Saturday, December 01, 2012

From Buckles

7 comments:

Ole Whitey said...

You notice there are only two lithographers in the crew, typical in those days when posting was the big thing.

In later years it would be reversed with only one or two billposters and the rest with hods of windows paper.

Chic Silber said...


Hi Dave please remind us of the

description of both titles

Ole Whitey said...

To the public they were all "billposters" but on the car the term was applied only to the brush and paste guys.

The guy who put smaller bills in windows (no matter how they were printed- by lithography or letterpress) was called a "lithographer."

Chic Silber said...


Was the money about the same Dave

Chic Silber said...


What were the "tacky team" called

Ole Whitey said...

Money was the same- everybody had the same contract, but there was a little Chinese in driving the trucks overland etc that might be worth a buck or two extra.

Prior to the coming of show-owned trucks, they would hire wagons and drivers in each town to take the billposters around.

The guys with the lithos had to heel and toe it, sometimes miles and miles on a long route. Free advice: Don't ever buy a new pair of shoes and then wear them on a litho route that same day.

The banner tackers were called... oh yeah "Banner Tackers."

I believe I'm correct that not one circus banner tacker ever fell to his death although some of them put on quite an aerial show for the spectators below.

I think it was Rex Lee who worked as a banner puller and caught pneumonia up there and died, but not from a fall.

Bob K said...

Dave,
When did Big Bertha quit using banners? I know that they still had them in 1952, as I have the complete set from Beloit, WI from then.
Bob Kitto