9th Year

ra»June 30, 1980

^

Number 2$

Page 2 June 30, 1980

Joseph C. ReisingerATTORNEY AT LAW

Entertainment Law - Civil Trials - Immigration

For Free Consultation or AppointmentCall: 415 -472 -1050

ROBERTS BROS. CIRCUS

by Frank Felt

Robert and Doris Eari's Roberts Bros. Circut reports generally good busmen on itsspring trek from Florida to Penna. This yearthe show offers a sparklin§ appearance witha new blue and white big top, new wardrobe,upgraded rolling stock and newly paintedand decorated tn-cks and equipment.The 1980 performance is one of the best RV»Fpresented by this small show. Running ordar* caught at Marysvilla; Pa,, on May 30th wasas follows: Circus on Parade spec with GeorgeRow*, vocalist; The Great Tino, Space Ageroia-hola; Jeff and Ginny Eari's trained tar-riera; Oscar Macias, hand balancing; ClownwaJkaround; Swinging Ladders. Rebecca Ma-cias and Ginny Earl and Sharon Hilton onweb; Lisa Macias, foot juggling; Jeff Earlwith pick out pony; Moises Ferreria, comedybalancing; Bobby Schneider, vent; Kalihar,illusionist (George Rowe); Jeff Earl and ele-phant; Joe Meyers, billiard ball balance forclown gag; Oscar Macias, cloud swing; GrandFinale.The new big top is a 60 ft. round top withtwo 30 ft. and one 40 ft. middles. On themidway are a combo ticket office and greasejoint, elephant skin dog pit show, moonbounce and novelty stand.The newly decorated rolling stock consists ofthe following: semi carrying seats, poles, anda»maft fork lift tractor; semi with lead stock;generator and props; straight bed with stake

THE CIRCUS REPORT Is published eachby Don Marcks, 525 Oak St.. El Cerrito, Calif.94530 - Phone: 415 • 525 • 3332.SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $15.00 per year,overseas rate via Surface Mail is $20.00 a year.ADVERTISING RATES: (First come basis):Minimum ad $5.00; Quarter Page $10.00; HalfPage $20.00; Full Page $35.00 (per Issue).

ACTS - Are you listed with us ?

DWIGHT DAMONEntertainment Unlimited

Lane Manor, Box 685, Merrimack, NH 03054

603 - 424 - 3341

The Bemley Bros. Circus concession van hadto have a new motor just prior to leaving LosAngeles for the show's eastern tour. Later atFlagstaff, Ariz., the driver jumped a curb andtore off the units gat tank, which called fora Quick repak job.Another of the show's units, a semi, burnadout its transmission as it moved through thecity of Flagstaff and so that unit had to beput into a garage for quick repairs.

EHtCHARLES MASON, former circus man, wasfeatured in two recent publications. The Mil-pitas, Calif., Chamber of Commerce paper,and the San Jose (Calif) Mercury. The latterincluded a full page story on his circus life.

DON, ROXY, VATES, LOLA and ROBYENGESSER visited Carson & Barnes Circusat Bloomington, III., on June 6th. They en-joyed cutting up jackpots with old friends.

driver, canvas and water tank; straight truckfor cook house; straight truck with weldingunit; auxiliary generator and shop; pick-upsteeper; trailer carrying grease joint and tic-ket office; trailer with pit show and noveltystand. About eight private vehicles andtrailers round out the rolling stock.Roberts Bros. 1980 staff includes: RobertEarl, owner and general agent; Doris Earl,road manager; Jeff Earl, supt. of canvas and

animal trainer; Bob Earl, mechanic and elec-trician; Ozzie Schleentz, concession^ m.J banners; Joe Meyers, producing clown and pro-motions and George Rowe, ringmaster/an-nouncer.

BOOKING 1981(AND, SOME OPEN TIME THIS AUGUST)

LITTLE STDNEY( A N D , SALLY'S T R O P I C A L B I R D REVUE)

MIKE LA TORRES

c/o P. O. Box 3619 Sarasota, Fta. 33578

(813) 366 - 1434 (Leave call-back number)

June 30,1980

Show DatesBeany-Cole Circus

June 30-July \ Bradford, Pa.July 2-4 Lakewood, NY

5-6 Erie, Pa.

Big Apple CircusJuly 1-6Sta ten Island. NY

Garden-Johnson CircusJuly 4 Lewiston, Mont.

Circus Arts TroupeJuly 3-5 Greensboro, NC

Circus Street ParadeJuly 5 Baraboo, Wsc.

Circus VargasJune 30-July 3 Tukwrta, Wash.July 4-7 Seattle

Hanneford Family CircusJuly 4-6 Parkersburg, W. Va.

Happytime CircusJuly 2-6 Calistcga, Calif.

Hoxie Bros. CircusJune 30 Wesminster, Md.July 1 Downingtown, Pa.

2 Vineland, NJ3 Millburn4 Maplewood

ti 5 Hackettstown6 Piscataway

Hubler Int'l CircusJuly 6-11 Cleveland, Ohio

Make-A-CJrcusJuly 1 San Francisco, Calif.

3 San Francisco

Marantha CircusJune 30-July 4 Charlotte,NC

Pickle Family CircusJuly 4-6 San Francisco, Calif.

Ringling-Bamum - Blue UnitJuly 1-6 Phoenix, Ariz.

Ringling-Barnum - Red UnitJuly 2-6 San Antonio, Texas

Royal Crown CircusJuly 3-6 Las Vegas, Nevada

Swan Bros. CircusJuly 2-6 Roseville, Calif.

TNT& Royal Olympic CircusJuly 1-6 Saginaw, Mich.

- - - - M A G I C - —

Manzini Escape Artistto Sep. 1 Lake George, NY

Tom Ogdento Aug. 24 Sheffield. Mass.

