View Full Version : My grandpa and clown alley


neeco
08-30-2004, 02:55 PM
Hey everyone!

I got something in the mail today from my grandfather. He sent it to me after I told him that I was going to do clowning. It is an article he wrote back on November 22, 1973. He got to go down Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baileys clown alley! I'm so jealous. He met Frosty Little, Frankie Saluto, and Peggy Williams, who was at that time the only female clown in the alley. He said they treated him with all the respect in the world. He got to see everything that went on backstage. He met some of the most famous clowns in the world. That really excited me when I received the mail. The article was mainly about Frankie Saluto. Frankie was a 64 year old dwarf clown and was with the circus for 42 years. He was only 3 feet tall. It talks about how the circus was retiring him and although the makeup didn't show it, but you could hear the sadness in his voice. During the depression Frankie was looking for work and had no place to sleep, so he climbed into an old piano box behind Madison Square Garden. The circus was there and someone saw him in the box, fed him a meal, and then introduced him to the chief clown. It's a great little article. It came with a picture of my Grandpa Morelli and Saluto and Williams. Anyways, just wanted to write something that I thought was reallllly cool!
:P
"Life has no rehearsals, only performances"

saphireSue
08-30-2004, 10:30 PM
sounds like you found a great treasure.

Jubilee
09-02-2004, 02:51 PM
How neat is that? That is better than a family heirloom, isn't it? Thanks for sharing it with us.
Jubilee

mr_buckaroo
10-24-2004, 01:33 PM
hey neeco i kno wthis is a while scince you posted this but i was wondering if there is a way i could get that article i remember seeing those clowns at ringling brothers when i was like 5 yrs old and would love to read it and see the pics.

Picaburu
10-26-2004, 07:44 PM
Congratulations...

Isnt't always that we can receive a big (VERY, VERY, BIG...) treasure like it... Keep in with you in a safety place forever...

Hugs

Picaburu

Ditchbug Smith
11-05-2008, 10:34 AM
Thanks for sharing grandpas memory w/ us. What a memory to cherish.
I wish I knew grandpa Ditchbug. He jumped off the train before I hoped on it.