884, they were on their way to a show in Golden when the train they were on caught fire near Greeley, burning them alive and injuring dozens of others.

According to a coroner’s report, 60 men were crowed in one railroad car that was also carrying two barrels of gasoline. The report said a torch used to light the car ignited the gas. Luggage blocked one end of the car and the fire blocked the other, leaving only a small window to escape through.

After the accident, the circus continued on its way and the victims were buried in a mass grave.

The image that one sentence conjures up is terrifying, Morgan said, but the idea of those men being buried in the same grave has left her with nightmares.

“It just messed with my head,” Morgan said. “It was the saddest thing I’d ever heard.”

Then she learned the men were never identified. It made it even worse for the 33-year-old Greeley woman.

“It was a very haunting thing to think of 10 men buried together,” Morgan said. “They burned together. They were literally thrown away. The circus just threw them away.”

Morgan first learned of the accident earlier this year when she bought a ceramic bowl from Goodwill that was wrapped in newspaper. When she got home she was looking at the newspaper and read a story by retired Tribune reporter Mike Peters about the number of unmarked graves at Linn Grove Cemetery. Again, one sentence stood out and replayed in her mind.

“The most famous of the unknowns were 10 circus workers who died in a circus train fire in Weld County in 1884,” the story read.

For more than a century the grave went unmarked, but several years ago, Debbie Dalton and Michael McBride, owners of Greeley Monument Works, put up a stone up to give it some closure. It read: “Burial Site of ten circus men. August 29, 1884. An early morning railroad car fire killed ten unknown men en route from Ft. Collins to Greeley for a scheduled performance of Orton’s Anglo American Circus Show.”

But that wasn’t enough for Morgan. She immediately began researching the accident and was amazed at what she found.

“For 120 years they sat there with no names,” she said. “But the names were always there at the bottom of that Associated Press story.”

Alexander McLeod, Thomas McCarthy, John Kelly, Frank, Andy, Frenchy, George, Smithy, Silverthorn and only one unknown. She tried to find the full names for all the men, searching hundreds of papers state-by-state, but couldn’t.

“Circus people don’t usually have any family and go by stage names,” she said. “But at least I had these. It was better than unknown.”

All that was left for Morgan was to raise the money to pay for a new stone. She contacted Peters and asked for his help. Peters did another story, which generated about $500 in donations from readers, and Greeley Monument Works kicked in the rest.

“I would have done the whole thing for nothing,” Dalton said of the stone that cost about $1,500. “But Patti was insistent she raise the money.”

Dalton has owned Greeley Monument Works for 25 years, but it has been in her family since 1935. She said she hates unmarked graves. She has donated many stones over the years to Linn Grove Cemetery — just last week she put a stone on the grave of a baby who died 1930.

“It’s mind boggling,” Dalton said. “We’re using stories about our history out there, and they don’t even have markers.”

David Naill, the cemetery manager, said about 5 percent of the cemetery’s 26,000 graves remain unmarked. Naill also contributed to the effort, donating the removal of the old stone and the foundation for the new one, about $200.

“Patti just took the ball and ran with it,” Naill said. “We really only made sure it had a foundation.”

The new stone was placed in October, and Morgan said she feels much better now that the men are accounted for.

“I can’t fix the fact that they burned to death,” Morgan said. “I can’t fix the fact that they are all buried together. But I can fix the fact that they had no names. Three people were there when they were buried, the coroner, a preacher and a grave digger. One hundred and 20 years later, a bunch of people with nothing to gain came together to give them names. That is a beautiful thing. People cared. And that is the coolest thing.”

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #1 (From Buckles)

12-29-2011 12;10;09PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;10;09PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #2

12-29-2011 12;16;18PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;16;18PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #3

12-29-2011 12;41;40PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;41;40PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #4

12-29-2011 12;49;21PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;49;21PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #5

12-29-2011 12;56;54PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;56;54PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #6

12-29-2011 12;46;52PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;46;52PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #7

12-29-2011 12;53;54PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;53;54PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #8

12-29-2011 12;51;07PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;51;07PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #9

12-29-2011 12;32;16PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 12;32;16PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

1951 Clyde Beatty Program #10

12-29-2011 01;37;53PM by bucklesw1
12-29-2011 01;37;53PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

From Chic Silber

SUAREZ1 by bucklesw1
SUAREZ1, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.


Hi Buckles

I forgot this when I sent those Cristiani photos

These are the 2nd family of Suarez that came to the Beatty Show

They are Enrique & Rosa with Reuben Marta & Isobel

The earlier cousins were Hugo & Clementine with Pino Raul & Lupe

Chic

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Where are the "Animal Rights" people when you need them?


WORST YEAR IN DECADESFOR ENDANGERED ELEPHANTS!
By MICHELLE FAUL Associated Press The Associated Press
Thursday, December 29, 2011 12:48 PM EST

