America's Favorite Circus Weekly

Volume 2 Juna 4. 1973 Number 22

strong datesTwo successful engagements were ro-

ported by the Yerkes Continental Circuslast month* The show* produced and dir-ected by Bob Yerkes, featured a strongline of circus acts in a two hour program

"Both of our dates," said Yerkes,"were sponsored by local organizations*They worked hard and sold many tickets*"

The advance sale for the show's dataat 'airfield, Calif. (Play 26) came to$43,000. For the Vallejo engagement (May28) the advance sale amounted to $52,000.

RUDY tfKOS. CIRCUSThose attending the Rudy Bros* Clr*

cua at San Jose. Calif* (May 25-28) werein for a real treat. The show looked Justthe way one expects a circus to be.

The weather was ideal, even a bit onthe warm side. The big top* rented fromHarold Barnes, was sat up on the fairgrounds, nestled among the trees and on afull grass lot* The blue and white toplooked new* all the show props had beanrecently painted and the clean white saw-dust (on the track and in the rings) gavean excellent appearance to the spectator*

The performance under the big top wasessentially the same as was reported inCircus Report for May 21, 1973, However*Adele Smeija and her tigers were added atthe San Jose stand. Their big arena wasset up at one and of the tent*

Attendance throughout the four daystand was good, with extra seating beingrequired for several of the performances.

NICE TOUR SETRecent reports indicate that John

linn's "Europorame, Inc." has some eightweeks of dates booked for the summer run.The 1973 season will gat underway on July5th, at Roseburg, Oregon, Winn said.

The show, which will be toruing inCanada* Idaho, Washington, Oregon andCalifornia, will featurei

Minn Family - motorcycle, death walkand slida for life

Jose Conzalea Gonxales - comedianOtto Beroclni - balancing and jugglingAdele and Cory - gorilla actDay Vee - balancing and clownDynamic Oavllle - flying actFriaka - high wire

Officers of the corporation arat

John Winn - presidentRay Vogel - vice presidentKarin Minn - aacretary/traasurar

museum savedThe Tom Mix Museum, at Oaway, Okie,,

which was being threatened with a shut-down (see Circus Report for May 7, 1973)has been rescued by state aid* The Okla-homa Lagialatura laat waak approved a$30,000 fund for operation of the museum,which will be taken over by the Stata Hia-torical Society on July 1st.

The Tom Mix Museum owaa aome $30,000in bills at the praaant time. About halfof this will be paid off with the fundsthat have baan provided. The remainder ofthe money will be used to operate themuseum for the coming yaar.

Page 2

RoughJuat about everything that could

could happen to a circus occured duringthe short tour of Royal Int'l Circus. Theshow played the Southwestern states, aswell as those on the Pacific Coast duringits four week run*

The circus ran into a heat wave inArizona* then found itself in cold weathe:in California, followed by an overnightheatwave on Memorial Day weekend* In ad-dition to bad weather the elephant "Alfiedied, e chimp chased a man* an aarieliatwas injured* elephanta got loose end thehorses kicked at least one man. Big gnatstook over the grandstand one night* whilea swarm of bees dropped in on the stagearee and delayed the show program.

While operating as a email show*the circus carried the strongest programever offered on shows of this type* In addition to top-notch center ring acts theyhad several multi-ring displays and anaerial ballet featuring 10 girls.

All equipment was new* built es-pecially for the show* This included cen-ter poles for rigging, a blue and whitebackdrop, plus red and white ring curbs*

The band, consisting of five men*was under the direction of Ken Richey,and provided excellent backing for everynumber •

.•*•

WANTED - CIRCUS LITHOGRAPHS for my coll-ection. Truck and Railroad Shows. Showsmost wantedi Mighty Haaq, Collmar* Chria-ty Bros., Sparks, Sella-Floto and GentryBros. Mill pay premium price. R* C. Gore332 West 23rd St., Jacksonville, Fla.

THE CIRCUS REPORT la published every weekby Don marcka, 525 Oak St.. El Cerrito,Calif. - 94530

Subscription rates arei $1.00 per monthfS5.00 for six months) $10.00 for a year*For air mail service add an extra $2.00

June 4, 1973

show is okayGood crowds have been attending the

Lewia Bros. Circus* writes Charles Terry*who visited the show et several locationain Indiana.last month. Performances* hereports* are scheduled for 6 and 6 p.m.,which seems to work rather well*

He reports the show is using e 60ft. top with one 30 ft. middle. It is abrown top, with blue side walls* All shoatrucks are orange* with yellow letteringand blue trim.

