Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
This could be one of the strongest line up of motion picture actors ever assembled. What a great group of stars.Yul Brynner in his younger years was a circus performer, He did a trapeze act also was in a flying act.
Photo source imdb/name/nmoooo989/bio
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
A motion picture that most everyone has seen. It is one of my very favorite Yul Brynner motion pictures.
photo source imdb.comname/nm/oooo989/bio
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
Just when you think you have seen it all! Rudy Mueller was on the Siebrand circus for a short time I believe it was the season of 1950, Before him there were the Miller Elephants. The Siebrands …Pete and Hike both said a circus is not complete with out elephants….. I agree…. This photo was taken at Rudy’s home in the late 1940’s.
See comment from Janice Chandler Trevino. Very interesting.
Thanks David for your comment too.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
ALWAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Rudy Mueller was like all good animal trainers. Do what people do not expect and be smart enough to take advantage of the animal’s natural instinct. One never sees a bad animal act….just a bad animal trainer.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
In 1953 on the 4th of July we played Butte, Montana. It was a pretty strong date for the show. In the far background of this photo can be seen the Anaconda copper mines and smelter which Butte is famous for, The copper mine was in full production and the town folks had money to spend. One of the thing I remember most about Butte was just east and about four hundred yards away from the show lot was a small brook with plenty of Rainbow Trout. I would walk there ever morning and fish most of the day until almost show time.To this day my favorite pass time is fishing. Note this fisherman is to the right of center stage, dressed in a white suit. To my right third and fourth persons are my Mother and Dad.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
Ed Widaman, Zetta and baby Peuya. This is something elephants love to do….play in the water and if you let them, they would make a day of it. This is the very brook I wrote about in another post. This brook ran behind the lot we played in Butte, Montana. It was a little wider and deeper in some areas with several small eddies where the fishing was great. The Widamans were with the Siebrand Bros circus 1952 to 1954.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
This man was extraordinary. In this photo he is entertaining at a veteran’s hospital and he himself only has one leg. What an inspiration for those men. He too was a prefromer with the Siebrand Bros circus. Photo taken in 1951.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 30, 2009
Al took one of the children from the audience that were there to visit a relative who was a patient. It was quite impressive and of course the kid loved it. Entertaining the veterans and their families was an honor. I myself have done many hospital shows,and I bet those of you who are performers have done so as well.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 28, 2009
I want to thank Joanne and PeeWee for this photo. I had posted a similar photo not long ago under the title Marhal. At the time of posting I had very little info on the act. The camels were owned by Hubert Castle and may have been trained by Bert Pettus according to Joanne Pinson.
Posted By thecircusblog on August 28, 2009
After the circus was over came the blow off. Each side show on the midway would take turns doing their bally to build their own tip. Some midways had 4 or 5 different shows…could be a Ten in One, a Ding show, a giant “whatever”, snake’ show etc. The most popular, but only with the men, was the girl show. When the bally started the midway stopped. The ladies would try to usher their husbands away from this dazzling sight of six or seven women on a platform bumping and grinding to the rhythm of a bass drum. Some were successful with a lot of arm pulling while others left their men there hoping that they would make a fool out of themselves as their eyes tried to see though the costumes while they watched the undulating, dancing girls. The drum stopped as the girls left the bally platform. The caller cried out the show starts right now…. don’t miss it. Get your tickets right here, right now. It’s worth every penny you’ll spend. Most of the customers were single men and the others went off mumblings to themselves and to each other……………I think I’ll come back later, MAYBE. The problem with this kind of show was on the back side of the show tent, there were those men who wished to get in free by slipping under the side wall. They were always met with two or three gentlemen that had a friendly smile and a helping hand who pointed their way off the lot…………If you know what I mean. When you look back at the shows it seems provocative until you go out to a beach or a local swimming pool today. The clothes of today are far more risque than they were then. This advertisement flyer was used in the mid 1940’s. Grace brought her show from the east and played the west for a few seasons, two of which were with Siebrand Bros.1949 and 1950.
