Sunday, July 28, 2019

RAIL #2


8 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Loading out of Venice

heading to Haines City

under the watchful eye

of Lloyd Morgan Sr

Roger Smith said...

Buckles indicated Mr. Morgan was present to be sure the elephants were getting out of his hair.

The Morgans, Senior and Junior, did not last long in the Feld regime. Kenny walked up one day and fired them both. Two prominent insiders over there told me Kenny reveled in the power given him by his father. He was the quintessential "Boss's son", that no one liked or respected, but he loved being the one who fired veteran Ringling staffers one by one. I was told Pat Valdo saw the handwriting on the wall and retired before being dismissed. There further was the occasion when Kenny fired 40 people in a Nixon-like massacre.

Chic Silber said...


Very early into the Feld Regime

there was great fear that control

would only be possible by dumping

many of those who really knew how

In the beginning Kenneth had very

little influence but the "Team"

listened to some strange advisors

Lloyd Jr was indeed dumped along

with a slew of seasoned others

Irvin was smart enough to keep

a few that he felt he could trust

Lloyd Sr gained his confidence

& left at his own convenience

Kenneth lived under fear of his

father's disappointment in him

It took a while before he was

allowed any real clout

Chic Silber said...


Lloyd Sr remained on his own terms

at least until the very early 80s

I was fortunate to be well liked

by Irvin so Kenneth was no problem

while his father was alive which

I'm sure bothered him (hah)

Too many stories for much later

Both Lloyds were very good to me

Chic Silber said...


During a few weeks spread

that winter there were 3

BIG herds of elephants in

winter quarters along with

plenty of 3 shows' stuff

There was some chaos

Chic Silber said...


It got crazy again in late 78

while we were preparing for the

traveling Monte Carlo show

Again there were elements of

3 productions cluttering up

Lloyd Sr's winter quarters

Chic Silber said...


Lloyd Sr's sister was married

to Felder "Tommy" Houser who

ran the Sarasota County Fair

& Fairgrounds including the

Robart's Arena where Lloyd Jr

became the Generl Manager after

he left Big Bertha

Chic Silber said...


Lloyd Sr headed up a team for

Irvin to help enhance some of

the circus elements at the CW

Park when Mattel finally came

to recognize their errors in

trusting the "Ol Opry" folks

to create the park as revenge

against Irvin (another story)