- - - • O T H E R DATES-- • •

Bryans Clowns, Inc.July 5 Rose Point, Pa.

Burr's Fun-A-Ramato July 6 Fall River, Mass.

Century 21 ShowsJune 30-July 6 Gary, Ind.

Oondi, the ElephantJune 30-July 5 Charlotte, NC

James H, Drew ExpositionJune 30-July 5 Prestonburg, Ky

Firemen's MusterJuly 4 Virginia City, Nevada

4 Georgetown, Colo.

Foley & Burk Showsto July 6 Pleasanton, Calif.

Frontier DaysJuly 3-6 Willits, Calif.

Gund Western Collectionto July 20 San Jose, Calif.

Hall & Christ Attractionsto July 6 Milwaukee. Wsc.

Honolulu, Hawaii

Mighty Thomas ShowsJuly 2-5 Yorkton, Sask.

(Continued on Page 7)

HELLO AGAIN and My Thanks to LEE Ma-LONEY of Hoxie Bros. Circus for writing thefirst of this year's GUEST COLUMNS. Youwill be reading Lee again.

My thanks to ED and CYNDY MIGLEY withwhom I spent three days in Rhode Island fromMay 14 thru May 16, for their kind hospitality.Everyone knows I don't take kindly to ChineseFood but Ed and Cyndy took us to a ChineseRestaurant called 'The Islander' in Warwickwhich has got to be the greatest restaurant ofits kind anywhere in the world. Visitors tothat area, and lovers of Chinese Cuisine, Don'tMiss It!

Speaking of Cuisine, enroute home I stoppedin New Haven to again visit with WALLY NA-GHTIN, SUE and RUDI LENZ and RingingRed gal LINOA HOLTZ has revamped her cookbook in an elegent new format. Unfortunately,I couldn't find her to ask the price of the new,improved edition, but those of you who are in-terested in this unusual cookbook may get theinformation by writing to: Circus Cookbook,P. 0. Box 937, Kailua, Hawaii 96734. This newedition has a firmer cover, color pix, and is farsuperior to the first.

It was a bright and sunny day in New Havenand when I arrived Wally and Renee were re-hearsing bears preparatory to the new two ringbear display on Ringling Red in 1981. CircusFan AL HOUSE was visiting and TERRY O'-BRIEN, on a three week layoff with Int'l AllStar was working concessions. I also had timefor a quick chat with organist DAVE KING,bandleader KEITH GREENE, the CARRILLOBROS., ARMANDO FARFAN, MARGUER-ITE and MIGUEL AYALAS. and one of myfavorite aerial stars DOLLY JACOBS who toldme that LOU ANN and PANCHO were visit-ing but had gone off to play tennis. From thereI went to White Plains, NY.I was motivated to stop in White Plains to see

WADE BURCK after his near fatal altercationwith a tiger. He has a bad scar on his chin andsome raw bites on his arm but is otherwisehale and hearty. The STAR, issue May 12 (or19) earned a story on the incident, at leastpartially true. Wade says he didn't jam his armdown the tiger's throat, it was his foot, and

THAT was NOT intentional!As a result of that stop-over I booked Pitts-

burgh, my first date ever for Hamid-Morton,a fun date I shall report on later.

ITEMIZING: CAROL ATTERBURY (whata great gal), BOBBY and I trekked off to anItalian eatery once known as 'Pappa John's',and a favorite with circus folks, which hassince changed hands and which is not so goodas it once was... Visiting Hamid-Mortonwas my friend TINY PHILLIPS. Unfortun-ately he had a previous engagement, stayedbriefly, and so we didn't have time for a gab-test. . .Beatty-Cole played Hagerstown, Md.the first week in June and was that show'sfirst return appearance there in several years.. .Naturally, I was out of town and missedseeing everybody. Rumorhazzit the Beatty-Cole Circus will play the Three Rivers Circusat the Civic Center in Pittsburgh in November.. .INGE SMAHA asked me to publicly thankHARRY THOMAS for his assistance with theact on Grade's dates. Meanwhile I hear thatTony, Sr.( who was faring so well, had a re-lapse, suffered through a lengthy coma, andunderwent a major operation to remove ablood clot on the brain. I have been unableto ferret put more details but will, I promiseand will file a report on Tony's condition inmy next column.. .Whoever spread that ru-mor that OTTO VERDU died has a damnsick sense of humor. Mr. Vedru is alive andwell (thank God!).. .The Great AERIALET-TA bought a new van in which to transporther outdoor rigging and played Bentley Bros.Circus route, where when ROVERTA's mo-ther died, she took over for Roverta in theWinn motorcycle act. HANS called to tell methat Jo-Ann (Aerialetta) did a good job...ETHEL JENNIER took her greyhounds tothe St. Louis Shrine date and she is solo-ingit this season.. .The ZAMPERLAS joinedEuroporama after the Poplar Bluff date forDOROTHY WINN.. .The new Broadwayopus BARNUM, produced by the Felds inassociation with CY COLEMAN is a runawayhit, scoring standing room only crowds, andits star won a Tony Award.. JUDY BAKERcalled from Hollywood to report her tall,

(Continued on Page 26)

Rape 6

HUBLER INT'L CIRCUS • Belleville. III.,June? thru9.

Acts appearing with the George Hubler International Circus at Belleville, III., included:Harry Thomas, tigers; Miss Olinka, aerialist;The Denise Trio, and Olmedas, bikes; HapDavis and Karen, trampoline; Clowns; BenWilliams and 'Anna May' elephant; Evelynthe Girl in The Moon; Olmedas, three ringsof horses; Hap Davis and his Funny Car;Tino Wallenda Zoppe, high wire; Intermis-sion; Olmedas, juggling; Don Giovani, com-edy balance; Clowns; the Buckle Woodcockelephants presented by Ben Williams; Fos-sett, sway pole; Rosini Rocket Car.

