SNAPSHOTS: 5-H RANCH CAMEL HITCH
We blew the arrows for a couple days, but we're back on the route now.The last year Trudy & I worked at CWM I walked into Bob Parkinsons, looked at a picture he had on the wall of the old Camel Hitch, and said, "Now that's what you need for the Parade", he then told me the runaway camel story and that was all there was to that, I thought. The following Spring we were laying off at Dave Hale's 5H Ranch, having been told the last day in Wichita, on The Zerbini Show that we had worked so hard we could have a month to rest. One day Dave came to me and said, "guess who I just talked to on the phone, Bob Parkinson at Circus World Museum, he wants me to put a Camel Hitch together for The Milwaukee Parade". Come to think of it I never got a Commission for that idea, but it doesn't bother me, it was a pleasure meeting, & being around Dave, he's one of the finest people I've ever met. Here are some great shots of the Camel Section taken in the late 1980's.
posted by 24-HOUR-MAN | 10:47 PM
6 Comments:
Hello Bill,
Glad to see your blog is cooperating with you again. Didn't the Hale ranch also have the White camels?
Bob
I, too, am glad to see you back online. I was suffering withdrawl there for a few days. Checking in with you and Buckles comes before the morning paper anymore!
Good Morning Bob, It's good to be back on, yes Dave had the white Camels. I think Dave had quite an impact on our business in the last few years, and his presence on the Parade Grounds in Milwaukee was something to see. I'll tell one story of our dealings with Dave. Half way throughour stay at 5-H he had to leave for Hawaii with the petting zoo, so I asked him how much we owed him for the month, (horses in the barn & parking for our semi),he replied,"not one damn red cent"!!!!
There are so many very kind, loving, sharing circus people out there that you never hear about. People behind the scene that are not in the ring. We all own them a lot. "THANKS" all you people. You know who you are and so do the rest of us. The back bone of the circus for sure.
So what was the runaway camel story?? cc
When Ringling trained the Camels for the 16 hitch,(I hope the # is right), they did it in pairs. When it came time to put the whole thing together they decided they best do it in the camel barn. Now in those days there was a row of houses across the street from Winter Quarters, and opposite the camel barn lived an old man who had been his whole life in a wheelchair, sunning himself on the porch. When they opened the barn doors and the daylight hit the camels,they took off, "Hell bent for where ever", & left harness & wagon parts every where. When the man in the wheelchair saw those camels coming out of the barn, he jumped up and ran for his life. And to quote Bob, "I don't know if it's true, but that's how I heard it"!!!!
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