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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Taken from Ward
Hall's Autobiography Struggles and
Triumphs of a Modern Day Showman
One is
tempted to compare this contemporary
American Showmen with one of the great
showmen of the nineteenth century, P.T.
Barnum. Barnum, like many other good
showmen was born under the sign of
Cancer, July 5,1810. A hundred and
twenty years later, Hall didn't quite
make it, he wound up in the cusp (in
the edge of the Cancer sign, June 21,
1930). Where Barnum used self
aggrandizement at every opportunity,
Hall is like Barnum's best known
partner, James A. Bailey, in avoiding
the limelight, if it would detract from
his show's publicity. (Bailey was
undoubtedly the greatest outdoor showman
the world has ever produced, which few
outside of historians have ever
recognized)
Ward Hall does have Barnum's knack of
taking almost nothing and making a show
out of it. A show incidentally, that
satisfies the ticket buyers. Ward's
first love, like Barnum's is the Museum
type attractions, and the "Different"
People associated with them. Like
Barnum, he makes a lot of money with his
harmless humbugs and museums, and then
blows it on what he considers higher
class attractions. (It seems though some
of these ill-fated attempts at "going
high class" might have been successful
in the hands of a good promotional
agent)..........................................................
No mind what the next twenty or thirty
years have in store for Ward Hall, be
assured that they will be spent on show,
fair and exposition grounds. Also, be
just as sure, he will always be
planning for something bigger, better
and more beautiful than what he has.
This man, who like most outdoor showmen
could be successful in anything he
attempted, will never desert the show
grounds, if he has his way. My personal
feeling is that in looking ahead for
Ward, Chris and their associates,
"You
Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".
Joe McKennon
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