Some of the people with the showinclude*

Art "Doc" Miller - bookingBeb Crene - announcer/calliopeJoe Eddie - drumsDuane Martin - electricienHarver Orr - canvasFred Brown - cookhouse

A SHORT TOURAn interesting and well received shon

was presented in at least two Californiacitiea last month. Called the "CircusVariety Show" the program was produced byPan American Circus Productions for «at-sonville (May 19) and Santa Cruz (May 20)under the sponsorship of the CaliforniaDivision of Forestry Employees Assoc.

Appearing on the program weret

Little Moe and Smitty - clownsLarry Tarriel - juggling/unicycleClark McDermott - Cold Nose fivePack 0'Dreams - puppetsPelan Family - magical illusions

The fatal FallHigh wire performer Vincente Car-

dozi, died late last moth from injuriessuffered in a fall during a circus per-formance at Green Bay, Ulisc.

Cardozi lost his balance on thehigh wire and fell 30 feet to e concretefloor, after misaing the net.

The accident happened before a capecity crowd attending the Tripoli ShrineCircus* in the Brown County Arena.

June 4. 1973 Paga 3

Greata-.

.... by P. J. Bisaonette

>spite a light rain, the Royal WildWeat Circus draw straw houses for ita twoperrormancea at Princeton, N.J., on May20th. The show played at Avalon place andwas sponsored by the local YMCA.

This is truly a beautiful ehow. Itstrucks are all white and well lettered,complete with scroll work end Indian de-signs end scene*. The Khaki big top (110ft. qith e 50 ft. middle) has red andwhite side walla. Four seat wagona areused, plus traditional seating at bothends of the tent. All prop men wear orangtcoverall**

Two generators, a 45 kw and a 40 kw,provide ampin power for the show. On themidway is an "founded Knee Trading Post",which offera your name on a sheriff'sbadge or horseshoe, plus concessions, aClown's face Moon Walk end a real ponyride.

The show runs about 1 hour and 45minute* and features so** 17 numbers, ofboth circus and western acts. A ahow col-oring book is sold during intermission.

Acts appearing in the big show werei

M. Loyale - head to head on trapezeUncle Zeke - educated muleEd Hendricks - Parisian poodlesSagrera - slack wire/unicycls and un-

supported ladderChaa. Hilton and horss "Hi Cheparel"Kalamar - Magic and Burning Coffin IliaCapt. Edwin - liberty ponie*Chief White Cloud and princ*sa Shining

Star - knife throwingSatrira Trio - rola bola/head balancingA. Shlaetz - baby elephant "Sheila"Frank & Barbara Dean - sharp shootingGreat Segrero - hand balancingHoot end Judy - rope apinning/gun twirl

The clowna appear in three produc-tion number* under the direction of Joe"Jo-Mar* Myera, producing clown. Othersin Clown Alley arei Ricky Percy and StanPenny*

The show's booking and mail agent isJames Percy, while the five piece band ia

A HAPPY ORGANISTMusic for the John Strong Circus is

currently being provided by Dick Croaaand his organ. Ha'a bean playing the or*gan for many years and anjoya every min-ute of it.

Dick makes hie music an importantpart of the show and aa a result he la indemand to play for special programs and

show events. His music is distinctive, and swings with every beat.

_ Although he has played music for* several circuses and magic shows, hehas bean away from the circus world forthe peat few years. It's nice to be backon a show he aaya. (Host of hie work, oflate, has been with Arabian horaa shows,as well as working with Wayne Newton.

His future engagements include pley-ing for a big horse show in Africa and aprogram at Hickman Air Force Base in Hon-olulu. He also haa a date at a horse showin Washington, DC in November, and ofcourse, will continue to be providing thebackground music for John Strong's show.

Thus it looks as if Dick Cross won'thave too many free days. He's got a busyschedule — that's for sure.

Quick CutsThe Catti-Charles Circus played Port-

land, Oregon on June 1-3.

The mi Her-Johnson Circus has been mak-ing some long jumps and playing a lot ofone day stands,,

Business for the John Strong Circus wasgood at Clorro Bayi slow at Lompoc and asell-out at Atascerdaro (all Calif, datea).

Carson it Barnes Circus recently losttheir big giraffe. The animal died afteran attack of pneumonia.

The Beatty-Cole show is getting plentyof rain and muddy lota again this season*

directed by Prof. Meyers.

