Evening star., 1943-06-16
Substitute Materials
Achieve Glamour
In 'SiIk|ess Circus
Tights Eliminated for
Many Performers, but
Not Tropeze Stors
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

1t took more than the blessing Of
Transportation Director Joseph
Eastman, which certainly was nee
essary. and few WPB waivers on
equipment to get the Ringing Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey Circus on
the road this season.
1t required some tall feminine
yes, and MISUNDERSTANDING, in view
of the scarcity of many materials.
For what would a circus be without
its respondent costumes?
The circus (by the way, it's play
ing this week at Benning road and
Oklahoma avenue NE, in case you
hadn't heard had to have many
fancy shoes, all sorts of sumptuous
jackets, trousers and billowy blouses.
Bare Legs Replace Tights.
Take the matter of tights. Well.
most of the girls don't need them
any more. Bare legs are the answer.
But not so the aerialists. They
can't do their stuff stripped to a
mathematician being not scarce
and unrationed.
Tony Concello, often called the
worlds greatest woman trapeze art
ist, explained her troubles as she
finished making up for her act in
the front section of a very hot
wagon.
The alluring Tony pointed to her
tights. mo more silk she pointed
out. These are of material called
lasteX, some sort of composition.
And that's out now!"
But she added: Il got a supply of
it last summer. and so I'm fixed
pretty we'll"
Hotter Toward Top.
Her fllmy waste, she explained,
was made of lentard, mercerized
cotton. Before the war, she'd have
taken umbrage If any one had men
toned anything but silk.
She was more concerned with the
heat than with the difficulties of
costuming. But, it was suggested,
it must be cooler flying through the
air with the greatest of ease, or
seeming to soar, than exercising
yourself close to the sawdust. That,
she replied, might be what you be-
lieved, but actually, by test, it was
30 degrees hotter at the tip of the
big top than on the floor
You fly off into the distance" !"
Tony added, land cool a little as
you touch the open edges of the
tent, and then you hit that hot
air again. Oh, boy!"
And she dashed away to join the
Flying Comedies in another Of those
"breath-taking, death-defying :"
but listen for the ringmaster tonight
he'll tell you all about it.
AS for shoes, the circus in gen.
eral has had to do lot of repairing
though some of the diversified, freak
ish comedy types are of materials not
rationed. There are, also, certain
dispensations for shows and other
institutional users.
One wondered whether food ra-
tioning had more aspects than the
general problems of seeing that 1000
employees get enough to eat. What
of the-well, unusual personages in
the SideshowS.
Fat Lady Going Down.
But they were reported getting
along very nicely. The Fat Lady
according to reliable source, was
on a reducing diet, hoping to get
down from GIL pounds to her usual
587 AS for the Living Skeleton, our
informant added, he never was much
of a meat eater, and he's increased
his weight from a sub-normal 81 to
his customary 81 under a balanced
diet of fruit and vegetables.
The sword swallower must be
pretty careful. Steel is scarce, and
it's doubtful If Donald Nelson would
grant a priority on a new sword.
Scarcities and rationing have
meant many substitutes in attire
and equipment, but the circus fan
never would know the difference.
The circus, with its impressive
spectacle of the United Nations, its
old-fashioned street parade and all
the other new and traditional fea-
lures, is showing at ais and BIS
pm. today and at the same hours
every day through Saturday.