Monday, October 15, 2018

STAKES #4


6 comments:

Chic Silber said...


A stake is driven through

the cable loop at the base

of each quarter pole to

minimize their dancing in

strong wind conditions

Blues are inside quarters

& reds are on the outside

Ropes are attached at the

top grommet run down the

pole & are tied to it at

the bottom to keep it in

position as well

This of course is how it

was so many years ago

Chic Silber said...


Perhaps this was a 1st use of this top

Roger Smith said...

One day, I was in the top when the boys were still driving these stakes to secure the quarter poles. Down the track came Harry Rawls's 20-something daughter, and the boys hooted that no girl could do what they were doing. She stopped, grabbed a sledge hammer from one of them, and did the round-house, one-handed-over-the-shoulder driving that sent the stake down to the cable. I don't remember her name, but the girl shut a lot of mouths in the Big Top that day.

For a fine point of history, every department had a color that claimed all its equipment. Big Top's color was white, as you see on these stakes, and on the stakes around the top in exterior shots. We had a fine, old colored gentleman who worked for George Werner. He kept a pint can of white paint and a ragged old brush, and every week or so, we'd see him quietly circling the top, re-painting his hundreds of stakes.

Chic Silber said...


Wasn't the fellow with the white

paint known as Bird Liver Roger

Chic Silber said...


Another time I'll mention the

red & blue Big Bertha paint

in attempt of identification

Roger Smith said...

Yes, come to recall--Bird Liver rings a bell.