This is certainly a friendly showand owner Auggie Shleetz graciously tooktime out to be sure we enjoyed our visit*Everyone from adult to youngster findsthey like this circus.

Page 4 June 4. 1973

PERSONNELRALPH RUCKER is working with the Stoyan-

off TripJe Bar act on the Garden & JohnsonCircua this year.

RAY O'FLATTERY worked the promotion forJohn Strong's Circus date at San Mateo. Cal.last month.

RUDY JACOBI was hospitalized for a check-up at Monterey* Calif* late last month.

CESAR ROMERO and SEBASTIAN CABOT attendedthe opening night performance of MillerJohnson Circua when that show played in LosAngeles* Calif*

KARL WALLENOA recently purchased s newWells Cargo trailer*

PHIL SHEAR, clown, ia working advance forthe John Strong Circus this year.

HARRY ROSS, clown, was at one time a prin-ter. He won several awards for his composi-tion and layout work*

SPARKY, the Clown, (0. W. Washburn) visit-ed the Royal Int'l Circua at Vallejo, onMay 28th, enroute to join the ̂ eorge MattheiCircus.

OR. DAVID RE 10 and his wife visited theHappytime Circua, Rudy Bros* Circus and Roy-al Int'l Circua over the Memorial Day week-end.

LEON FOOTE, former high wire artist, wasa visitor at the Royal Int'l Circus atlejo. Calif, on May 28th.

BOB ENRICO, clown, will be working someshow dates in the San Francisco, Calif* areaduring the middle of June.

TOM UPTON has been showing his circus mov-ies for personnel on ell the shows that comeinto the Bay Area, in California.

CLARK McDERMOTT (Cold Nose Five act) has anew address. It iss 1912 Eastor Drive, Bur-lingame, Calif. - 94010.

TERRELL JACOBS,Jr., recently visited theDe Wayno Bros. Circus in Washington* He al-so visited STAN KREMIEN, who is touring hismagic show*

CLARENCE HOFFMAN is the announcer for showacts at the Circus Circus Casino in Las Ve-gna, Nevada.

BIG JOHN STRONG'S CIRCUSThe John Strong Circus has wound up

its California dates for the present timaand is now moving seat. The show will beback on the West Coast for the fall andwinter season.

"Business," saya John, "Hasgenerally been good, with someslow daya. At San Diego busi-ness was off, but that was be-cause they now have a controlsyatera on the number of showtickets that can be issued perday.

Throughout the San Francisco area theshow drew good crowds and three perform-ances e day became a common practice. Bus-iness was especially good for the show attowns they have been playing for severalyears. This proves the value of a good re-putation and the building of e followingfor the past several years.

This year's program in California wasfeaturing!

Clark Craig - liberty poniesSparky, the clown - floating caneThe Mai-Tims - rislayPat Roberts - dogsMiss Robin - swinging laddsrMr. Meatball - comedy ladder numberClark Craig - pony and dogsClowns - hair growing numberArthur - trained macaw (John Strong)Ginger Street - contortionistClowns - balloon numberClark Craig - trained ponyMiss Jan - high trapezeSide show pitch and fire eatingNaana, the elephant - John Strong

Music for the show waa provided byDick Cross at the organ.

Someplace a bane isplaying and a circusperformance is start-ing. Find out whichone and where it isby reading THE CIrtCUSRL'POKT each week.

Urdflf your subscrip-tion today - it's§10.00 per year.

Write: Don Warcks, 525 Oak Street.El Cerrito, Calif. 94530

June 4, 1973

OUTESBeatty-Cole CircusJune 4 New City, N.J.

5 Kingston* NY6 Oneonta7 Ithaca

8-9 Binghanpton10 Elmira

Hubert Castls CircusJune 4.5 Lsthbridge, Albt

6-7 Red Deer8 Grand Prairie9 Dawson Creek, BC

10-11 Prince GeorgeCircus Kirk

June 4 Off5 Green Haven,Ind.6 Odenton7 Bainbridge8 Oxford, Pa*

9-10 OffClyde Bros. Circus

June 4-5 Brantford, Onto6 Brampton

Fisher Bros. CircusJune 4 Atoaa. Okla.

5 Coalgate6 Allen7 Stratford8 Maysvills9 Tuttle

Garden Bros. CircusJune 4 Coderich, Ont.

5 Owen SoundH8mid-Morton CircusJuns 7-10 Trenton, N.J.

Happytime CircusJune 4-5 Pstaluraa, Calif

7-9 Clodes toHoxie Bros. Circus

Juns 4 Ft. Atkinson,Ms5 Jsnesvilla6 Beliot7 Carpentersville8 Bradley 1119 Romeovllle

10 PeoriaMiller-Johnaon Circus

June 4 Oskosh, Misc.5 Fond du Lac6 Kenoaha

7-8 Peoria, 111.

Page 5

Ringling's Blue UnitJuns 5-6 Binghampton,NY

8-10 Hampton, Va.Ringling's Red Unit

June 7-10 Harshey, Pa.Royson Bros. Circus

Juns 8 Rougewont, NC9-10 Butler

Rudy Bros* CircusJune 8-17 Boston, Class.

Sells & Gray CircusJune 4 Bowie, Md.

5 Joppatowne6 York, Pa.7 Nudia8 West Chester9.Lancaster

John Strong CircusJuns 4 Off

5 Sparks, Nev.

6 Fsllon7 Hawthorne8 Carson City9 Lake Tahoe

10 Bishop, Calif.Voorheia Bros. Circus

June 9 Napoleon, Ohio

CARNIVALS

Rose City RideaJuns 5-9 Sullivan, Mo.

American Eagle ShowsJuns 9-10 Norfolk, Nabr.

0. L. Manning ShowsJune 4-9 Ellsworth, Pa.

Don's AmusementsJune 5-6 Clarkfiald, Minn.

8-9 Ds Snst, N.O.Jamas H. Drew ShowsJuns 4-9 Blusfield, W. Vs.

Fun Fair Shows

•Juns 6-10 San Leandro,Cal.Bob Hammond ShowsJune 1-10 Austin, Texas

Johnny's Unitsd ShowsJune 4-9 Florence, Ala.

King Reid ShowsJune 5-25 Quebec, Ont.

Myere Amusements Corp.June 4-10 Lexington, Term.

OTHER ROUTESRoller Darby

June 8 Oakland, Calif.

AATTENTION ;ALL CIRCUS FANS

You are always welcome on the

Watch for our rout* in Tha Cii-cus Report each week, then comeand visit us — we'd love tohave you*

The Alluaionairs (Magic Show)June 9 Pacifies, Calif.

10 Concord

June 4, 1973

Music Adds ZestTo Ice Follies

By PETER COWANTr lbunr S t a f f Writer

Thp music from "Shaft"opened the 1973 Ice Follies, anIndication that the show islooking for a new image. Butit wasn't Richard Roundlreestriding down the streets ofNew York. It was the Folliescompany in all their costumed ','splendor, cult ing graceful fig-11 n\s on the rink of the Oak-land Coliseum A i c T i . i .

This year's show, herethrough Sunday, makes themost of contemporary musicto set ttw pace and it works,well. Skating to the familiari-ty of hit tunes makes the '73show a faster paced produc-tion than last year's.

During the opening numberTuesday night, the two keyyoung pr incipals , Karen

ute to all kinds of music.Included were: "I Don't KnowHow To Love Him." thetheme from "Sweet Charity"and'"The Sunny Side nf theStreet." It was one nf theevening's high points.

After Dwyer's debonairscene with the Dwyer DreamGirls, where he dotis a top hatand cane for some trulysmooth manucuTS. came thtsecond big dance production."Sounds and Motion" fea-tured Karen Kresgc. KathleenMiller. Chnsly lln and .ludyand Jim in a da/zling displayof solo moves.

The solo acts were up to parexcept for one. Mr. Krick'sice pantomime imitating afootball receiver, shooting gal-

Kresge and Atoy Wilson. in-v'-,erv tarj{et and wrxxfen so,djertroduecd themselves to thelune nf "Ain't No MountainHigh F.nough" and "JesusChrist Superstar," respective-ly. Kresge's "golden girl" im-age and Wilson's entertainingdance—style were both good.

Ice Follies is primarily ahappy event. The stars leapfor joy, the chorus weavesaround 'them in symmetricalgroup patterns, the costumesare gaudy and bright andeveryone has a permanentsmile affixed to his face. Theywant you to have a good timeand for the most part you do.Optimism rubs off.

For the children this year,there are two humorous pro-duction n u m b e r s , one iihoul acamp of iMi i t .Hhrc i gorillasand the second when- IheTh ing—A — M i n g s thwar t agang of motorcycle creepsfrom spoiling the fun .

Hut the big emphasis is nndancing. Itichard Dwycr andSusan Kerens started it off.She is all radiance. He. is allstud. Together they are effort-less grace, or so it seems. It'sa tr ibute to their teamwork.In "Make Your Own Kind ofMusic," they were joined byanother smooth couple, .ludySchwomcyer and Jim Sladky.North American Dance Cham-pions, and Kathleen Mil ler fora nicelv choreographed (rib-

.showed why he is so popular.Dave Comb leaped over bar-rels with flaming skates, turn-ing flips and gainers. AndAtoy Wilson was clearly oneof the show's best. Thfe is hisfirst year with the Follies andyou can see why he's a fea-tured performer already.Compared to Dwyer. Wilson isa flashier skater who exhibitsthe ability to be funky on ice.He is a treat to see.. Trixi Schuba, former worldand Olympic champion who isbilled as the show's headliner,was a bore. In fact, the lessexperienced girls were muchbelter. It was unfortunatethough, that .she seemed to"becued off Ix-fore she had f i n -ished.

The Scarecrows were therewhen you needed them, break-ing up the lu l l of the secondhalf of (he show with Iheirmadcap antics. Their trickskating was belter than everand they do have some funwith those silting down front.

(The above revie* isreprinted from theuakland Tribune (eelof May 24, 1973,

Poqe 6

YEARS AGOPittafiald, Wass. - May 27, 1916

The BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS

The clrcua arrived a bit late this worn-ing and aa a result it was 3 p.». when thedowntown parade started* The line-up wast

Fred Bradna - two horse carriageNine mounted buglersTwelve mounted ladiesBand tab -12 horsessix tab wagons - six horses eachOutriderTwelve mounted menBand tab - eight horsesFour cages - four horses eachOutriderTen Mounted ladiesFive cagea - four horses eachChariot - four horsesHippo cage - ten horsesNine mounted menBand tab - eight horsesSmall tab - four horsesOutriderAmerica tab - ten horsesEurope tab - eight horsesAsia tab - four horsesRhino cage - eight horsesNine lady ridersColored band tab - six horsesTwo cages - four hersee eachOutriderSix cages - four horses eachTwenty cowboys and cowgirlsClown band tab - four horses20 elephants14 camels1 baby camel2 zebras3 sacred cettle

21 lady and men ridereLittle Folks Tab - 20 ponies.

The show's side show was feeturinqt

The MinatrelS) Mr, & Mrs. Short* midgetsjZip, What is itj Marionettesf Hindus} EddieWasher, human skeleton! Jack Wilson, fatboy| snake charmerf Jim Tarver, giant) Mile*Clifford* eword s*a1lowerj The Taylor >Trip-lettsj Princess Mae Wee, midget} Alestairmac Wilkie, long beard) Alice Cherry, thefat girl and Frank Ward, tattooed man.

Page 7 Juris 4, 1973

John Strong Circus In Town

'Boiler Room1 Brings Clowns To First StreetBy JOAN BOER

Sparky the Clown and hispal Patches brightened Llv-ermore's First Street yes-terday.

They were trying to drumup a little business for Biglohn Strong's 18C9 Circus,which appears at theAlamedaCounty Fairgrounds InPleas-anton for three final perfor-mances today.

Sparky and Patches werehanding out free family tic-kets to fill up the bleachersas the result of their asso-ciation with John Hargrove'sSan Leandro "boiler room"operation having been abrupt-ly severed In March.

A "boiler room" des-cribes an organization whichsets up temporarily for phonesolicitations supposedly tobenefit a charity. Often theboiler room operators are theonly ones who benefit.

Hargrove, selling the cir-cus tickets purportedly forVFW Post 2707 of the EastBay Police and Firemen tobenefit "widows and orphans,"was closed down by the law.

The Post contains only ahandful of policemen and fire-men. The law requires anorganization to contain 9CTof such membership.

Hargrove violated anothercode section dealing withfalse advertising, accordingto Investigator BernleHughesof the district attorney's of-fice.

Since a number of ticketshad been sold prior to theshutdown, Strong petitionedthe district attorney to lethim keep his performancedates.

"He felt that cancellingthe circus would be damagingto his reputation, which Iunderstand Is pretty goodstatewide,"Hughessaid. "Healso was concerned about thepeople who already had boughttickets and expected to seethe show."

Strong, hired at a flat feeby Hargrove, had nothing todo with the boiler room, sothe Independent wt£ told yes-terday by the towering circusowner.

He explained that It's dif-ficult for a traveling circus

to sell Its own advance tick-ets. The usual procedure Isto rely on local groups or aprofessional "boiler room"to bring In the audiences.

"I have 25 people con-nected with »he circus anddally expenses of $2000. Ilike being hired on a flat feewhich guarantees 1 can meetthose expenses," saldStrong.

A traveling circus can bea chancy business, he added.He used to Nx>'< engagementswith civic groups who weresometimes lackadaisical whenIt came to selling tickets.

"I used to work on a 50-50 basis with women's clubsor a local Jaycee group,"said Strong. "But too oftenthey'd get lazy and only sell$100 ifoith. Then after theshow they'd say, 'Well,here's your 50 bucks.'

"To me boiler rooms arenecessary evlls,"Strong con-tinued. "New laws make Itmuch tougher for them tocheat. Now they've got toIdentify themselves over thephone and state what per-centage of the profits goes tothe charitable operation thatis sponsoring the show orwhatever.

"Boiler rooms are com-mon," he commented. "News-papers often do It to Increasetheir subscriptions, sayingthey'll give a certain percentof the take to some charityor another."

Strong's circus is a fam-iliar one In the valley, havingbeen at (he Alameda CountyFair fbr the past 15 years.

Strong Is proud of per-formers like Sparky, who Isa veteran of 10 years of clown-nlng, including stints with theworld-famous Rlngllng Bro-thers.

Today's performances a reset for 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Chil-dren will be let in free aswill the lucky family ticket-holders who met Sparky orPatches on local streets.

The 1869 Circus featuresold-time circus"acts and cos-

Patchet (Gary Roy) and Sparky (D.W. Woshburn) take their ea»« tumes. Besides Sparky andon a Livermore strretcorner.

photo - Bob Several

This page has been reprinted from the Inde-pendent, of Livermore, l-al. - May 25, 1973

Patches, there'll be a fullshow oiAcrobftU, AtrttlUU,jugglen/'ttalned animals an$an old-time qldeshow, all arecreation of the first cir-cus to travel the West.

Page 8 June 4, 1973

Fourth of July "fireworks" will explodaearly this year when circus daredevils arehurled from the Mouth of a monster repeatingcannon as a first-time attraction of Old Mil*•aukee Days,

Lakefront showgrounds entertainment —free to the public — includes trained wildanimal acts, equestrian and elephant parfor-mers, plua aeriel thrillers on a twice-a-dayschedule from June 30 to July 3, the day be-fore the Schlitz Circus Parade on July 4th.

The lakefront hippodrome at the newshowgrounda site will be the scene of doubledetonations from the 28 foot barrel used inthe Edmondo Zacchini cannon act* Zacchini,who is 78, will fire his niece Carol and herhusband, Wayne Wright* 150 ft* through theair in quick succession from the two ft* can<non mouth into a net et each performance.The senior Zacchini has been "shooting* mem-bers of his family — 14 so far -- from thebig gune for more than 50 years.

Rumor credits his conceiving the ideaduring World War I as a means of deliveringparachutists behind Austrian lines* The Zac-chinis deny this notion* but Edmondo, a gra-duate engineer from the Polytechnic Insti-tute at Turin. Italy, did build his firstcannon during that war and was himself thefirst projectile.

Zacchini revolutionized the whole hicannonball concept. Cannon acts alwayshad bean circuses* surest crowd-holders*but also were hazardous. From the firstsuch act recorded — the Sepoy Gun Featbilled by the Yankee Robinson Circus in1875 — the means of hurling the daredevilwas a huge spring in the cannon. These of-ten misfired, or released unexpectedly,catching the flyer unawares and sometimesresulted in injury or death.

Edmondo used compressed air as the pro-pellent, edding a safety valve to releasepressure in case of an emergency. A carefullytimed firecracker provided the explosionexpected by the crowd, and the Zacchiniect was boon. Edmondo and his six brotherstoured much of Europe in the 1920's be-fore Hugo Zacchini came to the UnitedStates with a cannon at the behest ofJohn Ringling. Edmondo's contingent tour-ad South America before joining Hugo inthis country in 1930.

Since then, the original Zacchini Bros*,and their families have been soaring fromEdmondo's cannons to thrill countlessaudiences everywhere.

Have you heard some shownews recently? If sn whykeep it a secret — letsshare it with those whoare interested*

We're always looking forshow news of all kinds,and routes too*