Posted By thecircusblog on February 17, 2010
This is a home made semi-trailer built from the ground up. Most likely Doc and his sons built it. Many of these trailers were used for the working men on the circus. Capell Bros Circus early 1950’s.
Posted By thecircusblog on February 17, 2010
I don’t know who owned this trailer…. most likely i t was Doc and Mayme’s. This is a good example of a military trailer bus conversion to a house trailer. Capell Bros Circus early 1950’s.
Posted By thecircusblog on February 17, 2010
Dorothy Capell on Lucy. Photo taken in the early 1950’s.
Posted By thecircusblog on February 17, 2010
Doc Capell’s calliope did not run on steam. They used compressed air. A small gas engine combined with an air compressor did what was needed to operate the calliope. The calliope was like that of a band organ as it played on its own. One person would change the music paper roll. Each roll had a different tune on it.
Posted By thecircusblog on February 17, 2010
Dorothy Capell did Spanish web and swinging ladder on Capell Bros Circus. Like all ladies of the circus she worked where ever she was needed from the popcorn wagon to selling tickets.
Posted By thecircusblog on February 17, 2010
I don’t know who invented the stake driver or when, but it sure helped the circus set up much faster. The stake driver could drive steel or wooden stakes. Steel was used for hard ground, wooden was use for loose or muddy earth. the wood stake was much thicker, made from oak and had a steel rind at the top to keep it from splitting as it was driven into the ground. If you have ever seen a steam pile driver, the circus stake is in principal the same, only it is operated by a small gas engine. Just about every circus had one and most of them were home-made. Before the stake driver, a team of men would surround a stake with sledge hammers and would drive the stakes into the ground ….swinging in a rhythm…one after the other.
Posted By thecircusblog on February 10, 2010
Danny Du Val one of the best in the business and it all started around 1947 in a gym in South Philly, P.A. Just about every other day Danny and his friend Charles Buchinsky worked out together at 4th St and Snider, lifting weights. This would keep you out of trouble and besides that the girls liked strong guys. He never thought about show business until he realized that he had a talent. Danny’s remarkable strength offered him to become an excellent hand balancing act. The rest is history. His friend Charles got interested in show business too and became an actor in Hollywood. We are all familiar with the late Charles Bronson.
