Welcome to Buckles Blog. This site is for the discussion of Circus History all over the world.
The reflection in front of the Calabana on left suggests a flooded track
Or at least wet macadam
Looks like a Penny Farthing up on the high wire pedestal
No reds or blues for the quarters.
It's a Penny Farthing, all right, the only one I've seen on high wire. This was the first two-wheeler to be named a "bicycle". Mounting the damn thing was a skill of its own, quite a feat for high wire.
Your calabanas are what Hubert Castle called his hockey-dashers.
Calabana was a trademarked vinyl from the Astrup Company in Cleveland that was the prime supplier of canvas duck for circus tops & was sewn up by Leif Osmundsen to face the hockey dashers & bcame the common name for them even if they were of other materials I had the great opportunity to become a trusted friend of Leif's for years In later years with "Leaf Tent & Sail" he was cursed with early Alzheimer's & wrote millions of notes that he kept on every surface in his shop & office knowing that it would get worse Leif was 1 of the kindest & friendly folks who taught many many of us many things regarding tops & rigging He followed in his father's footsteps aas masters in big canvas
I think it was Tommy Clarke or Bob Reynolds that brought that term "Calabana" to the Beatty Show which was used on Ringling for that striped skirting I've heard it used on many of the older tent shows but I'm of that age & proud of it Dashers or Dasher Boards are specific to hockey rinks
In the old Gardens (NY & Boston) as well as other buildings with hockey rinks the skirting faced the dashers but on tent shows short pipes on stakes supported the skirting lengths
Post a Comment
9 comments:
The reflection in front
of the Calabana on left
suggests a flooded track
Or at least wet macadam
Looks like a Penny Farthing
up on the high wire pedestal
No reds or blues for the quarters.
It's a Penny Farthing, all right, the only one I've seen on high wire. This was the first two-wheeler to be named a "bicycle". Mounting the damn thing was a skill of its own, quite a feat for high wire.
Your calabanas are what Hubert Castle called his hockey-dashers.
Calabana was a trademarked vinyl from
the Astrup Company in Cleveland that
was the prime supplier of canvas duck
for circus tops & was sewn up by Leif
Osmundsen to face the hockey dashers
& bcame the common name for them even
if they were of other materials
I had the great opportunity to become
a trusted friend of Leif's for years
In later years with "Leaf Tent & Sail"
he was cursed with early Alzheimer's
& wrote millions of notes that he kept
on every surface in his shop & office
knowing that it would get worse
Leif was 1 of the kindest & friendly
folks who taught many many of us many
things regarding tops & rigging
He followed in his father's footsteps
aas masters in big canvas
I think it was Tommy Clarke or
Bob Reynolds that brought that
term "Calabana" to the Beatty
Show which was used on Ringling
for that striped skirting
I've heard it used on many of
the older tent shows but I'm
of that age & proud of it
Dashers or Dasher Boards are
specific to hockey rinks
In the old Gardens (NY & Boston)
as well as other buildings with
hockey rinks the skirting faced
the dashers but on tent shows
short pipes on stakes supported
the skirting lengths
Post a Comment