KARE CIRCUS • Arcadia, Calif. June 7-8

Acts appearing in the Kare Circus at Arca-dia, Calif., were:Skeeter Vaughan, Tomahawk and KnifeThrowing; the Bostocks, high wire; Algethe Sea Lion; Thurano's comedy low wire;Frank Dean, whips and ropes; Bruce Ander-son, sway pole; Cat Routine; Frank Dean,breaking the rope spinning record by spin-ning 15 ropes at one time; Houdini II, es-cape artist.

FUEL PERMITSTake all the mystery and guess work out

of Fuel Permits. This book will tell youin easy to read every day language all thatyou need to know about Fuel Permits forevery state.

It will show you step-by-step just howto get your Trucks Permitted, and howto keep them legal the year around.

It tells you what each State requires andthe cost. It is complete with State Offices,addresses and telephone numbers. Writtenby the largest Permit Service in the UnitedStates.

For more information call Toll Free: 800874 -1559; in Florida the number is (904)438 -1493.

Mail your check or money order to Flor-ida Verification Bureau Inc., in the amountof $35.00. which includes Taxes and Pos-tage. - Sorry no C.O.D.'s.

June 30, 1980

HELEN WILSON - Show Organist(own Equipment) 704 - 786 • 4563

VisitorsVisitors seen at the Bentley Bros. Circus inLos Angeles on June 7th were: Vi Hoffmeis-ter, Paul Kaye, Bobby Kay (who also clown-ed for the date), Mingo, Al and Lois Swerd-feger, Hunt Bushnell, Ed Henrichs, TonyBaumann, Fred Levine, Phil and Betty Esca-lante, Velma Amos and Ray Harris.

HAROLD (Toby) ROSIERI (79), of Jackson,Mich., operator of the Rosier Players, diedearly this month in his home town. He haddonated his show to the Jackson CommunityCollege, who continued to operate and tourthe show each summer season.Survivors include his wife, Wanetta, and adaughter Wanetta, Jr.

On The CoverThis week's cover picture is another in the series of watercolur paintings created by RobertB. Johnson. It is called "At The Runs."The scene is just as daylight is breaking withbuildings and trees dark against the light sky.The first of the heavy wagons has been un-loaded and is heading off towards the showlot. In the background the train crew is busyunloading the rest of the show, while a fewearly-bird towners are on hand to watch theoperation.

C08TT7ME8All TVPIS Of WAKDROBE MADf

1O Ott*R - OR WOffSSlONAUY DCSiGNIDBY AUNA

AlENA BAlOUN

(813)486 4506304 SOUTH PARK BlV

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PageS June 30,1980

THIS WAS BURLESQUE

by Irwin Royes

New Orleans, a town with Bourbon St. andStrippen, but a town that hasn't seen a realburlesque show in a long time got it's chancethe week of June 4th, when a show called"This Was Burlesque" came to town.The show carries the wrong title as it shouldbe called "This 1$ Burlesque" as it was yearsago. The cast included Pinky Lee, Maxie Fur-man, Charlie Naples, Dexter and April Malt-land, Phil Ford, Jerry Kurland, Lisa Cabot,Marilyn Simon, the Burtey Cuties, Patrick,the All American Stripper and all headed upby the very pretty Ann Corio.One should not get the wrong impression, theshow was not all strip and dirty jokes, butVaudeville as it was and I hope will be againsoon. With people like Maxie, Ann, Dexter,and Pinky Lee the material seemed as freshand up-to-date as if they had come out ofvaudeville today.

NEEDDRUMMER with circus experience for5 week tour on East Coast (Aug. 1 thruSept. 7) with Bentley Bros. Circus.Must be able to drive stick sh i f t pick-upand pull 21 ft. travel trailer.

VIRGINIA LEE FENTON19162 Liggett Street

Northndge, Calif. -91324

Phone: 213-349-0739

The old skits were not forgotten, like thecrazy house and closing the show at the halfthe never to be forgotten red, white and bluefinish. Even the candy butcher was on handto open the second half.The show is a good one and for a few hoursyou will forget your problems of today andhave a good time.

Tony Fossett Comedy ProductionsP R E S E N T S

K I L L E R W I L L A R D K A R A T E BOXING K A N G A R O O

C H R I S T I N E ' S C H I M P A N Z E E S

IRENE, TONGO & CO., G o r i l l a P a r o d y

H a v e Some Open T i m e A f t e r S e p t e m b e r 14 th

- A L S O B O O K I N G 1981

S p o r t s Shows • B o x i n g P r o m o t i o n s - P a r k s

Contact: TONY FOSSETT

637 Conrad Ave. Sarasota, Fla. - 33577

G R I F F I NTHE ESCAPE ARTIST

"

ALL

•x-

E tcipmg

From "»•

"Potty"

Strut-

accomplish

• NOW AVAILABLE -for dates in the U.S. and Europe

Draws large crowds and receives standing ovations at these shows.

Some Comments . . ."It anyone is Houdini re-incarnated, it's Grtttm"

' Charles Ruben (Magician)"I don't know who Houdini was. but Gntttn is the Greatest"

• Editor. Mountain Courier (Newspaper)"Our student government received many good reports, concerning student reaction to the assemblies

• David Regatado (Student Body Advisor)

Write:GRIFFIN

3845- Wth Street • Riverside. California 9250'

Salable At Top Prices!

