HOBBIES OF THE "BIG TOP."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 156, 3 July 1937, Page 35 (Supplement)

HOBBIES OF THE "BIG TOP."

How Circus Folk Spend Their Leisure.

SPARE TIME DIVERS!'

rE superlatives rased in circus advertisements would seem pretty well to eover the qualities of circus folk, and yet the superlative that fits them best has been ignored in the advertisements. Circus folk are the -world's most inveterate hobbyists, writes Marshall Spragne in the "New York Times," of these fascinating show folk. Inveterate, meaning deep-rooted, obstinate, violent. Circus folk take their hobbies as they take their food— a first necessity, a prime requirement. They are hobbyists at birth, and remain hobbyists until the last spectacle is over. In their circus performances they are merely hobbyists gone professional — one-time amateur animal trainers, dare-devils, town jokers. And since a hobby eeases to be a hobby when it becomes a profession, every performer has hk substitutes for the lost hobby. During the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey show at Madison Square Garden what do you think the Wallendas are discussing as, torn with anxiety, you watch them piled three high on bicycles crossing a wire 30 feet above the ring? "I tell you, Carl, you got to make a longer exposure." And Carl: "Baloney! All I need is to open the shutter wider. Hey! Stop pinchin' my neck with your foot!" The German Wallendas are amateur photographers.

To his public Colonel Tim McCoy is a straight-shooting, hard-riding screen

»NS OF BUSY LIVES.

hero whose time is devoted exclusively to dangerous living and high romance on the Western plains. Actually, Tim's all-abiding passion is Indian lore. By painstaking effort he has built up an unusual collection of Indian headdresses, clothing and kitchen utensils. Clowns are the most rabid of all circus hobbyists. Felix Adler, one of the greatest living clowns, says that curiosity about any number of things is an outstanding clown characteristic. The mad mechanical devices used by the Ringling clowns have been developed by the clowns themselves in pursuance of their hobbies'. Felix himself likes to write, and has just completed a 26,000word book on clowning, which is to be published soon. He also makes a hobby of raising and training pigs—an endless process, since the young pigs in his act grow too big after four months. His team-mate, Paul Weniel, collects tools during the summer for use in his Florida workshop. Hugo and Mario Zacchini allow themselves to be shot out of a cannon twice a day in order to indulge their passion for art. There are seven circus Zacchini brothers in all, and they are pooling their resources for the erection of an art palace in Tampa, Florida, their home town. They have raised £12,000 already for this purpose. An Artistic Giant. Jack Earl, the circus giant, whose size would seem to give him sufficient self-expression, is a painter. Although not yet represented in the Metropolitan Museum, his pictures have been exhibited by a New York gallery.

Maria Rasputin, billed as "Daughter of Imperial Russia's World Famous Mad Monk, and Confidant of the Late Czar," still thinks of training horses as a hobby rather than & profession. She devotes much time also to her piano and somewhat less to the study of the English language, her knowledge of which is confined to a very pleasant way of saying "I t'ink America is vonderfool!" To circus audiences Antoinette Cqneello is "that international sensation, the only lady in the world to accomplish a triple mid-air somersault." But behind the scenes she is "that nice little Concello girl who is so good at hair dressing." Antoinette has been interested in hair styling for years. The dressing room of the Doll Midgets is in a constant state of hobby turmoil. You will see Grace and Daisy there trying to read; Grace goes in for serious novels and Daisy ha 3 a passion for tabloid newspapers because, as she says, "they are smaller and I can handle them better." Tiny has a penchant for making trousers for herself; she has a couple of dozen pairs which she has copied from trouser styles throughout the world. Next to sewing on trousers, Tiny likes collecting stamps best. Most prize,d of her stamps are not those of philatelic value, but a number given to her by Greta Garbo. Finally, there is Harry Doll. Although it is difficult for him to get much work done with Grace and Daisy and Tiny around, Harry labours at labour-saving mechanical devices. Family Life as a Hobby. Out of the ring, the glittering Rieffenach troupe of riders is just a group of Hungarians who make a hobby of family life. Mamma Rieffenach cracks the whip off stage u well as on. Rose and Mitzi spend most of their time knitting complicated patterns for Betty Rieffenach's three-year-old daughter. Clarence Rieffenach has no definite hobby other than keeping track of tewns on the circus route where golfing is available. Fishing is the favourite pastime of Mrs. Charles Ringling, owner of the circus and widow of one of the five famous brothers. However, she seldom has a chance to fish while accompanying the show in summer. Most of her fishing is done at winter quarters in Sarasota, Fla. The circus has only one gourmet. He is Fred Bradna, the equestrian director, who knows the gastronomic specialty of every town in the country.