How Silent Fall the Cherry Blossoms

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have read this timeline over the last week. A really good story. You are a wonderful writer.
The detail of your writing is really good and the obvious care you take with it is noticeable.

Many hours of entertainment I had reading this timeline,
 
Last edited:

Geon

Donor
First thank you for the kind compliment itor66.

This is part 2 of the my addendum. I will try to have part 3 ready before Christmas, my work schedule permitting.

One thing - I would ask that any discussions pro or con regarding the Confederate Flag not be held here. They tend to get heated and I would prefer to avoid that.

P.S. In case you hadn't guessed not only do I love the circus but the old traditional aerial acts!!!
----------------------------------------------------

As the years went by the trio – who now billed themselves as the Southern Rebel Thrillers began to really take stock of the situation around them. A revolution at the most basic level had been going on. Namely, the civil rights movement was slowly taking hold in small towns and communities throughout the South.

As indicated earlier the Civil Rights Movement started as a grass roots effort among many pastors and community leaders both black and white and gradually evolved into larger movements. The idea was to by friendly persuasion change the hearts and minds of fellow southerners


Following in the footsteps of Daryl Augustus Cleaver many simply appealed to their neighbors to “do the right thing.” And many times it worked. Local stores would open their doors to everyone regardless of who they were. At sporting events more and more people from “both sides of the tracks” started sitting closer to one another. It was a gradual and for the most part peaceful revolution.


The trio of Aniston, Naughton, and Peterson had been touched by this revolution already. Now they wanted to continue to spread the word and they saw their thrill show as a means to do just that. But first they needed to build the show into something everyone would want to see.


To this end after three seasons on the road the trio went on a year’s hiatus. During this time Aniston and Peterson would take the opportunity to learn from some of the other “thrill” drivers on the circuit and from several professional race car drivers. Honing their skills well into the night hours on lonely dirt tracks.


Alex Naughton would also be learning from several professional jugglers at local circuses he visited. But he also started hunting for new talent to put together a bigger and more spectacular show.


They found several acts that were interested in joining them not only for the sake of the new show but for the sake of helping to change the hearts of those around them. Most of the acts were typical ones that while good weren’t enough on their own to draw people.


But one would stand out. Two young men – Dan and Dave McPherson. They were young, they were handsome, they were fearless, or crazy depending on your point of view. These two young men would create an aerial cradle act that would be the chief draw of the embryonic circus that was being built. The two men performed fearless aerial acrobatics high above the heads of the crowds – with no net! The two billed themselves as the Fearless McPhersons.


With their show growing the trio of Aniston, Naughton, and Peterson who now had to accept that they were the owners and operators of this new circus had to decide on a name for the show.


One thing that had always galled Bruce Aniston was the way the Stars and Bars Confederate flag was often used. To Aniston the confederate flag was not meant to be a symbol of hatred. Granted, it had been a symbol of the fight to preserve slavery to some back in the time of the Civil War. But to most it had simply been a symbol of the land they were fighting to protect. Too many had died fighting under that symbol to see it turned into a symbol of hate. So, why not have it prominently displayed in a circus whose main credo would be a place for all to gather regardless of color or creed.


And so was born the idea of the Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill show.
 

Geon

Donor
Here is part III of this addendum.
---------------------------------------

It is one thing to get something started just for the sake of starting it, in this case the Stars and Bars Show. It is another thing for that Show to become something more than simply an entertainment medium.


The trio of Aniston, Peterson, and Naughton, now the owners and operators of the circus saw an opportunity not only to entertain but to touch hearts with their show. But simply lecturing to people wasn’t a good idea. At this point another individual entered the life of the show. A Baptist preacher turned circus clown by the name of Allen Tanner*.


Tanner was a southern gentleman in every sense of the word. He had been raised in South Carolina in a proper southern Christian family. From an early age he had shown a gift for public speaking. He was also a very intelligent man. Unfortunately his family was a fairly poor one so Tanner had to educate himself after he graduated high school. Taking several correspondence courses Tanner eventually became an itinerant preacher at age 25. For 3 years until 1941 he preached in churches throughout South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina to any congregation that would let him come in. Following December 7th Allen joined the Army and became a chaplain’s assistant until the end of the war.


Tanner served some time in Metz where he was witness to the kind act of a starlet by the name of Marlene Dietrich as she stood by the bed of a dying soldier. The incident touched his life. He saw how entertainment could mix with the spiritual.


After the war “Rev.” Tanner started using humor in his sermons. Beforehand he had been a typical “fire and brimstone” preacher found in the Bible belt. Now, he started to use humor in his sermons, using funny stories and even occasionally twisting balloons into animals for young children that might attend. He also took some lessons from an amateur magician and performed some simple sleight of hand and juggling from time to time not only to illustrate a point in his sermons in a humorous way but also to bring in people to listen to him when he held tent revivals.


Tanner even went so far as to visit a number of one ring circuses and learn what he could from various clowns. Eventually he started to dress in baggy pants with clown makeup to draw people in. He became known as the “clown evangelist.”


Tanner became popular on the “revival circuit in the Carolinas and Georgia, but he wanted to do more. About this time he heard that a new show was opening in Georgia. He went to audition, uncertain of exactly why he did so. But to his surprise he was hired. Moreover the owners were also happy to learn of his gifts as a preacher.


Tanner, now known as “Tanny”, began to win the hearts of those who came to the young Stars and Bars Circus. However, he wanted to do more.


Like Aniston, Peterson, and Naughton, Tanner believed there was a lot wrong with southern society. His time as an itinerant preacher had rendered him color blind. From his perspective it didn’t matter if a person was black, white, or whatever. He welcomed everyone to his meetings and was incensed if anyone was kept out because of their skin color.

Tanner was delighted to learn that the trio that owned/operated the Stars and Bars Circus felt the same way. Working with them the trio, now a foursome began to look at ways they could entertain and through that entertainment bring subtle change to the society around them.
 
Geon,

I just finished reading this TL and it is wonderful. Your skill as a writer really shines. You captivated me with your opening post and although it took me about 2 weeks to catch up it gave me many hours of enjoyment. Thank you.

PS - You tied every other area up very neatly except one. You had clay pots being dropped in Northern Manchuria. At that time that area of the world did not have very advanced medical facilities. The plaque could have spread uncontrollably. What became of that?
 

Geon

Donor
Tonrich

Sorry about the lack of follow up there. I had so many plot threads this one just got lost. It is likely that area would have to deal with plague for many years to come and that mortality levels would be high, especially among children. Soldiers would have had to deal with the illness during the invasion which would have slowed the Soviet advance. And also, would have allowed Japan to keep the Kurile Islands given they surrendered early:)!
 
Tonrich

Sorry about the lack of follow up there. I had so many plot threads this one just got lost. It is likely that area would have to deal with plague for many years to come and that mortality levels would be high, especially among children. Soldiers would have had to deal with the illness during the invasion which would have slowed the Soviet advance. And also, would have allowed Japan to keep the Kurile Islands given they surrendered early:)!
Ok, I certainly understand. Anyways thanks again for a great TL!
 

Geon

Donor
Merry Christmas to all! Here is the next part of the Stars and Bars saga.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The foursome of Aniston, Naughton, Peterson, and Tanner formally formed the Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill Show on September 18, 1955. By now they had a wide selection of circus acts and more important they had an agenda – a somewhat hidden one. That agenda was to begin to subtly change attitudes in the South.


The circus set some guidelines for its performances. First, there would be no separate seating. Both White and Black would be allowed to sit side by side.


Second, there were no “separate” facilities. Anyone could use the water fountains and facilities set up. It was a small thing but in the South of the 1950’s it was nothing short of a 7.0 on the social Richter scale!


Thirdly, “Rev.” Tanner would always be in the advance team when they came to get a show started. He would visit local churches both white and black and dressed in his clown makeup would often ridicule some of the local policies in his comic yet thought-provoking circus. He urged local congregations to consider well the lessons of the Bible especially those which taught the need to love and respect one another.


Finally, the circus would not go where it wasn’t wanted. If a local town government objected to the above mentioned conditions the circus would simply write that town off its list “shake the dust off its feet,” and move to the next one.


But many towns actively invited and courted the circus to come. The show’s acts were simply that good. Folks delighted in “Rev.” Tanner’s (“Tanny’s) antics in the arena – often lampooning his own profession with a “congregation” of fellow clowns. However, “Rev.” Tanner never openly mocked the Christian religion as some would libelously claim later, the people he mocked were pastors “who took themselves too seriously.”


The Fearless McPhersons were another major draw. The audience held its breath when Dan would put his brother Dave into a “trapeze neck spin” at about 100 mph it was estimated later. And they would gasp as Dan would leap off of the top bar of the cradle to be caught by his brother and swung out over the audience.


And of course all delighted to the efforts of Alex Naughton who juggled in a solo act and then would perform juggling all the while his two partners Joshua Peterson and Bruce Aniston weaved around him in their high powered stock cars.


Joshua and Bruce would also dazzle the crowd with their stunt/thrill driving act now expanded to include four other skilled drivers (there was another subtle message here as one of those drivers was a skilled African-American driver who normally would not have been allowed on most tracks).