Page 10 June 30,1980

MA6K LIMITED UOTD t KXES - *OM I91H AV[ 0«tAND (A

by LLOYO E.JONES

During an extended tour of the Philippines,P. C. SORCAR. Jr. was congratulated byPresident Marcos and presented with thetraditional Sarong shirt. In Cebu, he receiv-ed the Key to the City from the Mayor andin Manila enthusiastic crowds greeted hisperformances. The Araneta Coliseum whichseats 35,000 was packed for each show. Sor-car carries 48 tons of equipment and a com-pany of 24. From the Philippines he hasmoved on to tour Malaysia.One lecturer terms his lecture, "The QuarterPounder" because all the equipment is car-ried in that hamburger box from Mac Don-alds.If you've been watching the films of actsperforming at the F.I.S.M. Convention, youmay like to know that this next triennialmeeting is set for Lausanne, Switzerland, onJuly 6-10.1982.FABIAN B O C K L I C H (Sam) phoned fromSacramento, Calif., to tell of his recoveryfrom a third heart attack. Remember his ani-mal circus? His latest depression was causedby the death of his pet dog, after 12 yrs ofcompanionship. He is now actively promo-ting "Fun and Games" evenings for adults.With him as 'ringmaster' it is going well. Hewill be using some material from "M.C. Bits"by Algonquin McDuff ($5.00 postage is 59c)DARYL (Martinez) preparing to move from

our area to a wider field in Southern Califor-nia is winding up with a series of lectureswhich follows some seven weeks of them elsewhere. He uses them to show the materialwhich won him the recent Academy Awardfor Close-up Magic. These tricks are in hisfirst book "Secrets of A Puerto Rican Gam-bler" which is being sold for $8.00 (Post, is59c). A 115 page book, 5%x8% with 49 il-lustrations. Editor Stephen Minch explicitlyexplains the moves that make Daryl's magica standout. Here, not new tricks, but devel-oped technique that the card expert willready avidly.Daryl. by the way. gave his first lecture formy then 'The Club' some seven years agowhich spurred him on to his present recog-nized spot as an entertaining close-up magi-cian. His lecture notes have been changed toan 8 page booklet selling for $3.00 and con-taining less difficult material than in hisbook. Seven tricks are explained, of whichtwo are with coins. Alone, the notes willcost you 15c for first class postage, or for abargain, get the book and the lecture notesfor $10.00 and save a dollar (59c is suffic-ient for postage. Insurance 50c if desired).Which reminds me, my own last set of lec-ture notes are $2.00. In a plastic cover theyoffer a 400 year old rope trick, some coinmagic and of course a card trick or two, plustwo exclusive appartus effects. Like theabove they are so light in weight they canbe included with other items at no extrapostage charge.By the way. we have an ample stock of"Mud Show" by Powledge, but had to in-crease our price to $5.95 (plus $1.03 post-age).

The Circus Report Page 11

A VERY SPECIAL PERSON

by Bob Stoddard

"Texas Shorty" Chancellor started playingthe fiddle in 1950, when he was seven yearsold. When he was fourteen, he won his firstNational Fiddling Championship.In the 20 yean that followed, the boy won-der fiddler, and his father, Jim Houston (Chan(Chancellor) traveled almost a million miles,winning 17 national championships and hun-dreds of regional championships and fiddlingcontests. Sometimes they competed in thirtycontests in a single month.During this time Shorty was a guest on suchNational TV shows as "What's My Line", and"To Tell the Truth." He also appeared onmany local TV shows from coast-to-coast,andalso cut several phonograph records.After this our paths separated and didn't crossagain until June 7th when we met at Old CityPark in downtown Dallas, where a special fea-ture was taking place.The feature on this particular Sunday was anOld Time Fiddler's contest, that drew fiddlinghopefuls from near and far.The man on the stage announced that therewas a tie for first place between "Texas Shor-ty" Chancellor and Jimmy Don Bates.They played another selection to break thetie — and then another — and then another,until Texas Shorty won by a single point.I was sad to hear that his father, Jim HoustonChancellor, an old friend, died in 1976, of aheart attack, but it was good to see that Tex-as Shorty, now 37 years of age, was still win-ning.

ATTENTIONAnyone having contact with, or whoknows the whereabouts of Rudy Ja-cobi, please call us immediately.

- CALL COLLECT -702 - 451 - 1839

THE A L E X A N D E R S

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WILLIAM J ENGLISH, PRES

Page 12 JuneoU, 1980

KRAMIEN, the magician, was featured on thefront page of the Abbott's Tops Magazine, is-sue of June 1980.

JOAN EMBERY, of the San Diego Zoo, was arecent guest on the Mike Douglas TV Show.

SLIM PICKENS will be featured in a soon tobe released TV show called 'Jake's Way/

GEORGE W. LILLY, an agent for the Carson& Barnes Circus, was the subject of a specialphoto story in a recent mid-western newspa-per.

STEVE BAKER and GARY RAY {Checkers& Patches) now performing in their third yearat Six Flags Over Texas theme park, have an-nounced the publication of their first book'The Adventures of Checkers and Patches' achildren's activity book.All activities are builtaround the popular clown team. Details onhow to acquire the book will be released thruCircus Report.

K I N G BROS. C I R C U S

wants

l-or Fall 1980 and 1981 Tour

SIDE SHOW ACTS

Sword Shallower Magic

Fire Hater Bearded Lady

Bally Girls Fat Boy

Canvas Boss Inside Manager

Also want Complete Banner Line

with Banners

MIKE MARTINKing Bros. Circus

P.O. Box 307Sarasota, Fla. 33578

Y O X A L L ' S

M E R R I E MENAGERIE

with the

PERFORMING PIGS

and the

KOMEDY KENNEL KAPERS

New Phone Number

(216)729-2404

Available Summer 1980

SHOWTIME FOLLIES

Acts appearing with the Showtime Follies onits 1980 spring tour were: The Ruwills, platespinning and acrobatic adagio; Erik and Bob-bi Adams, dogs and chimps; Tony and IrisKeppo, rolling globes and comedy; The GreatDeMille, ttghtwire and juggling; Holveck & Co.magic and illusions, with Gary Holveck work-ing as announcer and making the magic colorbook pitch; Florine Oler, organist; Joe Dan-iels, drummer; Wes Oler, show manager.On May 19th, at Wichita, Kansas, the showpersonnel hosted a party and dinner to cele-brate Wes Oler's birthday.

JOHNNY (Speedy) YELDING, a popular andall around circus performer, died in Englandon Jan. 4th. He worked theatres and with mostof the English circuses.

"Wizard of the Wire"

DI/VO & XI/VITA

A V A I L A B L E F R O M D E C E M B E R 1980

AND BOOKING FOR 1981 SEASON

Current ly wi th Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus

Contact: R A P H A E L M E N E N D E ZP. O. Box 10251, Fruitville Branch

Sarasota, Florida 33578

Page 14 June 30,1980

TED VIOLA, of Abilene, Kans., has been appointed general chairman for the SummerMeeting of Windjammers Unlimited, Inc.,which will hold its meet in Abilene on Aug.15-17.

BUCKLES WOODCOCK spent some offtime last month visiting the zoo at Monroe,La.

JAMES'Jimbow' DECKER and DAVE'Skinhead' LEWIS, two Dallas clowns spentJune 7th entertaining at the Old City Park,a cultural history museum in Dallas.

ROBINSON C O R T E Z (10 yrs old) sufferedheat stroke on the rigging of the family'sflying act last month, while performing forGarden-Johnson. He has since fully recover-ed and is working regularly once again.

TIM BICKMORE, concessionaire with Cir-cus Vargas, has left that show and is makingplans to attend college in Arizona.

DAVE KNODERER is now the official signpainter and show decorator for the W. G.Wade Shows. His current project is a restor-ed 1933 white "super-power" calliope truckwhich he says will get plenty of circus scroll

BETTY WENDANY'SFUNS-A-POPPIN

PACKAGE SHOWS TO FIT YOUR NEEDS

Box 39), Suni«nd, Calif. • 91040

213052-4277 2 1-3522454

work.

BOBBY YERKES visited Carden-JohnsonCircus at Santa Fe, N.M., last month, wherehe was working on the film "The LongRanger."

LOUIS G O E B B E LS' herd of camels havebeen moved from the Los Angeles area toa special facility near Sacramento, Calif.The animals are being cared for by DICKMcGRAWand HARRY SHANNON.

DAVE 'Skinhead' LEWIS, a clown fromDallas, won First Place in the Special Eventsportion of the City Parks and RecreationParade in Irving, Texas, on June 7th.

ENGESSER'S EXOTIC FELINES day anddated JAMES PERKINS and DENNIS theMagician at Lincoln Land Amusement Parkin Illinois, and enjoyed visiting with eachother.

The Circus Report Page- 16

AUSTIN MILES scored an ultra featurestory in the St. Louis Post Dispatch June4th in connection with his appearance asringmaster for the Moolah Shrine Circusat Busch Stadium.

JAN and BILL BIGGERSTAFI-, along withTOBY, paid a quick visit to the offices ofCircus Report when Circus Vargas was in ElCerrito, Calif.

GRIFFIN the escape artist gave a specialperformance June 10th at Riverside, Calif,for the Lions Club where he was successfulin escaping from eight pair of handcuffs anda 15 pound ball and chain deadlocked to hisankles.

WILLIAM C. SHOOP (390 Tyler Ave., No. 21Cape Canaveral, Fla. 32920) is busy organiz-ing a new CFA tent which will be called the"Hoxie Tucker Tent."

ANN PIKE wrecked her trailer while in NewMexico and has since purchased a new unitfrom Joe Sharp • A. C. Nelson Trailer Sales.

KEN "Turtle" BENSON, and JOHN HASSION, of the Monroe, La. zoo and BUCK-LES WOODCOCK visited the Sam T. PolackCircus at Shreveport. They visited with LEEKEENER and HARRY THOMAS.

License PlatesOfficial Clyde Beany-Cole Bros. CircusLicense Plates. Limited edition of 500.Bright colors embossed on sturdy metal.

- $ 6.00 post paid -

B. F. B. ADVERTISINGP. 0. Box 578 Winter Park, Fla. 32790

CLARK McDERMOTT and his Cold NoseFive act worked a June 19-20 date at Pop-lar Bluff, Mo., after appearing in the St.Louis Shrine Circus.

HOLVECK & CO., magic/illusion act will bespending the summer season at Pocono's Ma-gic Valley Park in Penna. They'll be there un-til Labor Day.

MIKE and SALLY LaTORRES have beenvisiting shows this season and Mike recentlymade a quick trip to California where hevisited on the Vargas show.

MIKE GREER, film star, was the guest ring-master at Bentley Bros. Circus June 7th en-gagement in Los Angeles when the show wasplaying for the local area Gay organization.

WASHINGTON TUBBS II By Crane

Page 16 June 30, 1980

THERE IS GOOD NEWS - SOMK VERY SAD NEWS

AND "WIND OUT OF MY SAILS" NEWS

FIRST THE SAD NEWS -- My friend of many years andbenefactor to me for the many times I had it a little roughpassed away June 1st at our home here in Phoenix after suf-fering a massive heart at tack. This on the eve of my admit-ting him to the hospital for a prostate cancer operation. Athis age he was very worried and concerned about this upcom-ing surgery but the good Lord works in myster ious ways andspared him that ordeal and he went very fast with no pain •with me holding his hands and comforting him to the end!I am so proud that I could do this for him for he was so fineand good and his many friends will be sorry to learn that heis gone now.

DALE PETROSS - you were a wonderful friend to me andmy family and we will miss you more than you could everknow. God rest your soul dear friend!! His 85th birthday waslast October and was a big event in his life!

NOW THE GOOD NEWS -• Just completed my 6 weekradiation therapy treatments and feel great and did not sufferthe usual side effects from this kind of new therapy - so guessI will live for another year or two!

NOW FOR THE "WIND OUT OF MY SAILS" NEWSAlthough I was quite a character for all my circus years, Ithought for sure I had more than 8 friends who wrote mesuch fine letters in response to my request for mail after mycancer operation recently. So to those people who obligedme with letters, I thank each one from my heart for theirhospitality!

So to coin an old phase "Out of sight -Out ofmind" thathad to hold true in my case; but Hell - I sure thought I hadmore than 8 friends!!

At any rate - Good Luck to all and may the Lord Bless youall!!

EDDIE HENRICHS8218 South 7th St., No. 80 Phoenix, Ariz. 85040

The Circus Repou Page 17

CIRCUS VISIT IN BRITAIN

by James 6. Allredsnn

My wife and I spent three weeks in Englandwhere, among other things, we attended the'Chippet fields Circus' in Hull (May 24} as theguests of British magician and circus fan Prof.Eddie Dawes.The Chipperfield family has been entertain-ing the public for over 300 years in England.It was a dandy circus, quite different fromour own, I thought.It's a one ring affair and projects a very inti-mate feeling: you're very close to the acts andfortunately for them, the British aren't so lawsuit prone as our patrons so they aren't as 'an-tsy' about keeping distance between the pub-lic and the performers - both human and fourlegged.Noted for their fine animal acts, Dick Chip-perfield, Jr., did an outstanding job with thebig cats, as did his cousin John, Jr, with hispolar bears, and the famous Chipperfield ele-

Show DatesWenatchee Youth Circus

June 29 North Bend, Wash.July 4 Othello

ERNIE BURCH and his wife MARAN (Blin-ko and Maran), currently performing at Cir-cus Circus in Las Vegas, were visited bySTEVE BAKER (Checkers of Patches andCheckers). Blinko clowns in the Midwayarea designed for children and is the CircusCircus goodwill ambassador, and a featureact in the Casino's stage show.

phants were most entertaining.The clowning was a trifle weak when we sawthe show, but all-in-all it was an outstandingoffering in every aspect. Great fun.!

THE ,WORLDSBJSSEST

6L6BMNT

The most famous elephant in circus history - Jumbo, an Afr icanelephant. He stood 10 feet, 10 inches tall, and weighed over 8tons!The circumference of his tusks were 27.5 inches. He appearedwi th the Greatest Show on Earth, and died in 1885 when hit bya t ra in.

KING BROS.CIRCUS

UNDER NEW M A N A G E M E N T W I L L SCON

BE M A K I N G I T ' S DEBUT U N D E R THE

D I R E C T I O N OF NED TOTH, PRESIDENT .

Cal to, Inc. , Owner

•

WANT

C O N T R A C T I N G A G E N T S A N D P R O M O T E R S

Nigh t Room E x p e r i e n c e H e l p f u l

A l s o W a n t Help In A l l D e p a r t m e n t s

Phone: RAY W I N D E R at 813 -957 -0861

Or Write: P. O. Box 307Sarasota, Florida - 33578

Page 20 June 30,1980

TURMOIL CONTINUES

This past week Otto Berosini called to reporton the latest developments concerning his re-cent problems with the California State Fish& Game people.His animals are still being held by the stateand Berosini must appear in Court to answercharges on July 8th. The results of any deci-sion made at that time will probably deter-mine what the future will hold for the circustrainer and performer.Berosini feels the future is going to be prettygloomy for him. His lawyer has quit the caseand reportedly "took my money and thenjust left me."As a result, Berosini is looking for a newlawyer and at the same time finds himself ina difficult position as he tries to raise moneyfor his defense.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE SHOW

Acts appearing at the April 25-27, Smithson-ian Institute show in Washington. DC were:John Hernott and family; Mark Anthony;Jim Tinsman; Jay Marshall; Frank Dean; MissEthel; Cook and Brown; Bruce Steeg; PeggyWilliams; Lou Jacobs; Glen 'Frosty' Little;Bobby Kay; Joe Negrelli, Jr.; Ward Hall;Melvin Burkhart; Chris Christ; Connie Daugh-erty; Norbert Terhune; John Trower; JackWoods; Robert Bruce.Demonstrations were provided by: JohnnyMeah, side show banner painting; John Buck-holtz, clown shoes; Patricia Demary, costumework; Jackie Calhoon, tent making; RobertC. Robinson, circus models; Stan Nelson andJane Pomeroy, circus printing.

FOR SALECOMPLETE CIRCUS

Sixty foot round top with thirty foot middle. Leaf table

top. Red and white stripe. All aluminum poles. All alu-

minum seating. Top has been used less than a full season.

Everything in excellent condition, ready to roll.

- $ 1 7,000 -

P. O. Box 3062, Flint, Michigan 48507

Page 22 June 30, 1980

EIMBILL BURGER, of the Big John Strong Cir-cus, reports he visited with Col. GEORGEMORRISSEYin Nevada. George was an ush-er on Ringling-Barnum, and has a tremen-dous circus collection.

THE STARDUSTERS (Hope and Mike Kent)worked the June 20-28 Red River Exhibitionfor Stu McClellan Associates, Inc. Winnipegis Mike's hometown and a f te r 42 years he fi-nally played there.

DAVE KNODERER has been busy outfit-ting himself with equipment for next season,when he will display his horse 'Sir Bingo' andhis calliope.

BILL WALLACE.a musician with ROBY ENGESSER's Band for several years, is Managerof Engesser's Exotic Felines.