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Large seizures of elephant tusks make this year the worst on record since ivory sales were banned in 1989, with recent estimates suggesting as many as 3,000 elephants were killed by poachers, experts said Thursday.
"2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants," said Tom Milliken, elephant and rhino expert for the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.
In one case earlier this month, Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks worth $1.3 million that were being shipped to Cambodia. The ivory was hidden in containers of Kenyan handicrafts.
"In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data ... this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures," said Milliken.
Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value.
TRAFFIC said Asian crime syndicates are increasingly involved in poaching and the illegal ivory trade across Africa, a trend that coincides with growing Asian investment on the continent.
"The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies," Milliken said in a telephone interview from his base in Zimbabwe. "There are more Asians than ever before in the history of the continent, and this is one of the repercussions."
Some of the seized tusks came from old stockpiles, the elephants having been killed years ago.
But the International Fund for Elephant Welfare said recent estimates suggest more than 3,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory in the past year alone.
"Reports from Central Africa are particularly alarming and suggest that if current levels of poaching are sustained, some countries, such as Chad, could potentially lose their elephant populations in the very near future," said Jason Bell, director of the elephant program for the fund based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
He said poaching also had reached "alarming levels" in Congo, northern Kenya, southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.
Milliken thinks criminals may have the upper hand in the war to save rare and endangered animals.
"As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning," Milliken said.
All statistics are not yet in, and no one can say how much ivory is getting through undetected, But TRAFFIC said it is clear there's been a "dramatic increase" this year in the number of large-scale seizures — those over 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) in weight.
There were at least 13 large seizures this year, compared to six in 2010 with a total weight just under 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).
In Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve alone, some 50 elephants a month are being killed and their tusks hacked off, according to the Washington-based Environmental Investigation Agency.
With shipments so large, criminals have taken to shipping them by sea instead of by air, falsifying documents with the help of corrupt officials, monitors said.
In another sign of corruption, Milliken said some of the seized ivory has been identified as coming from government-owned stockpiles — made up of both confiscated tusks and those from dead elephants.
Rhinos also have suffered: A record 443 rhino were killed this year in South Africa, according to National Geographic News Watch. That surpassed last year's figure of 333 dead rhino despite the government deploying soldiers to protect the endangered animals this year in its flagship Kruger National Park.
National Geographic reported this week that 244 of the rhino killed this year were poached in Kruger, and that figure is expected to rise before the end of the month.
South Africa is home to 90 percent of the rhinos left on the continent, and Kruger has more than 10,000 white rhinos and about 500 black rhinos.
Africa's elephant population was estimated at between 5 million and 10 million before white hunters came to the continent with European colonization. Massive poaching for the ivory trade in the 1980s halved the remaining number of African elephants to about 600,000.
Following the 1989 ban on ivory trade and concerted international efforts to protect the animals, elephant herds in east and southern Africa were thriving before the new threat arrived from Asia.
A report from Kenya's Amboseli National Park highlighted the dangers. There had been almost no poaching for 30 years in the park, which lies in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro until a Chinese company was awarded the contract to build a highway nearby two years ago. Amboseli has lost at least four of its "big tuskers" since then.

From Chic Silber #1

CRSTIANI by bucklesw1
CRSTIANI, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

From Chic Silber #2

CRSTANI7 by bucklesw1
CRSTANI7, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

From Jim Cole

This photo is from 1965, I was only 18 when I took it. I’m sure that is Ava up on Rex’s shoulder.

Riding Acts #1 (From Buckles)

12-28-2011 11;52;46AM by bucklesw1
12-28-2011 11;52;46AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Cristiani Family
Cole Bros. Circus 1948

Riding Acts #2

12-28-2011 05;48;12PM by bucklesw1
12-28-2011 05;48;12PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

This Bob Good photo of the Cristianis on the Ringling Show has always interested me.
Taken immediately before or after their act.
Was it used to make the milk run around the track?

Riding Acts #3

SAVE0257 by bucklesw1
SAVE0257, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

The Riding Romigs

Riding Acts #4

Scan11511 by bucklesw1
Scan11511, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Alberto Zoppe and Cucciola

Riding Acts #5

Hannefords by bucklesw1
Hannefords, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

The Hannefords

Riding Acts #6

Scan000010951 by bucklesw1
Scan000010951, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

The Conley Family

Riding Acts #7

SAVE0256 by bucklesw1
SAVE0256, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Riding Dorchesters
King Bros. Circus 1955

Riding Acts #8

Scan11968 by bucklesw1
Scan11968, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Zoppe-Zavata Family

Riding Acts #9

12-28-2011 11;49;43AM by bucklesw1
12-28-2011 11;49;43AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Loyal-Repinski Troupe
Al G. Barnes Circus 1933

Riding Acts #10

SAVE1184 by bucklesw1
SAVE1184, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Hollis-McCree Riders

Riding Acts #11

12-28-2011 05;40;39PM by bucklesw1
12-28-2011 05;40;39PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Mr. and Mrs. Pinky Hollis

Riding Acts #13

12-28-2011 11;26;51AM by bucklesw1
12-28-2011 11;26;51AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Pinky Hollis salutes sister Bessie while Horace Hollis acknowledges the camera.

Floyd King's Gentry Bros. 1927.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#1 (From Jim Thomas)

12-27-2011 02;51;02PM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 02;51;02PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

Jim was kind enough to lend me this definitive Ed Sullivan book for a while so I could scan a few pictures.
I'll not bother to identify the artists since most of my viewership, advanced in age and unaware what day it is, through a blissful quirk of fate will remember them instantly!
Buckles

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#2

12-27-2011 07;14;47AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;14;47AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#3

12-27-2011 07;27;09AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;27;09AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#4

12-25-2011 03;34;59PM by bucklesw1
12-25-2011 03;34;59PM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#5

12-27-2011 07;17;53AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;17;53AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#6

12-27-2011 07;08;16AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;08;16AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#7

12-27-2011 07;22;50AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;22;50AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#8

12-27-2011 07;03;07AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;03;07AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#9

12-27-2011 07;21;27AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;21;27AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.

A REELY BIG SHEW!.....#10

12-27-2011 07;04;16AM by bucklesw1
12-27-2011 07;04;16AM, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr.