Friday, February 24, 2006

Ringling-Barnum Circus 1943/ Merle Evans #1


"The marvel is not that elephants dance so well but that they dance at all. Evans and trainer Francis Fizzel ponder musical accompaniments for this new step".

The elephant is "Big Modoc" (that Ralph Helfer never had anything to do with) and the elephant man Fizzel is better remembered later as "Streamline" the trainmaster with the Dailey Show. He filled in from the time Walter McLain was accidently killed the previous November until the arrival of Eddie Allen who put together the famous "Changing of the Guard" elephant number for the 1943 season.

By the time this photo- op was taken Mr. Evans had already been band director for 25 years.

Posted by Buckles at 2/24/2006 07:17:00 AM

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mornin' Buckles. This looks great! Shaz did a super job.. I had the pleasure of meeting and jackpotting with Mr. Evans while visiting Great American circus, He evan posed with my son Alexander, who was about 9 months old at the time. It still gives me pleasure after all these years. Amazing what this man must have seen all of those years on the show! L.S.

24 February, 2006 07:52
Anonymous said...

Hi Buckles,

Had the pleasure of knowing Merle during his last years with the show. He was .... shall I say ...frugal! I remember he and his wife, Nina, eating home-made sandwiches between shows in the show office while everybody else went out to dinner.

24 February, 2006 09:32
Buckles said...

The last time I saw him was when he came up to Baraboo on a visit. In a conversation he mentioned that he had just been to his Doctor after feeling as tho something was lodged in his throat.
After an examination and an extraction his Doctor said, "Christ Merle, you've got to take the celophane off those crackers!".

24 February, 2006 10:07
Anonymous said...

Good Morning Buckles,

O.K., for your circus band music lovers. Her is a CD most people are not aware is available. It is called "Circus Music" featuring Merle Evans and The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Band. It is a NEW RECORDING and not a mere reissue of the old recordings of Merle's most of us have purchased in the past. There are 23 cuts on the CD. The Windjammer producing it knew what he was doing and took all the snaps, and pops out of it! 23 great tunes for $13.00 ($10. for the CD and $3.00 for shipping). Write to: John Johnson, 38 - 17 255th Street, Little Neck, NY 11363

Some charts are: Robbins Brothers Triumphal, Walking Frog, Thunder and Lightning, Royal Bridesmaids, Sunnyland Waltzes, Storming of El Caney, Entry of the Gladiators, Quality Plus, Colussus of Columbia, etc.

You'll love it!

Carl

24 February, 2006 11:17
Anonymous said...

Is it just me but does it sort of a headache having to adjust with the pics on the right side of the screen after looking at them from the left side all this time?

25 February, 2006 17:32
Anonymous said...

It's just you.

25 February, 2006 17:42
Anonymous said...

Speaking of Crackers. I did not know where to post this as it it about babys too. I always gave the babys the packages of crackers when we ate out. It would keep them amused while waiting for the meal to arrive, and took them a while to get them open. It made a mess but the waiters knew us as we always left a bigger tip when we left.

28 February, 2006 11:45

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