FRED VAN SANT, of Bloomfield, NJ, visit-ed The Great American Circus at Nutley, NJ,on June 7th. He reports JOHN and BETTYSTRONG do a rope and whip act, and for-

SPECIAL SHOW PARTY

Personnel of the Bentley Bros. Circus hosteda special party for Harriett Lee Wagner, showoffice employee, who was leaving the circus,at Los Banos. Calif., on June 2nd.The party, held in a 17 ft. house trailer, hadthe following people squeezed into the trailerit one time: Harriett Wagner, Bruce Warner,Kim Copeland, Dion and Bevely Aumaier.Wini McKay, Chester Cable, Chuck Clancy,Butch Hale, Chris Hale, Laurol Alczar, Jo AnJennier, Jim Parker, Hans Wmn, Karl Winn,and two members of the Tangier Troupe.Other show people arranged to attend thefestivities and partake of the food at timeswhen the trailer was not so crowded.

mer rodeo star DICK McALLISTER is alsoon the show.

Page 24 June 30, 1980

KING BROS. CIRCUS

After a two year absence from the Americancircus scene, King Bros. Circus is returning tothe road - bigger and better than evertThe long established show title has been inuse for the past 34 years. Beginning in 1946,under the 'guiding genius' of Floyd King,King Bros. Circus was built into a traditionof fine family entertainment.Most recently, the show was owned by theMcClosky-Collins combine, owners of theBeatty-Cole Circus. After the untimely deathof circus impressario Frank McClosky, JerryCollins has been carefully sifting the numer-ous offers to purchase the venerable showtitle.Always conscious of the need to providequality entertainment to the public, Mr. Col-lins, the Florida multi-millionaire, consider-ed the numerous proposals and chose FrankMcClosky's nephew, Ned Toth, and his part-ner Curtis Lenz as the logical successors topurchase and operate the King Bros. Circus.Ned Toth, who brings an amiable personalityand vast experience to the circus, gainedmuch practical knowledge while manager ofBeatty-Cole under the able tutelage of hisuncle. Toth's greatest ability lies in the quietcalm manner in which he analyzes the multi-tude of perplexing problems that confront acircus owner, and follows through with deci-sive directions facilitating the movement ofthe circus.Mr. Toth has assembled a knowledgeablemanagement and marketing team to directthe super attraction. Frank Perry, show man-ager and John Hamrick, general supt., areRingling alumnus and are actively involvedin the re-vitalization of the physical equip-ment. Mr. Perry additionally, is spendinglong hours creating new and imaginative in-novations to be incorporated in the show.Associated in the past with the Tommy Han-neford Circus as well as his many touring,family-oriented productions, Ray Winder,general agent for King Bros. Circus, has puttogether a top notch marketing crew. Withbookings already well under way, dates forthis premiere tour will include malls and shopping centers with the show under canvas onthe parking areas, plus sponsored dates for

police, fire and civic organizations, and se-lect engagements for indoor facilities.To handle the enormous task of press andpublic relations, Mr. Toth has hired the wellknown performer, Mike Martin. Mr. Martinhas been associated with Beatty-Cole, Sells& Gray, King Bros, and most of the othermajor circuses both as a performer and inmanagement positions. He brings much ex-pertise in the field of radio, TV and printadvertising to the new King Bros. Circus.

Additionally, Mr. Martin will be responsiblefor framing and producing the "specs" andperformance, and will tour with the show asAssistant Manager and Performance Director.At the Sarasota, Fla. winterquarters, a thou-sand and one tasks must be completed beforethe mid-August opening. Even the smallestdetails are given careful supervision by Mr.Toth and his capable crew. Sailmakers aresteadily at work to create the acres of can-vas needed for the mammoth big top andside show. Carpenters are constructing addi-tional seating to accommodate the increasedcapacity of the enlarge tent. Hundreds ofgallons of paint are being applied to the cir-cus poles, props, rigging and the new fleetof trucks.A well-balanced program is falling into placeand will include all of the rich traditions ofthe old-fashioned tent circus - a dazzling aer-ial extravaganza, displays of dextrous featsof skill and balance, a veritable avalanche ofcapering clowns, beautiful show girts, the ul-timate in performing animals plus a "superspec" described as a "colorful processionalpageant of Kaleidoscopic Splendor featuringSpangleland Stars from around the world."Tying the entire performance together willbe the King Bros. Circus Band with six vet-eran circus musicians to add the necessaryexperience and gusto.Likewise, the midway will be "all real cir-cus". A huge side show and menagerie isbeing assembled and will be fronted by anauthentic canvas bannerline. Elephant rides,a pit show, novelty stands, the office wagonand the concession dept, will fill up the re-maining space.In a period when other shows have foldedand with the unsettling conditions existingin the world, Ned Toth was recently asked

(Continued on Page 25)

The Circus Report Page 25

KING BROS. (Continued)

why he would undertake the monumentaltask of reviving the King Bros. Circus. Quitesimply he replied, "There have always beenproblems and disappointments. I think weall need family type entertainment to takeour minds away from those problems."The need for quality entertainment, thetype found at the traditional old-time cir-cus under the big top, is a feeling shared byboth Jerry Collins and Ned Toth. Workingnot as rival circus owners, but as dedicatedshowmen, they are perpetuating the cleanand wholesome entertainment found underthe big top • where the sights, sounds andsmells mean that once again - The CircusHas Come to Town!

MiscellaneousThe Carden-Johnson Circus had to cancel twodays of shows at Grand Forts, Nebr., becauseof local tornados.

- WANTS -

CLOWN WHO CAN WORK ALONE

Sleeper and Transportation Furnisheu

- Long Season -

Contact: As Per Routeor leave message at: 813 • 746 - 6577

Prof. Stu Miller

JOHNNY NUGENT (65) died May 27th. Hehad worked and performed with swords, fire,knife throwing and snakes. He worked withquite a list of circuses dating back in the '30sand into the 1960's. He also had his ownshow for a few years called "Claws and FangiHe was a veteran of World War 2, serving inthe Air Force. He was a member of the CF Aand Kay Bros. Tent. No. 21, of ColonialHeights. Va.

