Al Crist was a the member of the Four Comrades
troup from Allentown. I believe his son, Elmo was also one of the members, not
sure. I have Al's trunk in my basement if that counts for
anything.
In a Bill Jones Gazette which was a newspaper with
dirt published on the show way back a crack was made that Charlie Siegrist had
died, but there were no mourners. Apparently no everyone was a Siegrist fan.
Of course Charles had not died.
Al was a very good front bender according to my
Dad. They used barrels in the act. I vaguely remember visiting Al and his son
Elmo many moons ago.
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Saturday, April 13, 2013
From Buckles #2
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4 comments:
I believe the great Charlie Seigrist to be the center person in the photo. I heard that he and Codona were to gether in the Seigrist-Silbon troupe and that Charlie was recognized as the greatest acrobat in the world in his early days. As an aerialist, ground tumbler and somersault bareback rider. Some historian please note .What say Dick Flint?
In the 1910s, the Siegrist-Silbon act was separate from that of Charlie Siegrist's flying troupe though both appeared on the Barnum show at the same time throughout that decade. I knew well a performer known as Butch Siegrist (real name Francis Brann) who was in the Charlie Siegrist act from 1910-21 except for a short stint in the army during WWI. He, of course, thought highly of Charlie Siegrist but, having interviewed many old Barnum show people, I think this was generally true for all who knew him. Charlie Siegrist was legendary and it was said he could turn a somersault under a card table! Hard to believe but who's to discredit the memory of old people! May Wirth, who I interviewed, said the same about his great skills and that he would try any trick in the backyard just to show off but in a way beloved by all who knew, liked, and admired him. That's why, in addition to the acts you note he was in, he was considered an all around great performer. I believe he continued to show off a standing (not running) ground somersault into his 70s.
John, you may remember Butch Brann as he was Orrin Davenport's assistant in the 1950s (a bit of a gopher and task master, I've heard from others!). Up until Butch was about 60, he and his wife worked a very fast perch pole act as "France & LaPell" in vaudeville and Shrine shows. His wife had been in Cy Compton's wild west concert on the Barnum show beginning in 1916.
I believe the identities given in the photo are correct; at least I can verify Emily Hedder who I also knew. She joined the act in 1906 and remembered well the death of James A. Bailey because no sooner had she joined the show when a performance was cancelled on account of his death. Her husband Jack was getting senile by the time I met them but he went back at least to the 1899 Pawnee Bill show and had, according to many, a very funny knockabout acrobatic clown routine known as the Four Comrades. The late photographer Bob Good also knew one of the act members as both were from Allentown.
May Wirth was the person who referred me to the Hedders and Branns, both of whom lived in the old Orange Trailer Park in Sarasota (which, then [early 1970s] still had a flying act rigging, though unused, set up on adjacent land). Great memories for me and great good fortune to have spent time with them all.
Dick Flint
Baltimore
The Orange Avenue Trailer Park you
mention Dick is still there but in
a desperate condition currently
I'd be surprised if The Pines old
age home across the street doesn't
take the property for expansion
If I'm counting these right, Clara Grow is posed above Alfredo Codona, who is seated at C. I have seen her undated sentiment signed in Elizabeth Hanneford's album, simply as Clara. I believe it was Clara Grow Codona. Now, also therein, on their own shared page, are the signatures of Alfredo and Lalo Codona, both of whom noted they were on Barnum & Bailey, in 1916. Alfredo wrote two poems to "Lizzie", one in Spanish. With Lillian Leitzel's star on the rise, she decided she wanted Alfredo. Legend holds that she paid Clara $1,000 to leave the show and set Codona free. Leitzel and Alfredo married in Chicago, on RBBB, in 1928, to reams of publicity. Clara lived in relative obscurity the rest of her days, in Cincinnati. Certain historians, my friend Leonard Farley among them, tried with little success to seek her out for interviews. History has proven she said very little, and died far into the shadows of circus glory.
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