It is interesting to note that in many small towns where the circus performed the “separate” but “equal” facilities came down for the duration of the circus’ stay in that area and never went back up afterward. It is also significant to note that the Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill Show would often make return visits each season to such towns as it toured small towns from Virginia to Mississippi.


Slowly but surely, the circus was becoming what it’s foursome wanted it to be – an agent of change – and one made not because outsiders wanted it but because the people they performed for wanted it.
 
Last edited:

Geon

Donor
Here is another brief snippet.
--------------------------------

The Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill Show came to national attention in 1959 when one of their acts caught the attention of a talent scout.


The Fearless McPhersons had built quite a reputation for themselves over the years and were considered one of the stars of the show. Their act was of such a nature and quality that eventually the circus would ask if the McPhersons would perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. The chance to have one of their acts appear on nationwide television was too good to miss. Of course the managers of the circus readily agreed.


In April of 1960 then the Fearless McPhersons made their television debut. Their act so dazzled and delighted the audience that Mr. Sullivan asked them to do another performance later in the year. After their act Ed Sullivan briefly interviewed both the McPhersons and “Rev.” Tanner.


In the interview “Rev.” Tanner briefly described the origins of the circus and the desire to in his words “allow people of different backgrounds to simply have a few hours of fun and forget their troubles.”


The exposure the Stars and Bars show got on the Ed Sullivan Show increased its draw that season by nearly double that next season. Following one of the shows in Georgia the four managers of the circus were approached by someone asking them if they wouldn’t mind meeting with a gentleman who had heard what they were doing and wanted to talk with them.


Shortly after the four managers of the Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill Show were introduced to Martin Luther King, Jr.


Dr. King commented to them that he was very favorably impressed with their low key peaceful methods of integrating small town businesses. He asked if they would be willing to play a show or two in Atlanta.


Up to now the show had usually avoided large cities. However, crowds from those cities had come out to see the show because of its quality.


After some consultation the performers and management agreed. Dr. King was delighted and so the Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill Show prepared to play in Atlanta in the 1961 tour.
 
Last edited:

Geon

Donor
This is not an update but simply to let everyone know that due to the ability to now edit long past entries I have edited the Battle of Manzanar - Entry #495. The edit is a single sentence long but it accurately portrays what would happen to some of those who attacked a U.S. controlled base.
 

Geon

Donor
And here is another very brief update.
------------------------------------------

The Stars and Bars Circus and Thrill Show opened to rave reviews and packed houses in Atlanta in May, 1961. It would be said that this was the show at its zenith.


But the Circus and Thrill Show would not only be known for its quality but for its peaceful activism. Many restaurants and stores were quietly integrated by the performers simply going in with non-white friends and sitting down to order meals or buy items. The restaurant and store owners couldn’t refuse the non-white patrons without refusing the performers which would have been an insult to them.


While some restaurants and stores did turn away the performers and their guests, the majority would choose to open their doors and let down the barriers. By the simple act of showing kindness and good humor the performers of Stars and Bars succeeded in opening the long closed doors of many establishments to people who because of their skin color had been barred from them for so long.


“Reverend” Tanner would speak in any church he was welcome in for the six weeks that the show was held in Atlanta. During these times “Tanny” would speak of the need of forgiveness and of the need for reconciliation. He would also point to the Stars and Bars and warn many of his audiences that the men who had fought for that flag had done so in the name of states’ rights. It was better by far if states like Georgia fixed things themselves then having “another invasion from the North,” come down and fix things for them. That would leave a bad taste in peoples’ mouths for generations to come.


“It can’t be said that the Stars and Bars Atlanta tour was a major step in the civil rights movement. But it can be argued it was a lot of little steps,” Doctor King would say later. “And freedom doesn’t always come with big strides. Sometimes it comes with a small footstep here and another one there.”
 
Can someone please threadmark this. I really like this timeline and want to read it again but having to go through every page to find the chapters is time consuming. Using the search bar does help but not by much.
 

Zachariah

Banned
Can someone please threadmark this. I really like this timeline and want to read it again but having to go through every page to find the chapters is time consuming. Using the search bar does help but not by much.
Or better yet, someone could compile the chapters and do it as a thread in the Finished Timelines forum?
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
Can someone please threadmark this. I really like this timeline and want to read it again but having to go through every page to find the chapters is time consuming. Using the search bar does help but not by much.

Or better yet, someone could compile the chapters and do it as a thread in the Finished Timelines forum?

Here is a VASTLY better idea - DO NOT NECRO threads.

You are both on notice.
 
Top
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top