Page 26 June 30,1980

BILLY BARTON (Continued)

dark and ever-so-handsome son TOMMY isnow starring in DRACULA at the UniversalStudio's new two million dollar playhouse,part of that famed tour. Judy says the set,the play, is fantastic and that Tommy is su-perb in his part. Which isn't mother-love talk-ing because I've already read the glowing re-views. . .Bentley Bros, came up with the mostsensational posters for their circus this yearI've ever seen. CHUCK sent me one which Iwill frame. A rare collector's item.. .MISSLONI, after all these years, has her driver'slicense and a new El Dorado Cadillac, and wasmaking a tour of dates for TNT filling in fordaughter BARBARA with the Globetrottersin Europe.. .BETTY BRYANT's daughterMARY toured with the foot juggler to assistthe act. The Bryants, by the way, at onetimehad one of those fabulous "showboats" andare theatre people.. .ALBANIS played partof the Hamid-Morton route. Daughter UAR-LENE is doing a single trapeze act.

HERTA CUNEO is house-bound nowadaysbaby sitting a white tiger cub until the animalgrows large enough to do for itself. CLIFFVARGAS was a recent house guest before hetrotted off to Europe. Word is the White Ti-ger act will be featured with Circus Vargas in1981.. THE FLYING LANES, laying overat Bill and Trudy's, had a chance to reallypractice and PAT LANE is now doing a double

full with pirouette back and PATTI BONNELLis catching a one and a half.. .Producer WAY-NE mcCAREY flew into St. Louis to catchthe troupe and offered them his Maine dates.It's a calssy act... JACK RYAN has beenbusy getting out the new ice show programsfor the Ringling owned icers. Incidentally, ithas been whispered that the Felds are fieldingDISNEY ON ICE next season.. Bix for Hox-ie Bros, hasn't been too great, Numerous re-

ports indicate a 15% cut in salaries was madeand several acts left. I hope biz picks up forthe tenter. That show is not the only tentersuffering economic woes according to mysources, is, in fact, one of three having a tu-muluous season.

PALM SPRINGS TRAGEDY: LONN1E MeGEE, former concessionaire with Circus Var-gas, and another man, were founr! shot todeath in Lonnie's vacation home near PalmSprings. The house had been broken into andwas robbed, RAY IRWIN, former auditor forCV, found the bodies when, knowing the twomen would be at the house, called and couldnot get a reply. He then drove to the isolatedhouse and came upon the tragedy. Ironically.Lonnie's partner, WES was killed in an autoaccident less than a year ago.

The defunct Old Chicago Amusement Parkwill house by late summer what a developerdescribes as the nation's "largest factory out-let mall". Called the Mid-America FactoryOutlet Mall, the center is expected to houseup to 100 factory outlets and is expected toopen in August.

Literary Agent CONNIE CLAUSEN, andauthor of 'I Love You Honey But The Sea-son's Over' tripped several weeks ago whilewalking along a New York City street, fell,and broke her right shoulder. The fall was sosevere the bone actually protruded. In addi-tion to this painful injury the author/agenthas been experiencing excruciating migranesthought to have resulted from the fall. WhenI spoke to Connie she was in such pain shecould hardly hold a coherent conversation.Her son MICHAEL has been running the of-fice and Connie expects to be laid up forsome time.

SNAPSHOTS: BARBARA VAN is backfrom Europe which she was not too thrilled

(Continued on Page 27)

The Circus Report Page 27

BILLY BARTON (Continued)

about.. .Rumorhazzit the Hubert Castle Cir-cus has signed Wichita for 1981.. .QUAS ;•'SARS and HORWATH's Chimps to play theroute next season but the Quassars will onlyspotdate.. LOU ANN JACOBS introducedher new half-twisting ankle catches in St.Lours. The trick was taught to the youngaehal star jointly by yours trulty and TRUDYSTRONG. We both did the unusual trick backin the 50's. A sensational and daring newswinging trick will also be added to Lou Ann'sroutine which, combined with the usual assortmerrt of tricks now being done will put theperformer in a class by herself (and she is al-ready unique and original)

Lovely, large-eyed JANIE ZAMPERLAmarries JORGE CORONAS this winter andI wish them both well • both are nice kids.Janie's new Doberman dog act is very nicefrom what little t could see of it during thefive dog act display at St. Louis.. .1 havereams of information on that date and alsofrom the Hamid-Morton Pittsburgh datewhich preceded it but I am already late witha deadline and will have to forego that in-formation until next time around.WHICH leads me to the following:Please bear with me, dear readers, through

this hectic season. Through no fault of myown, nothing in fact other than sheer lackof time, I will be unable to keep my columnfilled EVERY WEEK and while I will try tomaintain my schedule there is no way I cankeep it up each week. First of all, I have aheavy season, booked to the brim, deep intoDecember; secondly, my first novel is being

WANTPosters, Misc. Forms, etc. from Carl Clark,Barton Bros., Buckskin Ben and Lasso Joe,Silvan-Drew and Old Dominion Shows

Other circus, tab, rep, Tom and Theatricalposters, contracts, books, etc. considered.

Especially interested in old trouper's col-lections.

VIVIAN LATCHFORDBox 1487, Route Four

South Starke, Fla. 32091

published, will be released in September andthis necessitates an extraordinary amount ofwork on my part, especially since I have for-med my own publishing company and ampublishing not only my own books NOW butalso those of other writers within the nearfuture. As a publisher I must oversee everyfacet of the book's production and as its au-thor I must exercise quality control, checkgalleys, book jacket, book format printing,not to mention the promotion, publicity anddistribution.

SO ... all of you out there who promisedto write Guest Columns for me this season,and who, other than Lee Maloney have thusfar failed to keep that promise, if you wantto see this column in print every week getwith it and mail those columns into mePRONTO!

Meanwhile .. see you down the road, luvs.